On Monday, 28 April 2025, the Honourable Chris Penk, Building and Construction Minister, announced that the Government has agreed to develop a new opt-in self-certification scheme, and introduce a mandatory target for building inspection timelines (see the announcement here). These initiatives are aimed at streamlining the building system.
Self-certification of building works
The central reform is the introduction of a new self-certification scheme. The scheme would allow trusted building professionals and accredited businesses to sign off their own work, reducing, and in some cases removing, the reviewing role of building consent authorities (BCAs).
Two self-certification pathways are proposed:
- a scheme for builders carrying out works, including design and construction, on an entire simple residential dwelling (to be defined following industry consultation); and
- a scheme for plumbers and drainlayers carrying out work on a simple residential dwelling.
These schemes will be enabled by amendments to the Building Act 2004 and the Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Act 2006. The schemes will be designed to streamline the building consent process by alleviating the burden on BCAs and expediting the construction process, by allowing BCAs to focus on high risk, complex builds. The Minister expects that approximately 3,000 homes will be built each year without delays as a result of this move. Under the scheme, BCAs will still be required to provide a nominal consent for simple homes where trusted building professionals are self-certifying their work.
Mandatory inspection targets
The Government is also setting a mandatory target requiring BCAs to complete 80% of building inspections within three working days. The success of BCAs in meeting the target will be shown in quarterly performance data with the objective of providing greater transparency and encouraging improved performance.
Next steps
The Government has expressed its commitment to making the building system more efficient, and Cabinet has agreed to an opt-in self-certification scheme. The inspection targets are expected to come into force later this year, and legislation to enable the self-certification is anticipated to be introduced by the end of the year. Detailed policy decisions will be made with industry consultation.
Our view
Though the case for faster delivery and reduced costs in the building and construction industries is compelling, these changes are not without risk.
Under the proposed scheme, responsibility for quality control and ensuring works comply with a building consent will fall on the self-certifier, along with liability for defective works. It is unclear to what extent a BCA will be responsible and therefore liable for works that do not comply with the nominal consent.
Shifting liability away from BCAs is consistent with other reforms the Government is considering, but it will be important to ensure this does not mean owners are left without an effective remedy when things go wrong. There is a risk that owners of defective buildings will have to rely on the solvency of the self-certifier, or other building professionals undertaking the building work, for a remedy (and any available insurance).
This article was co-authored by Oscar Read, Solicitor, and Ria Shon, Law Clerk in our Construction and Infrastructure team.
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