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More efficient consenting

The PrefabNZ Good Offsite Guide - a compilation of regulatory perspectives on building consenting - was launched at CoLab 2018. It is the first step in industry=led 'clarification and consistency' that PrefabNZ Members are seeking when dealing with Building Consent Authorities in processing building consents for offsite construction. So what has happened since the Guide's launch in March 2018? Well... 

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PrefabNZ is keeping in touch with the following people who all contributed to the Good Offsite Guide (2018):

  • Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) - through consultation with the Building Services Performance (BSP) branch's More Efficient Consenting (MEC) programme for offsite construction (onshore and offshore) - initial consultation occurred in November/December 2018

  • Building Officials Institute of New Zealand (BOINZ) - through addressing the BOINZ National Conference in Dunedin in May 2018

  • Auckland Council (AC) and the Urban Group of Councils - through meetings in 2018 and the SNUG 'home in my backyard' project launched at CoLab 2018

  • Independent consultants such as Louise Swann at The Building Business and John Gardiner at Building Confidence

  • Our PrefabNZ Members through mini-hui in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch

Download the Good Offsite Guide from Member Resources (only available to PrefabNZ Members)

In 2019, PrefabNZ continues to progress stakeholder relationships and knowledge transfer with these people: 

  • BRANZ Prospectus proposal for an industry-led Code of Practice to provide clarity between 'building product/component' and 'building work' - unfortunately this two-stage proposal did not progress to a funded project

  • University of Auckland led BRANZ Prospectus work on offshore building consenting precedents - an academic-led literature review exercise - we hope to see final results of this 18-month project in 2020, with these milestones: 

    • A systematic review of literature, policy, practice by end 2018​

    • A situational analysis report and a 'best practice toolkit' by mid 2019

    • A set of new prototypes and workshop by end 2019

    • A system dynamic model and dissemination by mid 2020

  • MBIE B SP MED OSM/MMC (possibly longest acronym in the construction industry...) - as above, continuing opportunity for industry to input from end 2018

    • Update 8 March 2019 - MBIE will move the MEC for OSM/MMC piece of work into the Legislative Reform piece of work as their assessment is that guidance is not deemed an appropriate response to the innovative construction sector's needs in the area of more clear and consistent building consent processes​

  • Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, incorporating KiwiBuild - PrefabNZ will basically provide any relevant Member input into the work these folks are doing as they transition into the Housing Urban Development Authority (HUDA) - we are working to connect them with industry knowledge experts in the area of building consenting

Why is this important?

Because excellent folks are losing sleep at night and projects are taking 5 weeks to build offsite and 50 weeks for processing building consent. *

The top seven building consent areas for 'clarification + consistency' in their application by Building Consent Authorities (BCAs), according to PrefabNZ Members, are (in alphabetical order):

01

Building 'component/product OR building 'work' - this will clarify how offshore consents are processed

02

Codemark OR Multiproof - usage whether product or work

03

Flexible Multiproof - more flex will mean more use of this potentially great fast-track tool

04

In-factory self-inspections - empower producers at scale to enable speed of production

05

License the factory OR the system, rather than the person (LBP) - through tight quality assurance pre-approval + checking

06

'Reasonable grounds' needs to be clarified - so we can all speak the same language

04

Single consent for transportable dwellings - is the law, if only the BCAs could all uphold the same singular process so the cost savings can be passed on to those clients who need them

* Actual project quoted here is the Genius Homes Queenstown Goldfield Heights Project. See article here

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