Building Act causes inspection bottleneck

16 March 2004

Building Act causes inspection bottleneck

If you need a building inspected before the new Building Act comes into force on the 1st of April, the best plan is to book ahead.

That’s the advice Waitakere City Council staff are giving to builders, plumbers and drainlayers who need code compliance certificates for their work during the month of March.

Councillor Vanessa Neeson says there is a combination of factors involved in the rush for building inspectors.

“Firstly, there is the new Building Act. Many people are trying to get jobs signed off before this comes into force. Then there is the fact that this is the building season; the stretch of fine weather was a long time coming,” she says.

At present there is a three to four day delay in getting a building inspected, compared to the usual one to two day wait.

Councillor Neeson says there is also a rush of people trying to get final signoff on older buildings.

“People are saying, why haven’t you got enough inspectors? At present there is a New Zealand-wide shortage of trained building inspectors. We have 12 building inspectors and five plumbing and drainage inspectors. The maximum output of the former is 60 building inspections in one day and the latter can handle 45 a day at full stretch.

“We are saying that builders need to plan ahead during this temporary period and book their inspections early,” she says.

ENDS

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