Monitoring the efficiency of building consent processes for new Kāinga Ora public housing

This report describes the observed efficiency, effectiveness and consistency of the end-to-end building consent processes as they have been applied to new public housing commissioned by Kāinga Ora (as an agent of the Crown). It also provides a baseline for identifying efficiency gains over time through, for example, greater use of ‘MultiProof’ and modular components.

The review was completed on a sample of projects that were consented by local BCAs across the country. MBIE contracted an independent expert panel to read and discuss documents from 38 building consent files. Panel members drew on their extensive knowledge of the building regulatory system, and discussed policy, operational and specialist perspectives with BCA managers, and Kāinga Ora and MBIE officials.

Kāinga Ora has made good progress in addressing findings of the report. The establishment of Consentium - New Zealand's first nationally accredited and registered non-Territorial Authority BCA as a standalone and independent organisation within Kāinga Ora - has enabled Kāinga Ora to reduce the length of time it takes to respond to Requests for Information (RFIs); make better use of multi-proofs; improve the quality of consent documentation; and drive a more efficient building consent process.