In these newsletters, we cover the latest building industry news, trends, and tips. In this particular issue, we run through how to streamline building inspections, the latest trends for our district, and we also talk to our newest Building Control Officer about his transition over from the Trades

Protecting the surrounding environment

Site management is an important part of any construction project - from a private dwelling to a large scale development. If the right environmental control measures are not utilised, there can be devastating effects on the surrounding ecosystems.

Sediment run off, waste, dust and contaminants from building products all need to be effectively managed on each building site. The diagram above shows the basics of site management practices that are expected to be undertaken (to view a larger version, please click here). 

Proactively managing your building site has many benefits including:

• Saving money by avoiding remedial works, reducing compliance hiccups and QLDC monitoring costs
• Reducing stress and saving time by having effective and efficient environmental site controls in place
• Most importantly, protecting and enhancing the Queenstown Lakes District's pristine environment

To mitigate adverse environmental effects on your building site, please follow these five steps:

1. Construct a stabilised entranceway: Prevent mud and other sediments tracking onto surrounding roads and storm water networks. 
2. Minimise exposed areas: Maintain as much vegetation on site as you can. Cover stockpiles with mulch/tarpaulins or coconut fibre matting to restrict erosion and sediment runoff.
3. Divert clean water around your site and treat dirty water onsite: Use bunds to divert clean rainwater away from your site. This will make your site drier and easier to work in while limiting water that may become contaminated and enter storm water networks. 
4. Install silt fences: Install silt fences on the down sloping corners of your site. Silt fences are an effective tool to restrict overland flows moving of your site onto roads, footpaths, storm water networks and ultimately waterways.
5. Appropriately dispose of waste: Ensure all rubbish is disposed of and retained in your skip on site. Have a designated wash down area away from any drains. All paint/concrete wash must be directed into the unsealed wash down area where is can drain through the ground appropriately. 

QLDC officers actively monitor construction sites of all scales across the district. Please note that if non-compliant sites are identified, further enforcement action will be undertaken. 

For any assistance regarding how your site can be better managed, please contact the Resource Consent Monitoring team on RCMonitoring@qldc.govt.nz. They are available to assist you free of charge from 8.00am-5.00pm Monday to Friday.

Acing your inspections

Did you know there are three usual suspects for failed building inspections?

Here are some tips for how to prevent these happening to you. Later on in this article we also provide some ideas for how you can streamline your overall inspection process:

1.    Work not ready or incomplete:
All work to be inspected needs to be complete. When it comes to scheduling inspections we aim for a 3-4 day timeframe for bookings so you should plan ahead. Accompanying your building consent is a list of required inspections and details of the items we check for each inspection and you should use this list as a guide when assessing your inspection readiness. When we find work incomplete or missing critical elements (e.g. a pre-cladding inspection where flashings have not been completed), a re-inspection will be required which can delay your work. 

2.    Work not carried out in accordance with the plans:
When a Code Compliance Certificate (CCC) is issued at the end of a project it is a statement from QLDC that we are satisfied the building work has been completed in accordance with the approved plans and consent. What has been constructed should match the plans for this to happen so any changes need to be approved prior to being made.

All changes require prior approval before being undertaken and they fall into two categories (more info on these can be found on the QLDC website):

• Minor Variations - minor changes that do not significantly alter the building 
• Amendments - significant changes including to the building footprint or extent of the work (these may also require a whole new Building Consent application)

It is important to know that changes need to be assessed to confirm they comply with requirements of the Building Code. If we are unable to ascertain compliance at the time of inspection, we will have no option but to fail the inspection until a later time when all relevant information is provided, reviewed and approved and we may also require a re-inspection.

You should also consider the fact that building work in connection with the structure or weather tightness on residential projects is restricted work and can only be undertaken by Licensed Building Practitioners (LBP), including design work. If you make changes, you need the approval of the designer and you should consult the building owner to ensure they are aware of and approve the changes.
Failure to adequately demonstrate that the changes comply with the Building Code and have been made or approved by the correct people is the most common cause of failed building inspections.

3.    Incomplete documentation on site:
When a Building Consent is issued, all the information QLDC considers necessary to construct the building is provided with the consent. This includes not just plans but specifications, product specifications and installation instructions.

All this information can be found in the “BC Issued” folder on our e-Ddocs service and should be available at your building site in either hard copy or electronic format for Building Control Officers to refer to if required when carrying out inspections. Any information relating to approved changes should also be available at your site. Our Building Control Officers do not carry copies of your building consent documentation due to the size of the electronic files involved.

