In his presentation, Bob gave us an insight into the recent developments within Auckland Council and the Council’s desire to be fully engaged with the industry. Bob references the Council's understanding to embrace technology with site inspectors taking tablets onsite in order to check technical documents and installation guides have been followed correctly in order to give approvals.  He also covered the efficiencies of the Standard dwelling partnerships and the pilots for terraced housing and commercial projects. 

Feedback from Council staff and key building developers has shaped the new Building Control office restructure, the main change being the regionalisation of operations.  Managers are now responsible for areas of function (for example in process or inspection) rather than for specific regions and operate out of 12 different areas across the city.  The aim is to make Council approachable and for advice and guidance to be accessible for product suppliers, designers and homeowners.

Three areas of improvement following the restructure have been an improvement in approval times, a reduction in consent costs and a more consistent approach from Council across the board. 

Process improvement is identified as a key area, with the anticipated result being an increase in the quality of applications received by Council.