The Department of Internal Affairs

Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua

Building a safe, prosperous and respected nation



 

Services › Other Services › Summary Statement of Proposal for the Transfer of the Minister of Local Governments Building Act functions to Tauranga City Council

What is the proposal?

The proposal is to transfer the Minister of Local Government’s Building Act 2004 functions, in relation to offshore islands located within the Bay of Plenty region’s Coastal Marine Area, to Tauranga City Council (TCC). This will mean that when applying for a building consent or other application under the Building Act 2004, you will make the application with TCC instead of the Department of Internal Affairs or Minister of Local Government.

Why transfer the Minister’s Building Act functions?

The objectives of the proposal are:
  • to utilise the technical expertise and capability of TCC to enable building services to be provided in accordance with Building Act 2004 requirements; and
  • to make it easier for landowners, residents and the wider community to access Building Act 2004 services for the offshore islands by locating the services in the Bay of Plenty Region.
The Minister of Local Government has functions and duties under the Building Act 2004, however, as expertise is not available within the Minister’s office to carry out these functions, and he is not a registered or accredited Building Consent Authority, TCC has carried out aspects of this work for over five years. The proposed transfer will formalise this existing arrangement with TCC, and will ensure that building services provided are carried out by a registered, accredited, Building Consent Authority, as required by the Building Act 2004.

What options have been considered?

The following options exist for the Minister in relation to this proposal:

i) Status quo; i.e. do nothing.

This option is not preferred as the Minister is not a registered, accredited Building Consent Authority, and cannot issue documents such as building consents or code compliance certificates.

ii) The Minister becomes a registered, accredited Building Consent Authority.

This option is not preferred as the level of staffing, training, management and effort required is not proportionate to the number of building consents etc applied for.

iii) The Minister’s Building Act 2004 functions are transferred to another territorial authority in the Bay of Plenty region.

This option is not preferred as other territorial authorities in the region do not have experience with the offshore islands such as Motiti Island or Mayor/Tuhua Island that Tauranga City Council has.

iv) The Minister’s Building Act 2004 functions are transferred to TCC.

This option meets the objectives of the project as TCC (a registered, accredited Building Consent Authority) has the expertise and experience processing building consents and code compliance certificates on behalf of the Minister, and ensures Building Act services are located closer to the offshore islands. This option is essentially an extension of an existing arrangement between the Minister and TCC.

How can I have my say?

Venues and dates of public Information sessions will be confirmed on the website www.dia.govt.nz/offshoreislands as soon as that information is available and through direct contact with individuals and organisations.

To inspect the Statement of Proposal, or obtain a submission form for the Transfer of the Minister of Local Government’s Building Act functions to TCC please visit: For questions about the proposal, please ring Keith Frentz at Beca, Tauranga on (07) 578 0896.

Submissions on the proposal will be accepted until 5pm on 23 September 2011.