Key themes from submissions
What does the sector support?
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There was:
- a good response to the options discussion document with 270 submissions received from a broad range and representation of stakeholders from the building and construction sector and broader public
- weak support for statutory change to promote and give prominence to competition in the building regulatory system, but strong support for non-regulatory approaches
- strong support for removing impediments to product substitution and variation, but also an acknowledgement of the need to carefully consider the performance of a product when substituting
- general agreement that the roles and responsibilities of participants in the building sector need to be strengthened and made clearer, particularly for designers
- strong support for clarifying the role and legal status of producer statements
- broad in-principle support to establish a self-certification pathway for approved professionals and accredited companies, and a new commercial consent pathway, but concerns about the readiness of the sector to take on the additional responsibilities and accountabilities
- general agreement that the performance of the building consent system could be improved and made more efficient and streamlined. Specifically, there was strong support for improving consistency of consent services at a national level, particularly through nationally consistent processes and requirements and centralised training for building control officers.
- strong support for boosting capability and capacity across the building consent system through more coordination and joined-up service delivery, including through shared workflows or service arrangements and a centralised resource of expertise
- broad agreement that MBIE needs to improve its oversight and stewardship functions, and better drive improvements in the performance of the regulatory system through more collaboration, better monitoring and being more responsiveness to issues and risks
- mixed views on whether Māori face additional barriers across the wider building process and the intent of the options for the building consent system to be more responsive to Māori needs and aspirations; namely capacity, capability, and relationship issues.