Twenty years since the leaky home disaster began, 1News can reveal it is still costing councils tens of millions of dollars every year.
With the Government making a series of changes to simplify and streamline the consenting rules, there are warnings it needs to be careful we don’t end up with another building catastrophe.
The Government wants virtual inspections to be rolled out as the “default” nationwide. But there are calls for caution.
New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors president Darryl August said it is a case of “making sure that things are done correctly, on building sites in particular, and making sure the inspector can see everything that he’s required to see”.
Building Minister Chris Penk said it also involves “a level of trust for licensed building practitioners and others who are using the system which you mitigate as best you can”.
Remote inspections are on the long list of changes Penk is proposing to make building easier.
In Christchurch, CTV building advocate David Lynch said there’s been “too many shortcuts” in the city, of which the CTV building is a “classic example”.
“We cannot have that happen again and that will be something again, we’ll be impressing upon the Minister and the Prime Minister to really think.”
In some cases, Auckland Council already uses remote inspections. But two decades on since the leaky homes crisis began, it’s still costing ratepayers millions.
In the last year alone, the council paid out $25 million in weathertightness-related claims.
August said “we are at the coalface” of the issues people have with defective buildings.
“We see day in, day out the misery, the hardship that goes alongside it.”
Meanwhile, Penk told 1News the Government is “not lowering any standards”.
“All the standards exist or will be raised, if anything.”
The industry is welcoming the innovation, but said it needs to come with other protections, such as more training.
“There are some fantastic contractors out there in the industry, but there are also some bad apples and that spoils it for everybody.”
Penk agreed, saying they “do want to crack down on cowboys, frankly”.
“Too many people have lost livelihoods associated with poor practices, either on an individual level or we get a systemic failure.”
With consultation on remote inspections now open, the industry is sure to have their say.
