Selwyn building consent company expected to get green light
Building consents in the Selwyn district will soon be able to be issued by a private company.
The Selwyn Times understands an announcement will be made on Wednesday.
Until now, only the Selwyn District Council has been able to issue consents in the district.
It will be the first time a private company has been given the green light to issue consents in New Zealand.
Christchurch company Building Consent Approvals Ltd was given a building consent authority in October, pending approval from the Ministry of Business and Innovation.
It is understood the Minister for Building and Construction, Chris Penk, will be in Selwyn this week to make the announcement.
District council executive director development and growth Robert Love said the company will provide choice.
'Having a private BCA in the market provides choice for customers, so can be seen as healthy competition.'
So far this year, the district council has received 398 resource consents, down 8% compared to the 428 consents.
In April, the average processing time for consents was 35 days.
Love did not say whether the new company would mean consents were issued faster.
'The speed of consenting largely comes down to consenting volumes which fluctuate, and can be impacted by changes in legislation, which may mean processing of some areas takes longer as the Building Code becomes more complex,' he said.
Leading the project is Ian McCauley who has worked in building consent departments for multiple councils.
In October, McCauley told NZ Herald: 'It's been a hard slog over the last 18 months, but it's been worthwhile and paid off.'
Building Consent Approvals Ltd would not comment until the announcement was made public.
It is understood once the company starts issuing consents, its focus will be on lower-risk work, leaving more complex consents to the council.
A report to the council's audit and risk committee noted there was a risk the new company could mean a reduction in council workload and could see council staff move to Building Consent Approvals Ltd.
While any lost consents will mean a reduction in revenue, the company will still have to pay the council a filing fee for lodging a consent.
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