Council streamlines consent process
< Friday, 3 February 2012 Council
streamlines consent process Christchurch City Council is
introducing a raft of new measures to streamline its consent
process ahead of an expected increase in earthquake-related
applications - predicted to be an additional 10,000 a year
for at least three years. At yesterday's Council meeting,
staff outlined new online services designed for two big
groups of customers - group builders, and the project
management offices (PMOs) operated by major project
management firms. Specific teams have been set up to deal
with applications by eligible group builders and also PMOs
that engage a range of licensed building practitioners.
Furthermore, pre-application meetings would be arranged to
identify and resolve likely roadblocks in the consenting
process. An additional 69 full time staff will be
recruited. Mayor Bob Parker says, "By moving away from a
paper based system and streamlining our processes, we are
getting on the front foot to cope with this increase. Our
residents have told us they want speed, efficiency and
quality around the processing of consents, and providing
this will be a critical element of the rebuild." PMOs are
expected to handle the majority of residential repairs and
rebuilds, with professional group builders doing many of the
new builds. Separately from the Council's new processes,
the report also outlined Building Act changes being
implemented nationally by the Department of Building and
Housing. These Building Act changes mean that 'restricted'
building work - involving the structural integrity and
weathertightness of a building - can only be done by a
licensed building practitioner (LBP).
There are different
classes of LBPs, including designers, carpenters, foundation
specialists, external plasterers and roofers, and from 1
March this year, LBPs must sign-off on their work before a
Code Compliance Certificate can be issued. The Council is
holding a seminar with the Department of Building and
Housing on 21 February to educate licensed building
practitioners about the upcoming changes (for further
information contact: cccbuildingseminar@ccc.govt.nz).
-Ends-