held on
Attendance:
Fire and Emergency New Zealand: Wayne Goodfellow, Trent Fearnley, Mitchell Brown
Hutt City Council: Emelia Lukins, Craig Ewart
Kapiti Coast District Council: John Peterson
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment: Murray Usmar, Gary Higham, Michael Reedy
Porirua City Council: Tom Straker
Wellington City Council: Peter Burnett, Mark Fitzpatrick, Steve Kallahar, Maggie Kay, Jeremy Strongman, David Mehlhopt, Inka Gliesche-Humphris, David Pawson, Chris Scott
Building Officials Institute of New Zealand: Nick Hill, Vivian Menard, Henry Cassin
Guests: Paul Hobbs, Paula Gnomes, Sruthi Regula
Apologies:
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment: Richard London
Building Officials Institute of New Zealand: Jason Goei, Darlya Redfern
Welcome:
Wellington Branch Chairman Wayne Goodfellow opened the meeting, welcoming members and guest presenters Paul Hobbs and Gary Higham.
Minutes and Matters Arising:
There were no questions or corrections from the last minutes. Maggie Kay moved the minutes be passed.
Correspondence In/Out:
The Chair invited Nick Hill, the Institutes Chief Executive if he would like to speak to any recent activities in respect of National Office.
Nick advised:
- The Institute had initiated an OIA, in response to the surprise announcement of new Schedule 1 Exemptions in May. In particular, the concern was around the pathway that led to these exemptions, the cost benefit and justification of moving from 10sqm to 30sqm for single storey buildings.
- That the Institute had submitted on the first Bill of the Building Law Reform, and presented to the Select Committee expressly to emphasise key points around Modern Methods of Construction and a concern in respect of an omission around mandatory 3rd party certificates for critical products in the critical areas of health, fire, structure and cladding.
- That it was pleasing to see movement in the review of some building standards of late and the Institute now has a number of expert members sitting on committees. He encouraged members to put their names forward if BOINZ Is seeking nominees, as it is a great experience as well as supporting the interests of best practise.
- The 2019 Year End results provided a surplus of $80K, compared to the prior year where the Institute ran a 60k loss on the back of development investments.
General Business:
- Wayne advised he was pleased to be able to address the branch both as the Institute's Vice President but also as Chair of the Wellington Branch. He commented on this having been one of the strangest years in living memory and there will be challenges going forward.
Wayne said in these different times, as a Board and a Branch, we have seen the BOINZ membership respond with professionalism and care. Especially between fellow members, professional organisations, emergency services, communities, and more. - A key to delivering a better future is a strong Branch, Wayne said, and he commended Wellington Branch Secretary Inka Gliesche-Humphris and the Branch Executive of Jeremy Strongman, Trent Fernley, and Jessica Keltie in supporting the Branch, ensuring its members get out of it what they put in.
- Wayne then went on to say, "since the COVID-19 crisis hit, the technological world has now been thrown at us" and the serious benefits had been amazing to watch; however, there was still a need to innovate. BOINZ National Office recently had discussions with the Branch Chairs and Secretaries across the country to gain ideas for the future.
- One area in particular, Wayne noted, was the digital presentation of the Branch meetings and the ability for BOINZ to capture a wider Branch membership safely and comfortably whist having members in physical form too. Wayne then introduced Henry Cassin, the Membership Relations Coordinator for BOINZ National Office, noting that Henry would be sharing a short session with the members on how BOINZ is using technology to allow greater interactions at the branch level. Wayne said this technology would be used for the meeting on Wednesday 14th October at Kapiti Coast District Council. The meeting will be the first hybrid of physical and online presentations. The topic of the meeting: Coastal Erosion and its Impacts.
- Looking ahead as a Branch, Wayne said he believes in the need to identify what the members are looking for in outcomes. He further believes, for the branch and membership to grow, the Branch would require the members' input. He then invited the Branch members to contribute their knowledge and skills, ensuring they are valued both in their areas of work and by their community.
He expressed his delight to see MBIE at the branch meeting, which showed a great commitment of times to come and collaboration the Branch has had in the past. - By way of general update, he informed the Branch about the recent success Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) has seen under the provincial growth fund of over $50m. The fund is intended for the 26-shovel ready build works which FENZ will be commencing around the country.
- Next, Wayne mentioned Building Pulse 2020. An amalgamation of BOINZ Conference and SBCO. The date of the event was set for 24th - 25th September at the Intercontinental in Wellington. Any member looking for the technical programme should look to the BOINZ website.
- Wayne mentioned the new MBIE and FENZ powers and urged branch members to join the consultation groups such as for sprinklers and fire penetrations. Next he talked about the Seismic zones map asking Paul for a copy and suggested the Branch organise a visit to BRANZ.
- BOINZ Chief Executive Nick Hill raised an issue around the new employment law for contracted individuals. He was concerned they could get tied into personal grievances as a third party.
- Finally, Wayne announced the last branch meeting of the year would be held on Wednesday 2nd December in the Hutt City.
Guest Presentation:
Wayne then introduced the first of the MBIE presenters: Paul Hobbs, Principle Advisor. He commented he and Paul had known each other for just over ten years and Paul has worked in a number of roles in local and central Government, including DHB and now currently MBIE.
Paul presented on:
- The role of Building System Assurance - a closer look at MBIE's functions that flow from the Building Act, with an emphasis on
- BCA/TA Compliance Strategy
- Technical reviews of TA Functions
- Earthquake-Prone Buildings
- A look at Building System Law Reform Package (BSLRP) and what this will likely mean for the Building System Assurance team
- Publications and reports
Paul was joined by Gary Higham, Senior Advisor at MBIE, who presented on:
- Territorial Authority Reviews
- Earthquake Prone Buildings
Questions:
Q: Where did the review of compliance schedule (CS) identify trends?
A: The CS's were not amended properly as there were not enough resources. MBIE found issues around pool, barrier compliance, and some councils did not carry out any BWoF audits.
Q: Was there a lot of collaboration with the Modern Methods of Construction?
A: There was a collective impact, especially since Standards NZ joined with MBIE.
Q: Regarding product certification, can a whole house be considered a product, and is there a lot of uptake?
A: Yes, there are a lot of companies out there. This would be good for 30 square meter houses that could be built in factories. However, BCA's would still issue CCC's.
Regarding Schedule 1 Extension allowing for 30sqm large detached buildings, members noted people did not realise the building has to be its own height away from the boundary.
See attached power point for the full presentation.
