John MacDonald: A Cantabrian's perspective on govt building changes

I reckon a lot of us in Canterbury won’t be as excited as people elsewhere in the country about the Government’s plan to let builders, plumbers and drainlayers sign-off their own work. I say that because of the bare faced lies a lot of us were told by builders after the quakes. So this is going to apply to the construction of simple, standardised houses to try and reduce the need for so many council inspections and to speed-up building times. The Government reckons there’s about 3,000 homes that will pop-up sooner through these changes. But the only way I’d be happy to even consider going along with this, would be if the Government listens to what the NZ Certified Builders organisation is saying. Malcolm Fleming heads it and while he thinks, overall, the Government is doing the right thing, he reckons the Government should go further and introduce a quality mark for builders. To give homeowners confidence that their builder is qualified to sign-off their own work. I think it's a brilliant idea. Before the earthquakes we did quite a major renovation and I reckon, back then, I would have been quite happy for the builder to sign things off himself. He was an ex-detective. A great guy. And we didn’t have any problems with him at all. But that was back in the day when I was a bit more trusting. Not now, though. Because from what we saw here in Canterbury, when there’s the lure of money and cashflow and a need to keep your people busy, it can be pretty tempting for tradespeople to cut corners. And that’s what I see this new scheme being. A licence to cut corners. There are very good and reliable and trustworthy builders, plumbers and drainlayers who probably think I need to get over it. And maybe I do. But, when you get to the point of dreading seeing anyone in a high vis top coming down your driveway because you’ve been stung one too many times, then I can’t help feeling the way I do about this move by the Government. I won't be the only person in Canterbury feeling this way. I won't be the only person in the whole country feeling this way. Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk, though, thinks he’s onto a winner. He’s saying: “Making it easier and more affordable to build would open the door to home ownership for more Kiwis and support growth and job creation in the construction sector.” He says: “We can’t achieve this vision while the building consent system remains slow and overloaded. Even simple, single-storey homes must go through around 12 inspections before they’re finished, with costly delays when demand is high. “At a time when many Kiwis are locked out of the housing market, that’s simply not good enough.” But what I would say to that is that failing to learn from past mistakes isn’t good enough, either. And, surely, if we have learned anything from Canterbury's earthquake recovery experience it’s this. That, when it comes to building, more safeguards are needed - not less.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.