Ele Ludemann: Building cheaper

One reason building in New Zealand is so expensive is the difficulty of using imported building products. The government is changing that :

The coalition Government is eliminating barriers to the use of overseas building products to make it easier and more affordable to build in New Zealand, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says.

“Our Government has a plan to rebuild the economy to help Kiwis get ahead, and part of that plan includes cutting red tape and building more housing and infrastructure.

“It has become more difficult and expensive to build in New Zealand, with the cost of building a house increasing by 41 per cent since 2019. It is around 50 per cent more expensive to build a stand-alone house here than in Australia.

“Part of what drives up costs is the amount of red tape. For example, it is almost impossible to use new building products in New Zealand without facing huge delays, with some approval pathways taking up to two years before a new product is recognised for use.

“This red tape entrenches the use of well-known products, which lowers competition, increases the risk of supply chain disruptions like in the recent GIB shortage, and ultimately makes it more expensive to build anything.

Current building codes give far too much control of supply and prices to far too few suppliers.

“That’s why the Government is making three changes to the Building Act that will increase the availability of high-quality affordable building products and help lower the cost of building in New Zealand.”

These changes are:

1. Recognising building product standards from trusted overseas jurisdictions removing the need for designers or builders to verify standards, which is time-consuming and costly.
2. Requiring Building Consent Authorities to accept the use of products that comply with specific overseas standards that are equivalent to or higher than those in New Zealand.
3. Approving the use of building products certified through reputable certification schemes overseas. For example, the approval of one Australian scheme, WaterMark, could immediately provide Kiwis with access to 200,000 products.

“This is a major shakeup that will drive down the cost of building without compromising on quality, to make it easier and more affordable for people to build or renovate a home.

“It will also help improve the country’s resilience to supply chain disruptions and reduce barriers for Kiwi businesses trying to find alternative approval pathways in New Zealand and export their product overseas. . .

These changes are long over due.

It is important to have high standards for building materials but ridiculous to prohibit the use of materials that meet overseas standards that are at least as good as ours.

However, this isn’t the only change that’s needed.

We’ve just finished building a house for staff. It cost more than 25% more than a house built to the same plan did a couple of years ago.

Inflation can be blamed for part of the extra cost but a requirement for more insulation, even though the insulation in the older house is more than adequate, accounted for some of the increase too.

The builder told us that increased insulation is making houses so warm that homeowners are needing air conditioners in summer.

He also said if we were to build another house it would be even more expensive because ours was the last house for which they’d be able to use 4 x 2 framing. Any built from now on would require 6 x 2.

The government’s changes to building product standards are welcome. An investigation into recently introduced requirements for higher standards of insulation and farming is needed too.

Ele Ludemann is a North Otago farmer and journalist, who blogs HERE - where this article was sourced.