Building Amendment Act 2009

The Building Amendment Act 2009 came into force on 1 August 2009.  It phases in three specific initiatives to reduce compliance requirements under the Building Act 2004 and improve the efficiency of the building consent process.  The Act has the following amendments:

• once regulations have been approved by the government, it will introduce national multiple-use approvals, which streamline the building consent process for house designs to be replicated on scale
• once regulations have been approved by the government, it will define a new streamlined process for managing minor variations to building consents after a building consent is issued
• from 1 February 2010, it will make the requirement to obtain a project information memorandum voluntary, which reduces time and costs to building consent applicants.

The Act is a first step in the Government’s plan to make reforms to the Building Act 2004.  A wider review of the Building Act is underway with a view to further reduce compliance requirements and costs without compromising building quality.

Read the Minister’s announcement.