THE BUILDING ACT AND RECONSTRUCTION PROGRAMMES IN NEW ZEALAND: MATTERS ARISING

The study is an on-going research initiative to determine the effects that the implementation of the Building Act 2004 will have on post-disaster reconstruction programmes in New Zealand. Particularly, in large-scale disaster events with sudden-onsets, the provisions of this Act and other legislative provisions need to be supportive and enabling so as to facilitate speedy reconstruction and reinstatement. An on-line survey of building control officers and other disaster practitioners in New Zealand was undertaken and their responses to issues connected with application of the Building Act 2004 are analysed quantitatively. The results indicate that there remain challenges to meeting reconstruction objectives both efficiently and effectively under the new Building Act regime. Prevalent amongst the matters raised were those of procedural constraints as a result of high consenting standards and other logistic considerations. Considerable attention is required to implement the Building Act and other legislation during the two overlapping phases of response and recovery. The desire is to create the best possible conditions that will encourage rapid rebuilding of lives and communities after large-scale disasters in New Zealand