Auckland Council has been highlighting examples this week of shoddy building practice to show how it is actively monitoring compliance with the Building Act across Auckland.
Building compliance manager Ian McCormick says builders are given an opportunity to remedy poor work but they must meet the standards of the building code or council will not approve the work.
"If it doesn’t meet the building code, it doesn’t get our sign off. We are very clear about this with builders and developers.
"We are called to inspect over 3,000 construction sites a week. The majority of these are well run and any issues that we detect are minor and easily addressed. We have some outstanding building practitioners in Auckland, however we are seeing an increasing number of sites that suffer from a lack of effective supervision.
“Given the high level of activity at present, we need to ensure developers and builders understand that there is no room for shortcuts, and that we will be actively monitoring their work. Auckland is in a period of high building activity and so it's more important than ever that we make sure the high standards required by the building code are maintained for the future.
"It is not our intention to identify the sites or developers. But we are making sure that non-compliant work is remediated prior to any Code of Compliance Certificate being issued.
"We are doing this at a range of sites across the region, and in all of the cases highlighted in our videos remedial work is underway and being monitored by our qualified building inspectors.
"That means the developers have a chance to put it right, and we can all have more confidence that high building standards are maintained at a time of high building activity.
“It’s important to note that the building code addresses how a building should perform structurally over its lifetime, not the quality of finish. This is not something we are empowered to control. Thus, as in all services and products one purchases, you need to select your designer and builders carefully.”
"Auckland Council has for some time been concerned about construction standards and has embarked on a collaborative programme with key industry organisations to improve quality."