The Building Act 2004 requires that territorial authorities (TAs), regional authorities (RAs) and private bodies be registered as building consent authorities (BCAs) in order to undertake regulatory building control functions after 30 November 2007. In order to be registered as building consent authorities, organisations will need to meet the requirements in the Building (Accreditation of Building Consent Authorities) Regulations 2006.
The application of an accreditation and registration regime to New Zealand’s building control industry is new and is intended to strengthen New Zealand’s building control system.
Accreditation in the building control sector aims to help strengthen the decision-making processes at the critical building consent, inspection and approval stages of the building process. Successful implementation will help bring about greater consistency in regulatory building control across New Zealand. It will help lead to performance improvements and raised standards in the sector and more consumer confidence in the system.
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The Building Consent Authority Development Guide Management Module (the guide) is designed to apply a good quality assurance practice framework to regulatory building control in New Zealand.
This guide is intended for territorial and regional authorities and private bodies as a tool to help them assess their existing building control quality assurance policies, processes and procedures, against the requirements of the Building (Accreditation as a Building Consent Authority) Regulations 2006.
The guide will help these organisations make informed decisions about the preparation and self-assessment work that needs to be done for accreditation as a building consent authority.
The guide is designed around applying a good business and quality assurance framework to building control in New Zealand and will:
- help building consent authority applicants prepare their quality assurance policies, processes, and procedures for accreditation assessment and ongoing compliance
- help organisations assess how well existing policies, processes, and procedures comply with the accreditation requirements
- help organisations establish how well their existing or new systems are implemented
- provide good practice guidance that may be used (or adapted for use) by building consent authorities to demonstrate compliance with the accreditation standards.
It is not mandatory for organisations to use this information when developing documented BCA policies, systems and processes for building control functions. It is material for assistance and information only.
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The Building Consent Authority Development Guide Management Module contains module two, management and quality assurance processes and procedures.
Within the guide there are references to (TBA): these notations are substitutes for either the name of the organisation or named roles (e.g Technical Manager). Each building consent authority would designate appropriate roles for these tasks depending on their HR structure and operational model.