Consultation on increasing the use of remote inspections in the building consent process

Have your say on options to increase the use of remote inspections

About the consultation

The Government is committed to removing regulatory barriers and making it faster, cheaper, and easier for Kiwi families to build the healthy, safe and durable homes they want.

Remote inspections are already being used by some Building Consent Authorities; however, uptake is low and practices vary across the country.

Conducting inspections remotely may reduce delays associated with on-site inspections, lower costs, and lift efficiency by:

• eliminating the need to travel to site, allowing inspectors to conduct more inspections per day
• increasing flexibility in the workday of inspectors and building professionals
• enabling inspectors to carry out inspections in other regions.

MBIE is seeking feedback on options which include:

• requiring building consent authorities to use remote inspections as the default approach
• requiring building consent authorities to have the systems and capability to conduct remote inspections
• non-regulatory initiatives to lift inspection productivity
• creating a new offence to deter deceptive behaviour during a remote inspection and give building consent authorities more confidence to inspect remotely.

The consultation also seeks feedback on increasing the use of Accredited Organisations (Building) to undertake inspections. These are private organisations that can be accredited under the Building (Accreditation of Building Consent Authorities) Regulations 2006 and can process building consent applications on behalf of building consent authorities.

We are seeking feedback from a broad range of submitters on the options you prefer, and on the benefits and costs of remote inspections for individuals and organisations.