11 - Human resources

Purpose

To assess the strength and depth of the Council's building control human resource capacity and how effectively it is being used.

Background

Increased building activity over the last few years has significantly increased the workload of building control staff. Territorial authorities and building consent authorities are able to address this by increasing staff levels and by using existing staff more effectively. Opportunities to increase staff levels are limited in the short term because the national supply of appropriately qualified and experienced new building control staff is limited.

Initial review

At the time of the initial review, the building control unit had two vacant positions for a building consent officer and a cadet. A new organisational structure had recently been introduced allowing for seven full-time members of staff.

The Department found that high workloads and gaps in technical skills and knowledge were contributing to the variable quality of consent-processing and inspection work. At the time of the review, the Council had begun the process of developing human resource strategies for its medium- to long-term operation.

Recommendations made and action taken by the Council

Recommendations made to the Council	Action taken by the Council
Recruit additional, technically competent and experienced staff to enable it to meet building control work volumes.	The Council had increased staff numbers.
Develop a long-term proactive strategic plan for recruitment and retention of building control processing and inspection staff.	The Council had not implemented this recommendation.

Follow-up review

The follow-up review found that although the Council had increased staff numbers, including a new building control manager, the cadet position remained unfilled owing to budgetary issues. The Council also had not developed a long-term plan for staff recruitment and retention.

The Department found that technical staff were not always being used effectively and noted that the Council's building control operations would benefit from further administrative support.

Recommendations made and response from the Council

Recommendations made to the Council	Response from the Council
Fill the vacant cadet position.	The Council advised of its intention to fill the vacant cadet position in the near future.
Employ additional administrative support staff to free up technical staff for more technical building control work.	The Council advised that it has engaged a Management Consultancy to review the resource and capability of the Building Compliance Centre. This report will specifically address the administrative and technical roles and the number of staff needed.
Establish a long-term plan for staff recruitment and retention.	The Council advised that it has recruitment and retention policies for its entire staff, including building control staff. In addition to a council-wide organisational review, a review of the structure of the Building Compliance Centre is taking place. It is anticipated that these two projects will provide additional recruitment and retention incentives for staff to work in the Building Compliance Centre.

Conclusion

The Council partially implemented the recommendations through its recruitment of additional building control staff. The Council's endeavours subsequent to the follow-up review are noted, although the Department did not get a chance to consider these as part of this review. The Department considers the Council's building control operations to still be under-resourced for the volume and type of work it faces. This was evident from the time delays in consent processing and inspection bookings, and daily inspection workloads on individual inspectors.