MBIE have a consultation out on some significant changes to the consent process. I am sure we all have opinions from having to deal with it each day
https://www.mbie.govt.nz/have-your-say/building-consent-system-review-options-paper-consultation/
I am still going through it, but of interest to engineers is the discussions around liability, producer statements and self-certification, with associated assurance procedures including approvals of construction. Some of these changes would have a significant impact on engineers and insurance, particularly for smaller companies. I am not sure if some of the proposals provide an (economically) insurable risk for engineers, especially smaller or local companies that don’t have a multinational corporate backing them with deep pockets backed by international insurance.
I suggest everyone has a read and puts their thoughts to MBIE, as they are potentially very significant changes - both good and bad.
Thanks Geoff, I’ve just started reading it all myself. Seems like its going around in a circle from 20 years ago and the past is being repeated. Allowing competition into the consenting process (we used to have that but it caused issues…). Allowing easier product substitution (we used to have that but it caused issues…). It reminds me of the education sector where open plan joined classrooms were all the rage, then it turned back to cellular classes, then it went back open plan now there is talk of that not being good anymore. Will humans ever learn from past mistakes??