The real cost of building consents and approvals

In this country as is the case everywhere else in the developed world the building industry is a major driver of economy activity.

For instance it is lack of house building in the United States that is preventing the return of prosperity. Here in New Zealand a marked slowdown in housing and non residential construction is also causing concern.

When someone undertakes to build a new house, factory, or some other structure a wide range of resources are mobilised

Land must be prepared, roads, sewers and water supply installed. Utilities such as phone, electricity and gas must be connected up. Then the building starts in earnest. First the concrete people, then the carpenters, plumbers, electricians, roofers, and finally plasters, painters, and carpet layers.

Somewhere in the process are the real estate people, financiers, and local council staff.

This last group have a duty to maintain certain quality standards. Bad design work by draftsmen, and architects, poor construction techniques by builders and developers and a change in materials such as replacing treated timber with kiln dried wood has led to the leaky homes problem. In time this will cost Government, local authorities, and home owners billions in dollars to remedy.

I have struggled to understood how we could build homes for over 150 years without them rotting away only to have widespread failure in the past 20 years. Perhaps for much of history those in the industry assumed buildings could leak so certain safe practices were adopted to prevent catastrophic failure. For instance roofs were extended well out from the walls so any water not captured by guttering was thrown well clear of the structure.

I remember the designer of my last addition insisting on heavy duty water resistant felt being laid before the tiles were put down. He explained this by saying all roofs can leak the trick is to ensure no damage occurs as a result.

Luckily for Hawkes Bay people the problems seems greatest elsewhere especially in Auckland. Mediterranean style houses without eves in a city where it rains ever second day is clearly inappropriate.

The leaky homes problem has resulted in very much tighter building codes being introduced. It is the duty of local councils to approve all the design features and to sign off the work as it is done. No argument with making sure we do not have a repeat performance of leaky homes.

However over recent weeks I have come across many in the building industry who have experience major problems with the consent process, especially where the Hastings District Council is involved. Now everyone likes to complain about their council but the same people reckon the difficulties are nowhere near as bad in Napier.

The nature of the complaints are diverse.

For some it is the excessive delay getting various stages of construction signed off. The boxing may be in place, the reinforcing down but the concrete cannot be poured until it had passed inspection. In Napier I am told you can ring in the morning and someone from the council will be there that afternoon. In contrast in Hastings it might be next week, and apparently there is always an air of unhelpfulness.

For others it is the seemingly randomness of the decisions. Works can be in an advanced stage when new previously unmentioned demands are made.

I was looking around one small commercial building recently and was told the developer had decided not to proceed with a second project next door after his experience with Hastings District Council Staff.

I hear there are people who are not prepared to build in Hastings at all because of previous bad experience.

A friend of mine recently had a bay window installed. The design was submitted and approved and a bill for nearly 1000 dollars including GST submitted. The window was installed to the point a further inspection was needed before closing the addition in, at which point the construction was disallowed.

Apparently the drawings lacked sufficient detail to reveal possible problems even though the design had been approved based on the drawings.

OK its only a window, but it seems similar difficulties are being encountered with whole houses.

While these problems annoy developers, home owners, builders and a whole lot more, it is not their inconvenience that worries me the most. It is the damage it is doing to our economy.

Having to do additional work after the job is completed adds to the cost. Delays waiting for parts of the job to be approved mean having to stop work and trades people put on stand down. Then there is the cost of getting approvals. Apparently for a new house in the tens of thousands of dollars.

All of these things make building unattractive and if people decide not to go ahead then jobs are lost. In the current climate this is something we can ill afford to let happen.

In July Hawke's Bay was one of only five out of the country's sixteen regions to post a drop in residential building consents compared to last year. Commercial approvals also a dropped.

I cannot understand why the Hastings District Council is so difficult to deal with but in the minds of most of those in the building industry it is a huge problem.

Clearly there is a management issue. Perhaps there are not enough suitably qualified and experienced staff, or maybe its an attitude problem. Certainly senior council staff seem to regularly exhibit a belligerent attitude refusing to accept any shortcomings on their side.

This must change. We cannot have a small bunch of individuals holding the wider community to ransom. Council staff are the servants of the people not rulers. While they are subject to legal requirements they also have a duty to help, not hinder.

If the situation cannot be changed then perhaps the wrong people are running the operation. An alternative might be to sub contract the work, perhaps even to Napier where at least people seem much more satisfied .