MINUTES

CENTRAL BRANCH

TRAINING AND NETWORKING EVENT

held on

Wednesday, 29th July 2020 at 10.00am

at
Fire and Emergency Palmerston North (FENZ)
Meeting Room
50 Cook Street, Palmerston North 4410

Attendance:

Palmerston North City Council: Bryan Clark (Chairperson), Andrew Thomas
Rangitikei District Council: Derek Dykstra (Secretary), Aldo Fehr, Andrew Walker
Fire and Emergency New Zealand: Murray Kidd
Wanganui District Council: Chris Keenan, Green Hoobin
Manawatu District Council: Brendon McNabb, Matt Wallace, Phil Lightbourne
Allen Jackson Ltd: Desmond Allen

Guests:

BOINZ Director: Karel Boakes
Ruapehu District Council: Mike Hooker
Fire and Emergency New Zealand: Colin Leighton, Bradley Shanks
Rice Speir: Nathan Speir, Simon Waalkens

Apologies:

Staff of Tararua District Council.

Welcome:

Branch Chairperson Bryan Clark opened the meeting welcoming all members and extended a special invite to the attending guests.

Previous Minutes:

The previous minutes were read and accepted as a true and correct record.

Matters Arising:

None

Correspondence In/Out:

  • CodeTalk
  • BOINZ seeking NZS 4510:2008 Committee Nominees
  • Building Pulse 2020 Updates

Board Representative Update:

Director Karel Boakes presented a BOINZ update to the attending members on behalf of the Board. and what they have been up to and changes made in working in these Covid-19 times.

She explained one of her board roles is to listen and understand the issues members face and best represent the interests of all members across the country to the Board.

The newly elected 2020/22 term Board members are: Peter Laurenson (President), Wayne Goodfellow (Vice President), Cory Lang, Jeff Fahrensohn, Daniel Scheibmair, Phil Saunders, and herself.

Karel mentioned the impacts of COVID-19. BOINZ, like all organisations is significantly affected by COVID-19 in that it has lost vital income in events and training that is returned to members in support services. It is also likely 2021 will also be a different and tough year so it is important that members recognise the value of BOINZ and support where they can.

During COVID Alert Level 3, BOINZ had half the team (four staff) in the office, and by Alert Level 2 all staff had returned and looking at doing things differently. Work is underway restructuring BOINZ training course programme, including developing competency training. Some of the new online courses have been successful including:

  • Building Warrant of Fitness
  • Writing for Building Control Officers
  • ABS 3-day course of intense learning for those in pre-purchase property inspection
  • Working from Home Video

Conference and SBCO have unfortunately been cancelled, but work is underway on a new hybrid event Building Pulse 2020 (BP2020) with the theme 'To the Beat of the New Normal'. BP2020 will be held 24th and 25th September in Wellington at the Intercontinental Hotel. Accommodation bundles are available now. This will be a great event and exhibitors are queuing to attend.

The Schedule 1 Exemptions were announced in May and came as a surprise to most of industry. BOINZ along with others were extremely disappointed regarding not being consulted given the implications of some of the changes.

General Business:

Generally, all the BCA's in the region are still very busy, many are operating with less staff which increases difficulties.
Members discussed the new changes to Schedule One and how this will affect work loads. Some noted that most people don't realise that they also have to comply with the district plan as well as the Building Act 2004.

Guest Presentation:

Bradley Shanks - Fire and Emergency New Zealand

Bradley presented on how important fire truck access to sites is and especially in rural areas as they need to get close to the firefighting water storage tanks on site.

Please find Bradley's presentation attached here

Simon Waalkens and Nathan Speir - Rice Speir

Simon and Nathan gave a presentation on modular buildings entering New Zealand from overseas and the issues they can cause for BCA's around the country.
They advised that any BCA's involved in this are more than welcome to contact Rice Speir to discuss the ways around legally dealing with this issue that will lessen the liability on the Councils.
They also discussed Bella Vista with the members present. The court case stayed in the room so there is a lack of reporting and information on the subject at this point.

Both presentations were thoroughly enjoyed by the members, who extended their thanks to Bradley, Simon and Nathan.

Next Branch Training and Networking Event: Scheduled for 04/11/2020 at Whanganui District Council

Special thank you to FENZ for providing morning tea and lunch

Branch Chairperson Bryan Clark then thanked members and guests for attending and closed the meeting at 2.30pm

Derek Dykstra
Central Branch Secretary
Derek.dykstra@rangitikei.govt.nz

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