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In these newsletters, we cover the latest building industry news, trends, and tips. In this particular issue, we talk about building trends, establishing your building's use under the Building Act and our third instalment in the 'How to pass a building inspection' series.
Building trends
Welcome to the new year and, just recently, another lockdown for some. You certainly have to feel sorry for the Auckland businesses affected by the latest community transmission. Thankfully, our neck of the woods was only in Alert Level Two for a short period of time.
QLDC’s Building team ended the 2020 year on a strong note with 128 consents received in December, only slightly down on previous years. However, the previous six months saw a decline in consent numbers of approximately 20%. This puts us back to 2015 levels of building consents. Talking to my colleagues around New Zealand, QLDC is the only district that has seen a decline in building consents. Every other Council is experiencing heavy building activity and they’re struggling to find enough staff to keep up.
January was very light for consents in the door at 83, but February has picked up. Wānaka continues to be a strong performer in the residential market with some people wanting to build, finding it difficult to engage a builder as they have forward orders months or even years ahead, in some cases.
Queenstown is suffering from a lack of available residential sections to build on, plus the significant commercial work that Queenstown had prior to COVID-19, not surprisingly, has dropped off.
It’s difficult to predict where building trends will go in our district in 2021. One positive of the reduced workload is that 100% of consents are being processed within 20 days and most in 12 days. Also, inspections are able to be booked two – three days in advance.
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How to pass a building inspection
This is the third instalment of a series of five articles that explain how builders and building owners can ensure a successful outcome in the building inspection process.
Part Three – Ensure the work is ready and accessible to inspect
Before arriving on site, the building inspector will review the inspection files to see the scheduled inspection is appropriate or whether there are any outstanding inspection requirements to be addressed beforehand. The builder should be aware of the following:
- Outstanding inspection items from previous inspections not yet signed off by the inspector must be addressed first where possible.
- Ensure the building work required for the booked inspection is substantially complete. The building inspector will need the builder to complete the works to a level that demonstrates compliance with the consented plans and the Building Code. This doesn’t mean that all elements of the building work for that inspection must be 100% complete but it will have to demonstrate satisfactory compliance will all elements of that inspection.
- If the builder requires only part of the building(s) to be inspected, a partial inspection can be carried out. A full pass will not be awarded until the inspector has inspected all other applicable areas requiring that inspection type.
- If the building work to be inspected has changed from the original consented documents, the building inspector should be made aware of such and presented with supporting documentation authorising the change. For example, a formal Minor Variation or Amendment or, in the case of other changes an authorisation from the designer or building owner. For more explanation of this, please see the previous instalment of Brace Yourself: Part Two – Documentation, and keep a look out for the next instalment: Part Four - Changes to consent building works.
- Safe access to the areas to be inspected must be provided. If the building inspector deems an area of necessary inspection inaccessible or unsafe, that area will not pass inspection.
- REMEMBER - If in doubt, contact the QLDC bookings line or a building inspector and ask. We will be happy to advise you how to proceed.
Establishing the building’s use under the Building Act
One of our most common building enquiries is about using a house, or a portion of it, for accommodation. The query generally relates to a kitchen sink and its implications. The Building Act is relatively silent on the relationship between sinks and establishing a building’s use. In this article, we discuss factors that the courts have used to establish a building’s use in relation to a single household, and how you can apply this to your building project. This is Building Act focused, and there is other legalisation you will need to consider and seek advice on including (but not limited to):
- QLDC District Plan definitions
Household: Means a single individual or group of people, and their dependents who normally occupy the same primary residence.
Kitchen: Means any space, facilities and surfaces for the storage, rinsing preparation and/or cooking of food, the washing of utensils and the disposal of waste water, including a food preparation bench, sink, oven, stove, hot-plate or separate hob, refrigerator, dish-washer and other kitchen appliances. - Development Contributions Policy
A residential flat for the purposes of this policy is a residential building or part of a residential building that is used, or can be used as independent residence, containing its own kitchen, living and toilet bathroom facilities that is secondary to the main residence. Note: the definition of a kitchen comes from the District Plan.
