Council gets building accreditation
Monday, June 16, 2008
HUTT CITY COUNCIL has been accredited as a Building Consent Authority, after a “huge amount of work” during the past two years.
Geoff Stuart, Divisional Manager Inspections, says the council has had to review all policies, procedures and systems relating to building accreditation, consents and inspections.
“Then we had to show that they are being used as we say they are, and that competent people are employed in the right positions to do the work to a high standard. It’s been a huge amount of work for many people.”
The council was the first in the Wellington region to be accredited.
Accreditation for all local authorities is part of a four-plank government strategy to ensure building problems don’t occur, such as with the recent “leaky homes”. Other parts of the strategy include stricter rules for builders, for designers, and product certification.
Hutt City worked closely with the councils of Wellington, Upper Hutt, Porirua and Kapiti Coast to devise a quality management system, and then worked separately to adapt its process and procedures to the requirements of the city.
Geoff says Hutt City Council needed to provide extra training for some existing staff and hired more staff.
In the immediate term, even for Hutt City Council, difficulties getting qualified staff in the consents and planning area have helped cause a backlog in processing applications.
The Divisional Manager for Environmental Consents, Helen Oram, says the council has just appointed a new Building Manager and is recruiting experienced senior consenting officers. This, along with weekend processing, will reduce that backlog.