New regulation mandates faster building inspections

A new regulation that took effect on 22 August require Building Consent Authorities (BCAs) to complete 80% of building inspections within three working days of a request being made 

The regulation states: “The policies and procedures that a building consent authority has in place for planning, performing, and managing inspections must ensure that a minimum of 80% of inspections are carried out within the period of 3 working days after the date for inspection requested by the building owner or their agent.” 

The regulation, part of the Building (Accreditation of Building Consent Authorities) Amendment Regulations 2025, is intended to reduce costly delays in construction projects and provide builders with greater scheduling certainty. 

Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk said “Until now, there has been no requirement for inspections to be completed within a certain timeframe, and the result has been unnecessary delays holding up projects, especially during times of high demand.  

“Delays add significant time and cost to a project, especially when work must stop and resources or people need to be reallocated.”  

Penk estimated that these delays can add around $400 a day to the cost of a project. 

BCAs have flexibility, but performance to be tracked 

BCAs can prioritise inspections at their discretion to meet the 80% target. For instance, they may adopt a risk-based approach that gives precedence to higher-risk or more complex projects. 

To support transparency and accountability, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) will begin publishing quarterly inspection wait time data for each council from late 2025. This data will show whether councils are meeting the three-day target, giving the sector clearer visibility of performance. 

Penk said this model had been effective in other areas of the building system. 

“The Government took the same approach with consent and code compliance processing times and, once those figures were reported publicly, delays dropped.” 

Reforms to ease pressure on BCAs 

Penk believes the new inspection targets are achievable and are supported by broader reforms aimed at reducing unnecessary red tape across the building sector. 

These include a self-certification scheme for trusted trades – currently in development – and an exemption allowing granny flats up to 70m² to be built without consent, expected to come into force by early 2026. 

“With the Government also moving to reduce regulatory burdens in the building consent system, I’m confident BCAs will have more capacity to meet this new target,” he said. 

Mixed response from industry 

Jo Neale, Managing Director at Homes by Orange, told Under Construction that he believed the 80% target is realistic.  

“In Nelson and Tasman, I think they are probably meeting that at the moment, as the volume of building work has fallen away,” he said. 

However, he noted that delays can still occur due to missing documentation outside the builder’s control. 

“The thing that causes delays regarding inspections is that the council will put a stop to them if it doesn’t have certain regulatory paperwork […] But we’re reliant on suppliers / professionals giving us that paperwork, [so it’s not always within our direct control].” 

Greg Sinnott, Director at Sentinel Homes Otago, said he believes councils will need \support to hit the newly imposed targets.  

“Around Otago, they’re not being done within three working days. I’m not blaming the inspectors, because I know councils don’t have the financial resources, so they will need help to hit that 80% benchmark,” he said.