Looking back on Building Minister Chris Penk’s first year

Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk made headlines during his first year in the role for reviewing the consent system, insulation standards, granny flats, and much more.

Penk has focused on reforming the building consent system all year. He says it’s why New Zealand has some of the least affordable housing worldwide, alongside unreasonably high building costs. Stats NZ data from April 2024 said it takes an average of 569 days for a home to be built once consented, which Penk says is simply too long.

To solve this, he announced many reforms, such as removing barriers to using overseas products, making minor variations to building plans, and allowing builders to self-certify their work. Councils must now publish their consent data and recognise international product standards. It’s all “so we can rebuild the economy and get Kiwis into homes faster,” Penk says.

Critics feared streamlining the consent process could compromise standards and repeat the leaky homes crisis, the mid-2000s saga which cost the nation billions. The general response from industry leaders was cautious optimism, curious as to how Penk would walk the fine legislative line between efficiency and oversight.

“I have been quite deliberate in taking time to work with the building sector to hear what’s needed, rather than hastily announcing changes from Wellington that might or might not work in the real world,” Penk told Builders and Contractors.

“To be honest, I don’t think I’ve solved many industry challenges this year. That might sound like an unexpected response from a politician, but I think it’s been an excellent year for identifying issues and proposing solutions, with implementation to come next year on almost everything.”

Increasing Competition for Products

Another challenge is increasing competition for building products. The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is considering Penk’s legislation to open New Zealand to overseas building products.

“This will make a huge difference in relation to innovation, supply resilience (hands up if you remember the plasterboard shortage) and, of course, pricing, all without lowering standards.”

Penk says more substantive reforms are underway beyond the ‘quick-win’ changes already implemented and that nailing details will be a central focus of his in 2025.

“This includes moves towards greater use of remote visual inspections as the default approach, options to replace the current Building Consent Authority system with a simplified model (fewer councils involved, basically), and a risk-based consenting system.

“Particularly important will be our crackdown on cowboys, on the one hand, while making it easier for trusted building professionals to self-certify relatively straightforward work on the other.”

Insulation Standards Major Issue

Arguably, Penk faced the most heat when he considered reducing insulation standards for new buildings, which the Green Building Council said would bring New Zealand back to standards decades out of date with most of the OECD. Penk says his final thoughts will come next year once clause H1 on energy efficiency is reviewed.

“For now, though, my final thought on the subject for 2024 is that I’m confident we can make a positive refinement to this set of rules,” he says.

“Mandating more insulation was a well-intentioned change, but the specifics have proven challenging and costly for some to implement, particularly where the “schedule method” has been used rather than the calculation or modelling methods.

“I have no intention to remove the need for good insulation, as clearly that’s needed for the purpose of energy efficiency and respiratory health. At the same time, though, I remain very determined that we have practical, cost-effective options available to Kiwi builders and residents. Watch this space in the first quarter of next year.

Looking Ahead

Recently, the remediation deadlines for quake-prone buildings were extended by another four years, giving time for an independent review of regulations. “The experience of many building owners under current earthquake building settings has been the worst of both worlds: earthquake-prone buildings are not being remediated and strengthened, nor demolished and replaced, with large costs associated with inaction,” Penk said.

Elsewhere, nearly 2,000 submissions were received on the Government’s proposals to make it easier to build granny flats without a resource or building consent—the highest number of submissions received for a building and construction consultation. Chris Penk is sure to be busy in 2025. Looking ahead, he says that liability for building works, which currently sits almost entirely with local councils, will be a “gnarly decision”.

From analysing this liability to granny flats and reconsidering standards, many more gnarly decisions are to come. “The key will be to make sure it all fits together coherently.”