The country's first private business accredited to issue building consents is being officially registered today - promising to process building consents in just 10 days.
But what projects will it work on, and what consumer protections are in place if things go wrong? Building Consent Approvals today gets its registration from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. The company expects to begin processing consents in June and it says its focus will be on the big developers, with single-storey houses.
Councils currently issue building consents, and do so when they are reasonably confident the proposed work will meet the requirements of the Building Code. Just three of 67 councils were meeting a 20-day statutory time frame expected of them, according to an Auditor-General report last year. T
he new company's chair Tony Sewell, who's had a 50-year career in the building industry, says the new authority has secured full civil liability for their consenting practice.
Photo: Supplied/ Unsplash - Josh Olalde
