This week I met Minister Penk. Great conversation. I offered practical “do now suggestions” that would make a difference and also told him loud and clear that the cost of construction would never reduce until MBIE became a knowledgeable, assertive regulator and Councils across NZ act within the law and consistently.

BPIR. 11 December 2023 is not a drop dead date – you have time.

It is more important that the building product information is correct, than hurriedly uploaded to your website as ‘job done’ .

We all know that Councils welcome CodeMark because it removes their liability. S19 of the Building Act says that a BCA must rely on a registered product certificate as a means of compliance, if all conditions are met.

The GIB shortage is not solely the fault of Winstone Wallboards. It is also a reflection of the problems associated with the way that Councils process consent, carry out inspections and generally carry out their building related role.

We need to understand the problems, make the necessary changes to ensure that New Zealand is never subject to a similar shortage again. We need the application of the regulatory framework to be transparent, fair, consistent, objective and one that incentivises robust information and compliant behaviour.

To achieve this we need MBIE to be an effective steward of the building regulatory framework.

Energy savings and improved health outcomes must be measured at the population level. How much is achieved will rely on large numbers of homes meeting the thermal resistance characteristics described in H1/AS1. New houses represent about 0.03% of all homes in NZ. So what about existing buildings?

Do we really dare to rely and trust others?

And proportionate liability is not the answer.