Building and Construction Minister Jenny Salesa says new exemptions to the Building Act will be introduced to make such building work easier and cheaper.

The exemptions mean that single-storey detached buildings up to 30m2 – like sleepouts, sheds, greenhouses, carports and awnings - will now not require a council approved building consent.

However, any such work will still have to meet the Building Code, Salesa says.

“Some of the new exemptions will utilise the Licensed Building Practitioners Scheme, which recognises the competence of these building practitioners and allows them to join chartered professional engineers and certifying plumbers in having their own suite of exemptions.”

The move is expected to result in 9,000 fewer consents to process a year and save property owners $18 million in consenting costs each year.

It’s all part of an effort to clear the way for the construction sector to focus on larger projects that provide jobs and can assist the country’s recovery from Covid-19.

Salesa says the changes will save New Zealanders time and money and mean that councils can focus on higher risk building work, boosting the building and construction sector.

“This Government is finding ways to help build more houses by unclogging the building consent process, making it quicker and more affordable.”

Most of the new exemptions are expected to commence at the end of August, after the necessary changes to the Building Act have been made.

The announcement has attracted positive feedback from interested parties including councils, industry organisations and building owner groups.

But the exemptions are just one part of the Government’s broader building system reform programme.

That programme includes the suite of changes to the Building Act that were announced last year and which are intended to cut through red-tape and make carrying out prefab builds easier. ■