Taking big building consents off councils will increase risks, not reduce costs
In an opinion piece published in The Post, BOINZ Chief Executive Nick Hill has questioned the Government’s proposal to create a single national authority to consent large commercial building projects, arguing there is little evidence that council building consent authorities are the cause of construction delays or rising costs. He says New Zealand’s current consenting system performs well by international standards and warns that centralising consenting could reduce competition, weaken local expertise and concentrate risk within a single organisation.
The article argues that many of the biggest challenges facing the construction sector stem from planning constraints, financing, material supply issues and the quality of design and construction work, rather than the consenting process itself. Citing industry research showing high rates of failed consent applications and inspections, Hill contends that building consent authorities are often blamed for issues they did not create. While he acknowledges there may be a case for specialist national capability for highly complex projects such as hospitals and airports, he believes broader centralisation is unlikely to deliver meaningful benefits and risks undermining an important safeguard for building quality, safety and consumer protection.