With these 3 simple steps, you should have a faster and easier building inspection:
1.    Make sure you are ready for the inspection
2.    Obtain prior approval for any changes 
3.    Ensure all required documentation is available at your building site for the inspection

You should also be aware that since October 2018 you need to apply for CCC in order to obtain approval for a final inspection. This is so we can review the consent, ensure all required inspections have been undertaken and passed, and check that outstanding documentation has been provided in order to process and issue the CCC more quickly. There is further information available on the QLDC website including links to all relevant forms.

For any assistance on your Building Enquiries, please contact one of our Duty Building Officers  on 03 441 0499. They are available to assist you from 8.00am-5.00pm Monday to Friday.

Building trends

The Building Services team has experienced another busy period over the last quarter with consent applications ahead of last year’s record numbers.

Wanaka residential consent numbers remain very strong with Queenstown commercial consents also remaining at very high levels. A drive around areas like Frankton Flats certainly confirms the commercial activity with a number of projects either fully underway or nearing the start of construction. Building consent values last year sit at approximately $1bn, which places QLDC along Hamilton and Tauranga for activity levels and only behind Auckland and Christchurch. This is amazing for a district with only 40,000 residents.

The Building Services team is processing residential consents well within the 20 day statutory timeframe which is great for builders and new homeowners. However there is still significant pressure on commercial consent processing. We have increased our commercial processing capacity over the last three months to cope with the demand and this should start to flow through to commercial consents being processed in shorter timeframes from March. 

The increased level of activity has also placed considerable pressure on the Inspections (Building Control) team with 20,000 inspections being forecast for this financial year. This is up from 18,000 last year and 14,000 in 2016/2017. In Wanaka, we are at full strength with four inspectors available and inspections sitting at around three-four days. In Queenstown, we have lost a number of inspectors over the last year to the private sector and this has resulted in the engagement of contractors to cover the shortfall. Even so, inspections can still take between five-seven days from booking.

We are actively recruiting for Building Control Officers for the Inspections team currently. I have asked one of our newest recruits to the inspections team, Luke Campbell, to write a few words about his experience moving from the building trade to this role. His article is in this newsletter. If you are a tradesperson with a great attitude wanting a career change that offers an excellent work life balance (8.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday) with good pay and excellent training and development opportunities then please contact me to discuss.

Meet Luke Campbell

Luke Campbell started work as a Building Control Officer in September 2018. To find out how he has handled the transition from Builder to Building Control Officer (aka Building Inspector), we asked him a few questions about his experience.

Q. Tell us a little about your background before QLDC.
A. I live in Kingston and have been in the Queenstown Lakes district for the past couple of years working as a LBP Builder with my brother.

I’ve been in the Building and Construction trade for over ten years and have worked all over the place including Perth, Jasper, and London so have built up a fair bit of experience working with different characters over the years. 

Q. What made you apply for the Building Control Officer role?
A. I saw the job advertised on Trade Me and it sounded like an interesting career move. With the massive amount of architectural housing happening with the district’s building boom, it sounded like a really good opportunity.

Q. What has been your experience so far? 
A. The Building Services team are a really cool bunch of people who make it a pretty interesting place to work – there’s a strong, positive culture where if you put the work in you get a lot out of it. If you’re a driven person, it’s what you want in a career. 

After settling in and becoming more familiar with my surroundings in an office and new role on-site, it has been really rewarding plus I also have more of a work/life balance (8 - 5 Monday to Friday).

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 Construction Management with the Open Polytechnic and this training continues as your skills progress.

Q. What have been the main differences between the Trades and this role?
A. It was quite an adjustment to make the switch from building as a Carpenter to Building Control Officer which was a bit daunting at first. I have received a lot of support from the team though, as the role needs a lot of focus and a slightly different approach than being on the tools. 

For me, the main differences are:

• For Trades:  you get a set of plans, are onsite for 12 months, work with one stage over a prolonged period, and are working within the building code.
• For Building Control: you’re still in the industry but you see all aspects of a build and a range of architectural designs, and are looking at the compliance with the building code (focussing on the houses not the builders).

Q. What’s an average day for you now?
A. I’ve been blown away with just how exciting the role is. I’m out and about a lot and visit a number of building sites - I can see up to 10 stages of a build in any one day which means I’m exposed to a variety of projects and designs.

Our Building Services team

Our Building Services team is overseen by Chris English, QLDC's Building Services Manager. Together with Chris, we provide important services to our district's community.

We work across our Wanaka and Queenstown offices and this format enables us to have coverage all the way from Kingston to Makarora for building queries. These queries range from building consents, to inspections and compliance checks and can come from a variety of people - builders, architects, developers, and members of the public who may not have built before.

To view previous issues, please visit: www.qldc.govt.nz/planning/building-consents/brace-yourself

If there is a topic that you would like to see covered, please let us know by emailing: chris.english@qldc.govt.nz