Generally establishing the ‘use’ of a building is simple. The ‘use’ of every building or part of a building is categorised by laws. For the purposes of the Building Act, that use is specified in Schedule 2 of the Regulations. The Building Act requires building work to comply with the Building Code. The Building Code has a series of technical clauses outlining performances that the building must achieve, depending on the building’s classification, as defined in Building Code Clause A1. However, as previous litigation has shown, establishing the use becomes more complex when a dwelling is intended to be used for accommodation or as a second dwelling.
Previous court judgements have reiterated the factors that can be used when assessing whether a building is a single household. The factors help in considering ‘’familial domesticity’’ and therefore whether the occupants are living as a single household or as a family. Some key point from previous judgments include;
The issue of whether a building is used as a dwelling for a single household is a question of fact and degree. The ultimate conclusion is reached through an evaluative process that takes into account all the factual issues that are relevant to the case in question.
“An organised family, including servants or attendants dwelling in a house”. The word “family” has a wide meaning, adequate in modern use to connote relationships of blood or marriage or other intimate relationships of a domestic nature, including for example persons sharing a dwelling-house such as students or friends. The essential connotation of the term is familial domesticity.
The very nature of the tenancy arrangements, their varied occupancy and absence of close familial relationships means that inevitably there would be less social cohesion in the event of an emergency such as a fire as would occur in a true organised family household.
The Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has made several determination using the factors outlined by the courts, including;
- https://www.building.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/resolving-problems/determinations/2020/2020-025.pdf
- https://www.building.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/resolving-problems/determinations/2019/2019-050.pdf
- https://www.building.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/resolving-problems/determinations/2019/2019-045.pdf
Summary of factors to be considered when determining the building’s use as a single household:
Click the table image below for an enlarged view.
No single item in the factors above will determine a building’s use, however when considered together it is likely that the use can be established.
In summary, the Building Code allows for buildings where the occupants could stay short term, provided the number of occupants is low, to fall within the detached dwellings classified use. It accepts a lower fire safety standard and mitigates the lack of social cohesion within these types of buildings, by restricting the number of occupants.
If you have further questions on this or other building questions please contact the building team at building@qldc.govt.nz.
Meet Dave Coulson
Dave started work as a Building Control Officer in September 2020. To find out how he has handled the transition from Construction Supervisor to Building Control Officer (aka Building Inspector), we asked him a few questions about his experience.
Tell us a little about your background before QLDC?
I have had many jobs throughout my working career, ranging from a diesel mechanic, working in Engineering environments to guiding mountain bike trips in the Queenstown area. I have also been in the Building and Construction trade for over ten years, being a qualified carpenter and working as an LBP builder. In the last few years, I have had the role of a construction supervisor / manager for multiple residential builds.
What made you apply for the Building Control Officer role?
I was looking to get on the learning curve again and for a new challenge in life. From my previous role I dealt with BCOs most days, it looked appealing and a lot less stressful.
What has been your experience so far?
Fantastic, I am now working for a company that not only cares about the environment, they also care about their staff. There is a great team environment, and everyone is here to help with my questions.
QLDC has also put a lot into training me in all aspects of Building Control with in-house and external training courses branching into all aspects of construction. I am currently enrolled in a diploma in Building Surveying with the Open Polytechnic.
What have been the main differences between
project management and this role?
I haven’t found the transition into the new role to be too challenging and am able to apply my existing knowledge to my position as a Building Control Officer. However, I do need to brush up on the technical side of construction now. With lots of training from QLDC and my Building Surveying course starting very soon, this will help with the transition.
What’s an average day for you now?
My day starts with checking building consents and reviewing previous inspections. From there, I am out on the road most of the day on inspections, looking at anything from a simple utility shed to a multi-million dollar building in the Southern Lakes area.
To view previous issues, please visit: https://www.qldc.govt.nz/services/building-services/additional-information/brace-yourself-building-services-newsletter
If there is a topic that you would like to see covered, please let us know by emailing: chris.english@qldc.govt.nz
