MINUTES OF SOUTHERN BRANCH TRAINING AND NETWORKING EVENT
Time & Date: 9.30AM – 2PM Friday 13 June 2025
Location: Plaza Conference room at Dunedin City Council, 50 The Octagon, Dunedin
Welcome:
Acting Branch Chair, Olivia McGregor, opened the meeting and welcomed members and guests. Health and safety undertaken by Peter Brookland.
Attendance:
Apologies:
Chris Randell – Building Compliance Solutions
Alan Wild – Southland District Council (attended site visit only)
Joe Fitzsimmons – Dunedin City Council
Garth Swan – Trident Homes
Jill Ryan – Queenstown Lakes District Council
Peter Laurenson
Brian Stack – Clutha District Council
Stu Chapman– Waimate District Council
Presentation:
Neil McLoed, BOINZ life member, presented Clutha District Council with their award “Innovator of The Year”, as they weren’t at conference to receive this award. Well done!
Members from the Southern Branch who won awards at the BOINZ Symposium award evening were acknowledged:
- Life Membership Award: Neil McLeod
- Innovator of the Year: Clutha District Council
- Training Commitment Award: Dunedin City Council
- Emerging Leader: Olivia McGregor
Previous Minutes:
Motion: That the branch approves the minutes of the previous meeting
Mover: Peter Brookland Seconder: Arti Latchamama – Carried
Matters Arising:
Ongoing:
Action: Guidance documentation re; modular buildings
Decision: Group formed to create draft document headed by Arti Latchamamma (Clutha District Council) and supported by Peter Brookland (Dunedin City Council) and Olivia McGregor (Timaru District Council)
Update provided: Pending legislation changes but will still work on this behind the scenes. Will also investigate reviewing/developing the Dunedin City Council Tiny Homes guidance so this can be presented to the cluster group and potentially adapted and used cluster wide.
Correspondence In/Out: Nil
Building Code Issues: Nil
Board Representative Update – Presented by Peter Sparrow (via Teams)
- The BOINZ AGM was held virtually on 14th May and ran smoothly, with a couple of motions successfully passed.
- A well-organised BOINZ Symposium and Building Control Leadership Forum were also held in Christchurch 26-28 May.
- The economic climate remains challenging, including for BOINZ.
- Board elections for 2025 have been completed, and under the new constitution, triennial elections will now be held annually with two members positions becoming vacant, to avoid the risk of a full board turnover in any given year. It was noted Jeff Fahrensohn was re-elected and Denise Whelan joined the Board as a new member.
- Members discussed the lack of South Island Board representation, noting their disappointment and the potential impact on the positive momentum that comes with local Board representation. Director Sparrow explained it was a democratic process, although the Board were likely to review governance gaps at their next meeting.
- BOINZ has provided submissions and feedback on several industry consultations. These are available to view on the BOINZ website.
- A review in focus is underway, with BOINZ undertaking a mission and value proposition aiming to deliver needed member value over the next 5, 10, 15 year period..
- The 2023/2024 period has seen growth, with approximately 19 new members joining.
- The 2026 BOINZ Symposium will be held in Auckland over 4th to 6th May 2026 at the Grand Millenium.
- The 2025 Training Prospectus was shared with the Southern Branch members at the meeting in Invercargill. The new Code Fit programme is gaining support and momentum, and the development of the Advanced Series programme to run in October is well underway. Keep an eye out for courses coming up via the fortnightly Training Update and Code Talk news updates. For any training needs not covered in the prospectus, members are encouraged to contact Kirsty Wallace at BOINZ.
Question was raised to Peter: Can we be made aware of the portion of votes for our region?
(formal email and request will be made)
The reason for this is to know if we need to do more work on engagement and member voting at election time.
General Business:
- Interconnected Smoke Alarms
Concerns were raised regarding the quality and reliability of some alarms. Discussion included the potential use of Section 112 (Alteration to Existing Buildings) of the Building Act, with upgrades possibly involving the installation of new alarms. Waitaki District Council raised the challenges of testing the interconnectedness at final inspections, but no other councils had currently encountered this problem at this stage. - Local Seismic Update / Roundtable Wrap-Up
Work to be done within two years. Government review and changes pending legislation. Re-issuing of notice with 4 year extensions.
Guest Presentations:
James Hardie (presented by Singh Kamboj)
FPS (Frame Protection System) (presented by Michael Garrett and David Stewart)
Next Branch Training and Networking Event: scheduled for Friday 5th September 2025 - Dunedin
Special thank you to:
Dunedin City Council for the venue.
James Hardie and Frame Protection Systems for presenting.
James Hardie for catering lunch.
Olivia McGregor
Branch Secretary
Olivia.mcgregor@timdc.govt.nz
Attachments:
James Hardie Presentation:
Links to presented information:
https://www.jameshardie.co.nz/professionals
https://www.jameshardie.co.nz/web/assets/general/Secura-Flooring-Installation-Manual-2025.pdf
https://www.jameshardie.co.nz/web/assets/general/Fire-Acoustic-Design-Manual-2025.pdf
https://www.jameshardie.co.nz/assets/general/30147-CodeMark-Oblique-Weatherboard-Oct-24.pdf
https://www.jameshardie.co.nz/assets/general/30018-CodeMark-Linea-Weatherboard-Rev-Oct-24.pdf
https://www.jameshardie.co.nz/assets/general/CodeMark-Axon-Panel-30165-RevA.pdf
FPS (Frame Protection System) Presentation:
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Minutes Approved by: |
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National Office: |
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Branch Executive on behalf of members: Chair: Secretary: |
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Action Register
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Action ID |
Date Raised |
Action |
Assigned to |
Due Date |
Date Action Completed |
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1.0 |
28/03/25 |
Modular Building Guidance document |
Arti Latchamamma |
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