The Numbers Are Damning
A survey conducted by CBS Co-op has produced results that most in the building industry will recognise immediately, even if the scale is still striking. Eighty-two percent of respondents rated their local Building Control Authority (BCA) as poor or fair for efficiency. Seventy-three percent reported highly inconsistent decision-making between inspectors or between regions on identical or near-identical issues. Eighty percent said BCAs were inconsistent in how they handled on-site amendments.
Sixty percent of builders considered traffic management requirements for small residential projects to be unnecessary and disproportionately expensive. Some respondents reported waiting more than a week for basic inspections — inspections that could reasonably be completed by video or phone in many instances.
The Technology Gap
Most councils have not adopted video or phone-based inspection options despite the technical feasibility of remote inspections for a wide range of common building stages. The result is builders sitting idle on site, unable to proceed, while waiting for an inspector who could confirm compliance from footage taken by the builder or a site supervisor.
CBS Co-op CEO Carl Taylor described the situation directly: “Delays, inconsistency, and lack of accountability within the consenting system are adding unnecessary cost and stress to an industry that cannot afford either right now.” The problem is not isolated — builders in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Selwyn, and Dunedin all reported similar experiences.
The Inconsistency Problem
The inconsistency issue may be the more damaging of the two. A builder who gets conflicting rulings from two inspectors at the same council, or who gets different interpretations of the same code provision across territorial boundaries, cannot price or plan work with confidence. The practical effect is that builders over-engineer or over-document to hedge against unpredictable outcomes — increasing cost and time without improving quality.
A nationally consistent framework for common inspection types and code interpretations would significantly reduce this friction. MBIE has the legislative power to issue guidance that effectively standardises BCA practice, but the political will to do so has historically been limited.
What the Industry Is Asking For
CBS Co-op is advocating for a package of reforms including:
- Nationally consistent frameworks for common inspection categories
- Mandatory availability of remote inspection options for standard work stages
- Reduced bureaucratic requirements for minor residential work
- Clear accountability mechanisms for BCA performance against service standards
The reforms are not radical. Most comparable jurisdictions already operate with some version of these features. The question is whether the regulatory appetite exists to impose them on councils that have historically treated consenting as a revenue stream and a risk-management tool rather than a service.
