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Building Amendment Bill (No 2) (Consistent) [2008] NZBORARp 32 (30 July 2008)

Last Updated: 19 March 2020

Building Amendment Bill (No 2)

30 July 2008

Attorney-General

LEGAL ADVICE

CONSISTENCY WITH THE NEW ZEALAND BILL OF RIGHTS ACT 1990: BUILDING AMENDMENT BILL (NO 2)

1. We have considered whether the Building Amendment Bill (No 2) (the 'Bill') (PCO

13228/6.0) is consistent with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (the 'Bill of Rights Act'). We understand that the Bill will be considered by the Cabinet Legislation Committee on 7 August 2008.

2. The purpose of the Bill is to increase the flexibility and efficiency of the building consent process and facilitate an increased supply of affordable houses, while ensuring that quality homes and buildings are constructed.

3. Specifically, the Bill:

• extends the Department of Building and Housing's functions and powers to allow it to issue national multiple-use approvals for dwellings and buildings that are to be replicated on a substantive scale;

• reduces the statutory time frame for processing a building consent application from

20 working days to 10 working days where the application includes a national multiple-use approval;

• differentiates between major and minor variations to consented building work, to support best practice in managing amendments to building consents; and
• makes it voluntary for an owner to obtain a project information memorandum from a building consent authority that is a territorial authority.
  

We have concluded that the Bill does not appear to be inconsistent with the rights and freedoms affirmed by the Bill of Rights Act.

Michael Petherick

Manager, Ministerial Advice

Office of Legal Counsel

Stuart Beresford
Policy Manager, Bill of Rights/Human Rights
Public Law Group

In addition to the general disclaimer for all documents on this website, please note the following: This advice was prepared to assist the Attorney-General to determine whether a report should be made to Parliament under s 7 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 in relation to the Building Amendment Bill (No 2). It should not be used or acted upon for any other purpose. The advice does no more than assess whether the Bill complies with the minimum guarantees contained in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. The release of this advice should not be taken to indicate that the Attorney-General agrees with all aspects of it, nor does its release constitute a general waiver of legal professional privilege in respect

of this or any other matter. Whilst care has been taken to ensure that this document is an accurate reproduction of the advice provided to the Attorney-General, neither the Ministry of Justice nor the Crown Law Office accepts any liability for any errors or omissions.