Chris Penk: Building Minister on the new importation rules regarding building supplies

The Building Minister says new importation rules will increase supply and competition.  

The Government has introduced new legislation to make it easier to import building supplies from abroad.

It'll enable recognition of overseas standards, and Building Consent Authorities will need to accept products already certified offshore.  

Chris Penk told Mike Hosking this is an important step to bringing down building costs.  

He says it goes alongside the work the government's doing in freeing up land to make it easier, quicker, and more affordable to build houses. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So actus as to a greater range of building materials.
As a step close to the Building Amendment, Build has
been introduced to Parliament. This is the one that came
out of the jib shambles a couple of years back.
The Building and Construction Minister is Chris Pink. Chris, morning
to you, good morning. Of all the things you guys
are doing around building, housing, land, et cetera in this country,
where does this sit in terms of importance and effectiveness?
Do you reckon?

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Well, look, I think it's pretty important and pretty five
percent of the cost of construction is in materials, so
we can make a difference to that. But then it
goes alongside all the work that for example, Chris Bishop's
doing and freeing up the land in the first place,
other stuff that's going on in building a construction, so
around processes trying to make it easier and more affordable
and quicker to build some houses in this country.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
How much theory versus reality is there? In other words,
are there a pile of products that are just sitting
waiting to come to the country that never have been
that will flood the market and suddenly the price drops?

Speaker 2 (00:52):
Well, look, I think that would be the optimistic view.
I think obviously we've got to be realistic about the
tech debt. There are barriers that exist naturally to importing
products in this country, so we're a long way away.
We've got a small market. We're trying to make it
a market that's a bit lesson, by the way, by
encouraging a bit of activity. So that again, that's part
of the overall picture of trying to make it easier
and quicker and cheaper to build in this country. So look,

(01:15):
it'll be somewhere between the perfect world and what we've
got now, but it'll be a step in the right direction,
and certainly it's going to be about price, but also
a little bit of innovation and competition. It'll make people
sharpening pencils here because otherwise they would fear that people
would find it worth their while to ship a lot
of products from Australia, the US and wherever else.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
Small irony here. This comes a day after the final
reporting to Grenfell in Britain. What's to stop the sort
of products that cause Grenfell coming into the country and
be put on houses.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah, lot, very fair question. So our requirement is that
the same standards or higher equivalent standards from overseas are
going to need to be met. So it's not an
exercise in reducing safety or quality or sustainability for that matter.
It's saying that if you're already dead equivalent level two
Zealand in countries that you know have equivalent standard systems,

(02:05):
and by the way, also that conditions in New Zealand
are suitable for the use of those products, then you're
going to be able to use them. Otherwise, you know,
it'll remain that the normal pathways for getting stuff checked
is going to continue to apply, which is very slow
in numbers.

Speaker 1 (02:18):
Some much as a speaking of Sloane Compson, as I mentioned,
jib was twenty twenty two. How come does legislation take
so long? How come we're still here now and it's
still not passed and I'm assuming we'll be lucky to
have this passed by the end of the year.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
Well, look, I count for the previous government, but certainly
that was a golden opportunity that they had to do
something about this product. To be fair, people have talked
about for years in the class. The board shortage or
crisis of a couple of years ago was just the
most obvious and well known example. So we've moved quickly
on having come into government and we've got legislation that
is that yesterday has been introduced to the House. You know,

(02:52):
we'll do that as quickly as possible, but at the
same time, because the detail is important for Green Cell
Tower and a related reason, we're not going to shorten
the leagier sort of process. So you know, in terms
of us coming in and moving quickly, we've done that
and we know that people are really looking forward to
that coming into effect.

Speaker 1 (03:08):
Go well, well, have a good week in Chris pink
who's the Building Construction Minister. For more from the Mic
Asking Breakfast, listen live to news talks. It'd be from
six am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio