Podcasts about building act

In this week's podcast, we look at changes to limitation periods under the Defective Premises Act 1972 and Building Act 1984 made by the Building Safety Act (BSA) 2022. 

It's not just the Government who are taking a look at building consents. Hastings District Council has been looking into a more risk-based approach to building consents, aiming to bring the costs down for both building firms and consumers. Council CEO Nigel Bickle told Kerre Woodham that the current system was put in place with the 2004 Building Act in response to the significant damages and issues caused by leaky homes. He said that the system was always meant to be recalibrated. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's been a lot of good news on the home building front, you know, just for your average homeowner. The Government's plans to reform the building consent system to make it more affordable to build a new home – or a home. Jolly good news. The review of the building code to bring in a streamlined, risk-based consenting regime, as well as increasing the availability of construction materials, all good. There is no doubt we're paying through the nose to build homes here. The cost of building work consented per square metre for a standalone home in New Zealand in 2022 was $2591. In Australia it was $1743. So expensive. The total number of homes consented was in decline too. In the year to December 2023, 37,239 dwellings were consented, down from 49,538 the previous year. The government's proposed law changes, which will remove the need for building consents on homes under 60 square metres in certain areas —your granny flats— those changes have been welcomed by housing providers and also the opposition, so this is all good news, very good news. The Coalition government pitched the changes as a way to make it easier to build granny flats, tiny homes, and increase the supply of affordable housing. All well and good. My only concern when I heard the news was where are the checks and balances in terms of the quality of build? As Chris Penk put it, reforms around consenting homes and removing barriers to overseas building products will only succeed if we have qualified tradespeople doing the work, standing by it and being accountable if things go wrong. We've needed that for many, many years. When you look at the buck-passing around the leaky homes debacle that devastated the lives of so many New Zealanders, nobody was willing to take the blame, and I'm not saying the builders were at fault, but nobody was. Nobody was held accountable. Ratepayers ended up having to fork out huge sums of money to try and remediate the worst disaster that they could possibly have. Sinking every cent they had and future funds that they were going to generate into a home that was unliveable. How do we ensure that the work done is done right, especially when you hear tales of undercutting and people coming in and doing a job for next to nothing because they've got friends and family and relatives, and they're all living together in one big house? This is the complaint made by your professional builders who pay the going rate, don't undercut, know what a job is worth, and charge accordingly. How do you protect consumers from that? In the first instance, I'd say buyer beware. Don't just go for the cheapest price. If something sounds too good to be true, then it is. But most of us know very little about structures and engineering and building. When you go into a home, you expect that it has been built to last, as many homes have. And in more recent times, many homes have not. How on earth do you check that a building has been done properly, that in an addition, an add-on has been done properly? The unconsented tat that I had to pick my way through when I was trying to find a house at the height of the market, was just horrific. Even though I don't know anything about building, you know that when something's dangling off the edge of a Cliff held together with a piece of four by two, chances are it hasn't been consented. Some of the building inspections showed that it hadn't been consented. Things had popped up on the floor plan out of the blue. And it all went so far back that there was no ability to be held accountable. You just had to buy it aware that you could be buying into a whole load of problems, and these were houses that were going for millions in Auckland. The Government says that it's going to crack down on dodgy builders. That, as Chris Penk says, all of these improvements will only work, will only benefit consumers ultimately if the building is of a professional quality. So the crackdown looks to lift the competence and accountability requirements for building professionals, improving consumer protection measures in the Building Act and ensuring regulators have the right powers to hold people to account. It really counts for nothing. All very well and good to have a potential fine of $50,000 for an individual builder and $150,000 for businesses to deter bad behaviour, but since when has it? Some of these shonky builders that people employ, they haven't got $50K. You can whistle for your $50K. $150,000 for businesses to deter bad behaviour. Can I show you the Du Val group who have lost hundreds of millions and are now applying for legal aid? You're not going to get $150K out of them. So all well and good to lift the accountability requirements and the competency of building professionals but ultimately, we are all still going to be left just hoping and trusting that we've employed the right guys or girls. I've been very, very lucky with the renos I've done, amazing builders, but then they weren't the cheapest. They had integrity. They were jolly good at what they did. I presume they still are. The work lasted. They had absolute confidence, I had absolute confidence in them. That's what we need. Is that the norm? Or are there too many cowboys getting away with it? I'd really love to hear from the industry on this because only you will know a) if these reforms are going to improve things, and b) if these fines, this move to improve accountability and professionalism is going to actually work. I cannot see fines working in any way shape or form. The only way I can see this working is by having a barrier to entry into the profession. You know, having people who know what they're doing, who are proud of what they do, who stand by what they do. There are plenty of those in the building profession, we just need more of them. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Penalties could be on the cards for careless builders as the Government looks to strengthen professional requirements. It's eyeing key changes to the registration and licensing regimes, with a focus on lifting competence and accountability requirements; as well as improving Building Act consumer protections. Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk confirms it's also looking into a new offence for deliberately hiding non-compliant building work in remote inspections. That would mean a $50,000 fine for individuals or $150,000 for businesses, should it become law. Kerre Woodham is joined by Master Builders Chief Executive Ankit Sharma to discuss further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's proposing changes to the Resource Management Act and the Building Act – to help make it easier to build granny flats.   This follows a commitment in the National-NZ First coalition agreement, which requires the government to " Make it easier to build granny flats or other small structures up to 60 square metres, requiring only an engineer's report".  Housing Minister Chris Bishop told Heather du Plessis-Allan “I think it's going to appeal to a lot of different people – it's about housing supply.”  Bishop said “These are structures designed to get more people into warm, dry houses.”  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Building Industry Federation's top boss says cutting-red tape around building supplies will bring down costs.   The Government is changing the Building Act to address a shortage of supplies and long wait-times for new products to be approved.   That includes by green-lighting products with a reputable overseas certification and recognising approval schemes used in countries like Australia.   Julien Lays told Mike Hosking that there's hundreds of thousands of products out there that could be used.  He said that it provides far more competition, which is what we need.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government is changing the Building Act to address a shortage of supplies and long wait times for new products to be approved. This will include green-lighting products with a reputable overseas certification and recognising approval schemes used in countries like Australia. NZ Construction Industry Council chair Malcolm Fleming is pleased the Government is working to address this problem. "In my view, this is the industry's biggest issue- starving demand for new construction. What's important also in the announcement from the Minister and Prime Minister earlier today is looking at broadening the product availability." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the government had put “hundreds of millions [of dollars] more” onto the table for a “much more enhanced offer” to police last week. That offer was going out for voting by police in the next few days. Luxon took questions for an hour on Kerre Woodham's Newstalk ZB show today. He said he disagreed that National had used law and order issues as a marketing tool during the election, only to stint on the police pay offer, saying it had now put a “very good” proposition on the table. That enhanced offer for police included a move back to paid overtime, as well as a lump sum payment to help compensate for back pay. It was the second time it had put more money into the police offer since taking over as government. He said National was serious about giving police what they needed to tackle crime, saying it was one of the main issues voters had raised with them. On public service cuts, Luxon said there had been a “massive increase” in staff numbers and costs in the core public sector. “We haven't had the outcomes,” he said. His message to the public sector bosses was: “Go back through your back office, stop the dumb programmes that aren't working, make sure we get the efficiencies in the back office and get rid of the wasteful spending.” On the hiring spree in the public sector in the last half of last year, he said that was “very disappointing” given both National and Labour had made it clear they wanted cuts. He said the increase in staff at the Ministry of Education to reform the curriculum was a “classic example”. He said the New Zealand curriculum was made up of “airy-fairy statements” and teachers were expected to try to interpret them – and that had led to different teaching across the country. He said the speed with which the cellphone ban had been implemented had shown things could be done quickly if wanted. He believed that had led to a drop in cyberbullying as well as removing distractions. Luxon also said he disagreed that the return of referendums on Māori wards was a return to a “bad past”, saying National had not agreed with the shift away from them. He said he believed it should be a matter of local democracy for local communities to be able to decide whether the wards were set up. Luxon said the issue of allowing a referendum on the Treaty of Waitangi - as David Seymour wants - was a different matter to the Māori wards. National has made it clear it will not support Seymour's Treaty Principles Bill beyond the first reading, and Luxon said that was because of the important place the Treaty had in New Zealand. He said National agreed with localism, and so had taken its stand on the Māori wards. Luxon spoke to Kerre Woodham in the Newstalk ZB studio. Photo / Jason Oxenham  On tax cuts and childcare rebates for households, Luxon said the so-called “squeezed middle” was still the government's target for assistance. He pointed to the recent moves to introduce childcare rebates worth up to $75 a week for households and the plan to shift tax thresholds in the Budget. He said despite “challenging economics” there was space to ensure workers could keep more of their wages. ”It's a question of what can we afford to do. And what we can afford to do right now is help defray early childhood costs.” He said tax cuts were also affordable. ”Rebuilding the economy is job number one, so we can reduce the cost of living.” He said bringing down inflation would help ease interest rates, as well as “making life cheaper for people”. One vaping, Luxon said it had been critical at getting smoking rates down among adults, but was a problem when it came to teenagers. He pointed to recent government moves to ban disposable vapes and boost penalties on those who sold vapes to under-18s, as well as introduce plain packaging rules. He said the government was still committed to reducing smoking rates, and had simply reverted to the old smoke-free legislation that had worked well. It had scrapped Labour's plans for a ban on smoking and restrictions on outlets, saying National was concerned they would result in a black market and more retail crime. He didn't believe such measures were needed, given the pre-existing rules had been effective. ”I think we could have communicated it a lot better, no doubt about it.” He would not say whether the government was planning to tax charitable entities - but said it was being looked at. “We've got a lot of appetite for it, Nicola [Willis] and I, and we're getting advice.” Luxon said his verdict on being PM was that he was “having fun” but it was hard work. ”I like getting into the work, and we are working hard ... We've got a lot to do, but that's exciting.” A farmer from central Hawke's Bay asked about the end of funding for Taskforce Green, saying it had helped in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle. Luxon said the Budget was looming, so it would be a question for the government department charged with deciding whether programmes were delivering “bang for their buck”. On speed bumps and roadworks, Luxon said Transport Minister Simeon Brown was “very hot on road management and cone management” and trying to get a clear signal of whether such measures were worth it. “We've got some very good roads,” Luxon said, pointing to the new roads north of Auckland, saying they should be safe enough to be 110km/h. On the balance between convenience for motorists and safety, he said: “I'm not saying we don't look after people and follow good health and safety practices, but we think we've gone a bit far the other way.” Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in the Newstalk ZB studio with Kerre Woodham. Photo / Jason Oxenham  Wrapping up, Luxon said he was pleased with the way the coalition government was operating. He said the government was “moving with incredible pace.” “And we have to move fast, I know it's tough at the moment.” However, he said there were plans to grow the economy and get things moving. He's signed off by choosing Beyonce's Texas Hold ‘Em. “She's provoking the country music industry. It's fantastic.” The Newstalk ZB interview follows a week that Luxon kicked off by releasing the Government's plan up until June 30 – a period that will include the Budget. Yesterday, the Government also announced a move to restore the possibility of calling a binding referendum on the creation of Māori wards on local councils – and it will require councils to hold a referendum on any recently created Māori wards in the next local body elections. In 2020, Labour had removed the ability for a local referendum to be conducted on Māori wards. The Government also announced steps to try to boost competition and tackle a shortage in building supplies after soaring costs. National has also started to more aggressively promote its upcoming Budget tax cuts promise, including a social media campaign by Finance Minister Nicola Willis to try to assure voters that tax cuts are still affordable, despite the deterioration in the economy. That comes as government departments firm up their plans for staff layoffs to try to cut their spending before the Budget, as the Government has ordered. The Government has promised savings will be re-invested in the front-line services, which Willis has flagged will be another priority for the Budget. Luxon has defended those public sector cuts, saying he wanted more “medical doctors, not spin doctors” and pointing to the sharp increase in public sector staff numbers over recent years. Ministry of Health staff were called in this week to hear the final details of its restructuring. WATCH ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government is changing the Building Act to address a shortage of supplies and long wait times for new products to be approved. This will include green-lighting products with a reputable overseas certification and recognising approval schemes used in countries like Australia. NZ Construction Industry Council chair Malcolm Fleming is pleased the Government is working to address this problem. "In my view, this is the industry's biggest issue- starving demand for new construction. What's important also in the announcement from the Minister and Prime Minister earlier today is looking at broadening the product availability." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government is bulldozing barriers for bringing in new building products to New Zealand.  Minister for Building and Construction, Chris Penk, has unveiled changes to the Building Act in a bid to increase the availability of products and cool down costs.  That includes approving products with a reputable overseas certification and recognising product standards from trusted overseas jurisdictions.  Penk told Kerre Woodham that it's one of those things that has been talked about for years, so they decided to actually get on and do something about it.  With Covid and recent natural disasters he said it's clear we need to have as many different options as possible for the sake of resilience, as well as the costs and time frames involved.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government is changing the Building Act to address a shortage of building supplies and long wait-times for new products to be approved.  That includes signing-off on products with a reputable overseas certification and recognising approval schemes used in countries like Australia.  Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says it will ease building costs and make our building products better.  Julien Leys, CEO of the New Zealand Building Industry Federation, told Kerre Woodham that it's going to make a big change in the construction industry.  He said that while it isn't building 100,000 new homes, it is helping those homes get built faster and more cost effectively.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kayla Urbanski, a solicitor in the Construction and Engineering team at the international law firm, Burges Salmon explores the core duties of the Building Safety Act: from client and Principal Designer roles to the liabilities and penalties associated with non-compliance. She also explains some of the relevant issues relating to the Defective Premises Act, the Building Act and the Building Regulations etc. (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023. Hosted by Austin Williams www.futurecities.org.uk

A Taupō man is being investigated by police and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment after it was discovered he forged engineers' signatures on building consent documents. The fraudulent documents include producer statements, which provide assurance to councils that a design complies with the Building Act and relevant codes. 42 councils are now investigating more than one thousand buildings to see whether any pose a structural risk. Auckland-based lawyer Stephanie Corban spoke to Charlotte Cook.

Firefighters have told Auckland leaders that a lack of water for hoses, and increasingly jammed-up roads and jammed-in housing are making fighting fires worse. Fire and Emergency has a long list of urgent pleas lodged with Auckland Council for help - saying the government did not take this into account in pushing for intensified housing. FENZ cites a case study of a construction site house in Manukau that firefighters struggled to reach, got half as much water as they needed - and ultimately the fire badly damaged three other cheek-by-jowl homes. John Duguid the council's general manager of plans says their hands are tied when it comes down to the Building Code, Building Act and MBIE. FENZ has also gone to all the country's councils over its concerns with the impacts of housing intensification.

Yesterday's tragic fire in Wellington has sparked investigations into deficiencies in building codes. Police are now investigating the fire at Wellington's Loafers Lodge, which killed at least six, as arson. Wellington City Councillor Ray Chung says he plans to push for a stronger building code, but it's mainly the Government's responsibility to amend the Building Act. "There's been a lot of comment on this, obviously, but there's a lot of people trying to filter leaders down different paths about what should actually happen, and what we're doing as a council and the things we're being irresponsible about and the things we could actually do." LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

NYS Assembly Member Emily Gallagher is the sponsor of the All-Electric Building Act, legislation that would require all new buildings to forego fossil fuel heating and cooking systems in favor of electric. NYC passed similar legislation in 2021, but this bill would apply to the entire state. Eva and Emily discuss how this can become reality, and why it's a safer, greener, and less expensive way to build. AM Gallagher's Assembly page https://www.nyassembly.gov/mem/Emily-Gallagher/ The All-Electric Buildings Act https://nyassembly.gov/leg/?default_fld=&leg_video=&bn=A00920A&term=&Summary=Y&Text=Y The Build Public Renewables Act https://nyassembly.gov/leg/?default_fld=&leg_video=&bn=A00279&term=&Summary=Y&Text=Y Syracuse.com On Heat Pumps Paying for Themselves in New Construction Within Six Months https://www.syracuse.com/news/2022/12/new-york-states-move-to-all-electric-homes-how-expensive-is-it-will-it-work.html Carbon Switches Heat Pump Savings Calculator https://carbonswitch.com/heat-pump-savings/

This week on the show, we covered double glazing and changes to Schedule 1 of the Building Act regarding the rules about building sleepouts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Contracting Handbook podcast is all about the builders and skilled tradesmen and tradeswomen in the construction industry from all over the world. Here you'll meet the tradespeople who took a leap of faith from working their craft to running the own construction company. You'll meet people who left lucrative careers to enter the trades. For newcomers to running a construction business, there is a ton of advice on “how to” run your contracting company. For established contractors, you get to meet other industry leaders and get behind the scenes of their business and stay up to date with industry change. Mike Knoche, your host, keeps the conversation interesting. He's been operating his contracting business for over 15 years in the oddly wonderful, Fairbanks, Alaska. Mike's philosophy is “we are all experts in how we build where we live, but the business basics and business management are universal”. Join us for this global conversation on operating a construction company, mental health, cool projects, and construction industry progress. Host: Mike KnocheWebsite: The Contracting HandbookInstagram: @thecontractinghandbookVenmo: Mike-Knoche-1info@thecontractinghandbook.com Guest: Jake BrutonInstagram: @jake.bruton

Each week we speak with Chris Walsh, Editor of the NT Independent online newspaper, about some of the stories making news in the Territory. This week, Chris is on leave so we spoke with his deputy editor, David Wood. This week's stories are:  Minister gives TIO Stadium exemption, with no end date, from complying with Building Act  ‘Domestic dependent nations': Treaty report proposes self-governing and law making for Territory Indigenous groups  Entire Casuarina Police Station night crew called in sick, two officers doing second shift left to run the station: sources  Private security guards to patrol northern suburbs and Palmerston, more money for business security upgrades  NT Police attrition rate 10 per cent over the last 12 months, with 171 officers leaving: NTPA figures  Territorians to be charged 2.7 per cent more for power from July 1 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/territorystory/message

On Part Two of The Panel, Wallace and panellists discuss a universal payment thought-experiment, reforming the Building Act, and the high cost of participating in sport in the Wellington region.

The housing of 65 families in emergency accommodation could be under threat, as the Rotorua Lakes Council takes legal action against several motels. They say nine emergency housing motels have refused to engage and show they're compliant. Emergency housing is the talk of the town in the tourism hotspot, with some saying operators are costing the destination its prized reputation among visitors. The council says accommodation operators also providing emergency housing are required to have a dialogue with council on regulatory compliance. But some have failed to come to the table. Nick Truebridge has the story. The Ministry of Social Development has just responded to that legal action. Bay of Plenty Regional Commissioner Mike Bryant says MSD has a good relationship with Rotorua Lakes Council and is happy to work through issues as required.  He acknowledges the council's role overseeing the Resource Management and Building Act, and that enforcement action may affect suppliers and MSD clients. Bryant says steps to comply with council regulations are for the motels to take, given they are private businesses. However, MSD has encouraged them to engage with Rotorua Lakes Council.

The respondent, a private company, was issued a statement of offence under the Quebec Building Act for carrying out certain construction work as a contractor without holding a current licence for that purpose. Under s. 197.1 of the Act, the penalty for such an offence is a mandatory fine for a minimum amount that varies depending on who the offender is, that is, whether the offender is a natural person or a legal person. The respondent filed a notice of intention to question the constitutionality of the fine provided for in s. 197.1, arguing that the fine violated its right to be protected against “any cruel and unusual treatment or punishment” under s. 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. At trial, the Court of Québec held that it was not necessary to rule on the issue of the application of s. 12 of the Charter to legal persons, because the minimum fine at issue was at any rate not cruel and unusual. The respondent was found guilty, and a fine of $30,843 was imposed. On appeal, the Quebec Superior Court affirmed that decision and added that legal persons such as the respondent could not benefit from the protection of s. 12 of the Charter. A majority of the Quebec Court of Appeal set aside the decisions of the lower courts and held that s. 12 of the Charter can in fact apply to legal persons. The matter was returned to the trial court to rule on the specific issue of the fine provided for in s. 197.1 of the Act. Argued Date 2020-01-22 Keywords Canadian charter (Non-criminal) - Constitutional law, Cruel and unusual treatment or punishment (s. 12) - Charter of Rights - Cruel and unusual treatment or punishment - Application of Charter rights to legal persons - Statement of offence issued against business corporation for carrying out construction work as contractor without holding current licence - Provincial building legislation providing for mandatory minimum fine of $30,843 - Whether legal person can benefit from protection of section 12 of Charter - Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, s. 12 - Building Act, CQLR, c. B 1.1, ss. 46, 197.1. Notes (Quebec) (Criminal) (By Leave) Disclaimers This podcast is created as a public service to promote public access and awareness of the workings of Canada's highest court. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Court. The original version of this hearing may be found on the Supreme Court of Canada's website. The above case summary was prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch).

There are growing calls for the Building Act to require all new housing to be easily adaptable for people with disabilities and for our aging population. A recent study found that one in six New Zealanders need modifications to their home, and yet the key features of accessibility; level pathways and entrances, an easily accessible bathroom, and wide doorways, are only found in five percent of new homes.

There are growing calls for the Building Act to require all new housing to be easily adaptable for people with disabilities and for our aging population. A recent study found that one in six New Zealanders need modifications to their home, and yet the key features of accessibility; level pathways and entrances, an easily accessible bathroom, and wide doorways, are only found in five percent of new homes.

In this episode, we discuss proposed changes to New Zealand's Building Act, which will mean that low-risk works will no longer require council consent. This will save investors on average $2,000 per project, while also saving time. That means that councils can spend more time assessing and pushing through higher risk consents. These changes are likely to be passed in late August, which will also cut red-tape for pre-fabricated homes. We also mention our No Money Worries – property investment email course. This 9-lesson course will teach some of the basics about property investment, including our top tips that aren't available elsewhere on our website.

The Government has scrapped some red-tape for DIYers after ruling people no longer need consent for a variety of small projects around the home.Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa today announced the scrapping of "low risk building work", which includes sleep-outs, sheds, greenhouses, carports, awnings and water storage bladders, which will save Kiwis up to $18 million a year.However, Salesa added that the work must still meet the Building Code.The announcement has the support of the NZ Construction Industry Council who say axing red-tape was good as long as it didn't compromise the quality of the work.Salesa hoped the change would allow the construction sector to fire back up quicker on larger projects to provide jobs and assist the country's recovery from Covid-19."These changes will save New Zealanders time and money and mean councils can focus on higher-risk building work, boosting the building and construction sector in the Covid-19 recovery," Jenny Salesa said."Some of the new exemptions will utilise the Licensed Builder Practitioners scheme, which recognises the competence of these practitioners and allows them to join chartered professional engineers and certifying plumbers in having their own suite of exemptions.The changes mean those looking to do building work that was exempt wouldn't have to apply or pay for a building consent to do the work.There wouldn't be regular council inspections on work progress, and, overall, there would be less red tape to navigate."These exemptions are just one part of my broader building system reform programme, which includes Construction Sector Accord Transformation Plan, the Construction Skills Action Plan, and Building Law reforms," Salesa said.Most of the new exemptions are expected to commence at the end of August, after the necessary changes to the Building Act have been made.Graham Burke, chair of the NZCIC said it was good news."On the surface of it it seems like a good idea."The important thing is that there's no intention to drop standards, that work that needs to be completed by a licensed building practitioner or registered electrician still remains and any work that requires a consulting engineer still has to be designed by a consulting engineer."It just takes away that compliance side of it, so we are definitely in favour of dropping compliance but we're not in favour of dropping standards. If we can do one without the other then it's a good thing."He said the residential building sector was going to face a few issues in light of Covid-19 this year with the downturn of consumer confidence so anything that helped get it going with fewer costs was positive."The main thing here is that they're not saying it's open slather, go out and build anything up to 40sqm or 30sqm, it's saying that you don't necessarily have to go and get a permit for that."THE CHANGESBuilding work exempted under the package includes:• Single-storey detached buildings up to 30sq m;• Carports with a maximum floor area of 40sq m;• Awnings with a maximum size of 30sq m;• Verandas and porches with a maximum size of 30sq m;• Outdoor fireplaces or ovens;• Flexible water storage bladders for irrigation and firefighting only, up to 200,000 litres in storage capacity;• Short-span bridges on private land without public access;• Pipe supporting structures;• Ground-mounted solar array panels in rural zones and outside rural zones;• Detached single-storey pole sheds and hay barns.

It's still a flurry of building Act I while the show plays on.

A tiny homes manufacturer says legislation for mobile dwellings must be independent from the Building Act.A petition's been delivered to Parliament, asking the Government to legitimise tiny homes as a permanent accommodation solution.Mobile homes lined up to mark the handover of the four thousand strong petition.Colin Wightman told Kate Hawkesby the homes should be a viable option for residents."We consider the building act to be a dinosaur."This is not about a free ride for tiny houses, it's about having seperate regulations and fee structures, it's about protecting their future."LISTEN ABOVE

IntroductionThank you Beth and thank you to our wonderful ACT Party volunteers and President. Did you know our online donations averaged a thousand dollars per day for the hundred days before the election was called? ACT has its best momentum and support in a decade.I want to thank Sang Cho and the team at Eden Bistro for opening up especially in Waitangi. Eden Bistro is a new business, and I think it’s going to be a big success. Here in the north of Mt Eden is one of the Epsom Electorate’s most exciting up-and-coming neighbourhoods.Many people here are from the Epsom Electorate. I’m proud to represent you as your local MP. This month marks six years since I started my campaign to represent Epsom in 2014. This year I will be campaigning anew for my neighbours to send me to Wellington for a third time.The state of Our Nation is strong. We are a democracy with a diversified free market economy. We have a rich civil society with voluntary organisations of every kind.We saw in the aftermath of our nation’s tragedy in Christchurch that we may be the warmest people on earth. We are lively, entrepreneurial people who moved further than anyone for a better tomorrow.We live on the greatest piece of physical real estate on earth.The State of our Nation is strong. Our strength has been built up by generations. The question we need to ask ourselves is: Are we adding to or subtracting from the legacy we inherited up until today?I want to talk about some issues we face as a country.Erosion of Rights and FreedomsFree SpeechThe number one political issue is the erosion of freedom under this Government. The foundational freedom of any free society if freedom of speech. It is a good place to start.The ACT Party says it’s a sacred right to think our thoughts and share our views. Freedom of speech allowed Galileo to say the Earth goes around the Sun. It allowed Kate Shephard to say Women have equal rights. Every chance of a better tomorrow depends on people thinking and speaking freely.The current Government thinks free speech is dangerous. It doesn’t want you involved in planning tomorrow. If you are allowed to just think whatever you want, you might think the wrong thing!That’s why they want so called hate speech laws. Someone, somewhere, will be employed by you to decide what you can say. If that sounds nuts, it is. But don’t blame me, I’m just describing their proposal honestly.Normally when the state comes after you, you’re allowed to defend yourself with facts. You can’t be convicted of theft if you didn’t actually take something. When charged with hate speech, no fact can come to your defence. The question is simply whether you said something unpopular, it is mob rule at its worst.It gets worse. Imagine a job that lets you punish the unpopular. Who would apply? Bad people, of course. The worst. We already have a guy called Paul Hunt in charge of the Human Rights Commission who thinks Jeremy Corbyn’s anti-Semitism is okay. That’s the sort of person we’re talking about giving the power to persecute.The ACT Party says hate speech laws are wrong. A government dependent on ACT will never pass laws that restrict your speech. We will expect National to join with us in repealing any hate speech laws introduced in the dying days of this Government.Firearm LawsFree speech allowed ACT to point out that the Government’s firearm laws wouldn’t work, couldn’t work, and haven’t worked. Make no mistake, we are now less safe from gun violence than we were on the 14 March. For three reasons.One. The buy-back failed. It didn’t just fail to get three quarters of the prohibited firearms; it got the least powerful firearms from the most honest people. Incidentally, they took the money and spent it on more firearms. Firearm retailers just had their best Christmas period since Jesus was a boy.Two. Good policing relies on trust. The police are the public and the public are the police. Trust in the law and Police is at an all-time low amongst licensed firearm owners because of the rushed legislation. Most people follow laws they disagree with because they trust the process. They believe in parliamentary democracy. It’s difficult to describe how much our Parliament’s rushed gun laws have damaged the dignity of our democracy.Three. They missed the real problem. How did an Australian weirdo on the wrong side of the Tasman get off a plane and buy an AR-15 with 3,000 rounds of ammo? A single male. Living alone. In another country. Who’d travelled to North Korea and Saudi Arabia. Where were the alarm bells going ding ding ding?Now you understand why the Government and National rushed through their crazy laws. They’d done nothing about the woeful state of New Zealand’s firearm laws for a generation. They knew the public would soon turn on them if they didn’t act immediately, so they practiced collective punishment for the worst crime in our nation’s history on a group of people who’d done nothing wrong.This election will decide whether we fix it, or things get worse. The Government can legislate a register before the election but they cannot implement one. ACT in Government would insist on reversing the second tranche of firearm laws, reintroducing the E-category, and getting the woeful Police out of firearm licensing and administration.That’s the only way to solve the real problems that the Royal Commission will unveil, after the Government’s legislation.The assault on firearm owners and free speech got attention because they made up the Government’s response to the Christchurch terror attacks.Zero Carbon ActThe Zero Carbon Bill give more power to Government Ministers than any legislation since Muldoon. What’s worse, it will do nothing about its stated goal of reducing climate emissions. The legislation is so filled with escape hatches that it will never actually reduce emissions. How do I know this? The British have had the same law for over a decade. Their emission reductions per dollar of GDP have been no better than ours.But it’s given a Minister the undemocratic ability to set plans for whole industries. A Government Minister setting carbon budgets will have the power to effectively decide whether steel, or aluminium is profitable or even if it survives.ACT put up amendments that would remove those Ministerial Powers, making them come to Parliament before setting any kind of industrial plan. We also put up amendments saying New Zealanders should be able to use foreign carbon credits if they’re cheaper.The Parliament, including National, voted against our proposed changes, so we didn’t support the bill.Oil and Gas ExplorationSpeech, firearms, and climate change are issues that get attention, but the erosion of freedom has happened in almost every policy area.New Zealand is already a hostile environment for energy and mineral investment. This is crazy. There are probably more New Zealanders working in Australian mines than New Zealand ones.The ban on oil and gas exploration is nuts. Announcing that the Government will allow no more exploration permits without Cabinet papers or consultation is a sure way to scare away the investment we need to raise worker productivity and wages.The Environmental Protection Agency was supposed to make scientifically robust decisions about who could mine. They’ve been disastrous, preventing environmentally sound projects that could bring investment jobs and growth.This is why we can’t have nice things.The next Government will have to start taking an objective approach to the benefits of the energy and mineral sectors.LandlordsSecond only to licenced firearm owners, landlords are the most persecuted group under this Government.The Government is so opposed to anyone who’s worked, saved and invested, that they have actually hurt tenants in their rush to attack landlords.Landlords perform an incredible service. If you don’t want to save, purchase, do maintenance, pay rates and insurance, and generally be responsible for a property, guess what? Landlords will do it for you. Often they charge rent that doesn’t even cover the mortgage interest rate on the property they’re renting out.You might think that landlords are the greatest benefactors in our society. As a renter myself I’m thrilled that someone is kind enough to do all the work and take all the risk for me. The weekly fee amounts to barely 2 per cent return on equity but hey, that’s their problem.Yet, somehow, landlords have become the whipping boys and girls of this Government. Letting fees are banned, tenants are given even more rights to occupy their property against their will, constant regulatory upgrades add to their cost.The result is predictable enough. If you make it harder to be a landlord, you get fewer landlords. If you raise their costs, they put up rents.Because the Government doesn’t understand the relationship between landlords and tenants, because they see the world through a hundred-year-old lens of class warfare, they’ve kneecapped the very people they’re trying to help.Employment LawEmployment is another relationship this Government fundamentally doesn’t understand. You can either take the risk of putting together capital, ideas, and customers for the privilege of giving other people jobs, or you can just work for someone else made enough to do it.Like landlords, this Government thinks employers are a cash cow, there to be milked for better pay and conditions. That’s why we see the highest minimum wage in the world going up a dollar at a time. That’s why we see the threat of national awards, where wages get negotiated for whole industries from Wellington.What this Government doesn’t understand is that people respond to incentives. If you make it less attractive to employ people, guess what? Less people get employed.We are starting to see the evidence. New Zealand’s terms of trade have never been better, and some industries are desperate for workers, but somehow welfare rolls continue to increase. Since this Government took office, the number of people on welfare has gone up by 25,000. There are over 300,000 working aged New Zealanders on a benefit.ACT stands for the simple idea that employers need workers as much as workers need employers, and bureaucracy is ultimately bad for both of them.The Rural SectorNot so long ago, the farmers were proud to be the backbone of the economy, today the whole of rural New Zealand is under constant assault by Government.Once again the problem is a misunderstanding of the people being governed. Just like firearm owners, landlords, and employers, rural folk are the Government’s ‘bad people.’Bad people, they think farmers are, who want to make money by damaging the environment. They don’t know how to think win-win. It doesn’t occur to them that people who make a living off the land might be the country’s most motivated environmentalists.So they pile on regulations that will drive up costs for little environmental benefit. The one-size-fits-all freshwater regulations will impose costs much larger than the environmental benefits. They will impose standards that urban councils do not meet, and you start to understand why rural New Zealand is angry with this Government.Every Party except ACT supported the Zero Carbon Bill. It may be unavoidable that one day there will be a charge for carbon produced by agriculture. But it remains debatable how a short-lived gas such as methane should be compared with an inert gas such as carbon dioxide. The problem is our Government isn’t debating it. At the very least, our Government should be making the case internationally that methane is not a permanent greenhouse gas and should not be compared with them.None of that is to mention the unending compliance burden placed on farmers, or the Government’s support of a Reserve Bank Governor who has just put up capital costs for no good reason whatsoever.So, the biggest political issue we face right now is a slow erosion of your basic rights and freedoms. We have shown that we are prepared to fight for them.Sleaze in WellingtonIt’s a point of pride that we are the least corrupt country in the world. It’s something we should jealously guard.We should be a country where the rules are the same no matter who you are, and the real process is the same as the advertised one. That’s a fundamental building block of a free and prosperous society.We need to take stock of the sleaze in Wellington. Right now:• Two political parties are under investigation for irregular donations• Two lobbyists have been employed as Ministerial staffers with full access to Cabinet papers while remaining directors of their lobbying firms• The Speaker is being sued over allegations he wrongly slandered a parliamentary staffer as being a criminal• The Deputy Prime Minister can’t competently fill out his Superannuation forms, and there’s the uncomfortable mystery of how this fact -as secret as your tax records- became public• The Provincial Growth Fund is practically an invitation to corruption. There is no real public purpose for taxing some businesses and giving money to others. Shane Jones openly says people must vote for him to get the money, and conveniently forgets he met close associates who applied for the money.In March last year, ACT broke the story about Shane Jones helping to get $4.6 million through the Provincial Growth Fund for an organisation he once chaired. Of course, Jacinda Ardern looked the other way. But what NZ First’s slush fund really means is that you don’t get rich by creating products people want to buy at prices they can afford. No. Instead, you either need connections in the Beehive, or they need to come to Wellington and beg for largesse. These are not the values of a free and prosperous society.This is not a picture of the world’s least corrupt country. The problems lie almost exclusively with the three Governing parties. One reason we need to change the Government is to restore the standards of the world’s least corrupt country in Wellington. And by the way, if it’s legal for two companies controlled by one person to donate more than the declaration limit on the same day, then our electoral laws need to change.Spin Over SubstanceUnder Jacinda Ardern we live in the age of gesture politics. One well-meaning policy after another is marketed brilliantly, but does not work.You just have to ask how the Prime Minister got to be the Prime Minister. Marketing. She has a degree in marketing. She became Prime Minister by selling the same policies that David Shearer, David Cunliffe, and Andrew Little couldn’t sell.The lesson she took is that good marketing can cover off bad policy. Jacinda Ardern has invented the politics of gesture.Banning Plastic bags will not reduce the amount of plastic going into the ocean. Plastic bag litter from New Zealand is not the source of ocean plastic – but it is a fantastic gesture.Doing a market study into petrol companies will not reduce the price of petrol -the petrol companies’ slice is tiny compared with the price of oil and government taxes – but bashing big business is a great gesture.Having the Government build houses will not solve the shortage of housing -the real problem is a shortage of land to build houses on – but it is a great gesture.Buying the least powerful firearms off the most law abiding New Zealanders will not stop the next terrorist, but it is a great gesture.Reporting income statistics, as required by the Child Poverty Reduction Bill, will not reduce child poverty. The real problem is child neglect, but passing a Child Poverty Reduction Bill is a great gesture.I’m sure there’s a phrase used to describe people who are content with simply signalling their virtues.Taken together, the Prime Minister is tackling the housing crisis, saving the oceans from plastic waste, making petrol more affordable, protecting us from terrorism, and fighting child poverty. That’s why she has fans.The only problem is that every initiative is an empty gesture. None of it will actually make New Zealanders’ live better.But we shouldn’t place the blame entirely on the Prime Minister. We’re unable to have a serious discussion about policy in New Zealand. The standard of political debate is woeful. There is no substance. We are focussed on personalities rather than policies. At Waitangi, Winston Peters won’t stand next to Simon Bridges, so he got James Shaw to stand between them. Jacinda Ardern and Marama Davidson giggled during Simon Bridges speech. This is the level of debate. We could instead be talking about how Jacinda Ardern ended charter schools and sent Maori students back to the state school system that had failed them. But it is easier not to address the difficult issues. If we didn’t cheekily adopt Donald Trump’s slogan for today’s event, we wouldn’t have the company of our friends from the media!The other political parties prioritise spin over substance. We at ACT have a core set of beliefs and we’re prepared to put them into action. We are principled and we’re effective.This year the whole country will vote on the End of Life Choice Act. If a majority make it into a law, it will be a great triumph for human compassion and human freedom. It will mean that a person suffering at the end of their life need not suffer to fit in with someone else’s reality. It will be your life, your choice. That’s what a single ACT MP can achieve. That achievement is why we need more ACT MPs in Parliament.Confronting our Long Term ChallengesBeing unable to have serious discussions about which policies are best for New Zealand means we’re less able to solve our long-term challenges.ProductivityIt seems like nearly every week another group of patients and their families petition Parliament for new pharmaceuticals. Of course people are upset that their loved ones are dying, but what has made it a political issue? If I was dying Parliament’s the last place I’d spend my time, believe me.It’s a political issue for one very simple reason. The Australians get the good drugs. Maybe they pay higher taxes and give up other stuff to get the drugs? Nope, they pay lower taxes. They just have more money.This issue is one of productivity. So is keeping the next generation in New Zealand. So is inequality, because when people get left behind in a more and more competitive world we’re really saying they are suffering low productivity.Unfortunately we’re in the lower left corner of the productivity charts. Left because we started low. Lower because we’ve made little progress in productivity growth this century.Some countries started high and cruised along. Others started low and grew quickly. We have the worst of all worlds. Low productivity growth from a low starting point.When you look at the priorities of this Government, and the previous one, low productivity growth is no surprise because productivity growth has not been a priority.Successive governments have ignored policies that harm our productivity and favoured policies that do nothing for it.Having a wellbeing budget. Does nothing for productivity.Government building homes in competition with the private sector?Paying people more to stay home? Doesn’t help productivity.Being the highest taxed country in the Asia pacific region? Doesn’t make people want to work, save and invest.Having the fourth highest company tax rate in the developed world? Doesn’t help productivity.Cancelling basic infrastructure projects for two years then admitting they’re a good idea after all because there’s an election? Doesn’t help productivity.Building regulations where getting permission to build something often takes longer than actually building it? Does not help productivity.Cancelling charter schools that were working because other schools didn’t like losing their students? Doesn’t help productivity.Giving taxpayer money to kids from high decile schools wo were going to high school anyway? Doesn’t help productivity.Banning oil and gas exploration with no consultation or even a Cabinet paper? Scares the living daylights out of investors and doesn’t help productivity.This is insane. We have a Government that does everything but help raise productivity, and lots of things that will actively harm it.ACT in government will make productivity growth a priority. We need to stop taxing and regulating for the sake of it. We need to create the environment for investment, jobs and growth. If we fail, the consequences will be more and more serious over time.We will struggle to keep the promise of New Zealand Superannuation. Younger taxpayers will seek greener pastures. Those without skills will be left stranded, competing with those who lack skills in poor countries around the world. It is a recipe for division and conflict in our society.HousingNot far behind weak productivity is housing. Quite simply it is the biggest public policy failure of the last thirty years.I try not to fill my speeches with numbers but here are three. Since the early nineties, inflation has gone up 60 per cent. The cost of building per square metre has gone up 240 per cent. The price of the median Auckland section has gone up 900 per cent.Let me put that in context, that’s almost as much as shares in Apple. Apple in that time revolutionised the music industry, the personal computer, and the cell phone. Auckland sections were just made scarce by red tape and regulation.Anyone who doesn’t think there’s a problem needs to ponder those numbers. They need to ponder how a country that’s practically uninhabited can run out of sections because of bureaucracy.The consequences are many and dire. Overall home ownership rates are falling, but taking the overall rate masks the much greater declines that are occurring amongst younger, poorer, browner New Zealanders. If we wanted to set up a divided society of haves and have nots, our RMA, Local Government Act, and Building Act are the right way to go about it.It’s also a problem for productivity. It’s hard to attract global talent to your firm if they can’t afford to live here. Every New Zealand firm is paying a hidden tax. That’s the extra wage bill going to its employees’ mortgages.Unless we change our land use planning, our infrastructure funding, and our building consents, we will become a poorer and more divided society.ACT has the answers. People in the building industry quietly tell me they’re the only answers that will get more houses built.First we need to replace the Resource Management Act in urban areas. The Productivity Commission has already produced an excellent report ‘Better Urban Planning’ that lays out how planning could be done in urban areas if we wanted to actually build homes.Second we need to give councils a cut of the central Government’s taxes on new builds. If councils have to give consent and build the infrastructure for new developments, then they need money and they need incentives. ACT’s policy of giving the consenting council half the GST on new builds in their territory would not only give them money, it would dramatically change their incentives.Third, we need to get councils out of the building consent business. They should have been sacked from this role after leaky buildings. Instead, ACT would implement a regime of mandatory private sector insurance on new builds.Our goal should be that anyone who does the right things, works hard and saves their money, can own their own stake in New Zealand. It’s in all our interests to live in such a country.EducationThe final big issue facing this country is education.We spend $15 billion dollars on education, and we have some of the best schools in the world. But overall our education outcomes are highly unequal and slowly declining.The PISA study, which compares the reading, maths and science abilities of 15-year-olds across the world, shows our test scores are falling. A 2014 government report found 40 per cent of Year 12 students failed to meet literacy and numeracy standards even though they had NCEA Level 2.Large numbers of our children are leaving school unprepared for work and life. This is a disaster for our society and our economy. When it comes to the students who leave school without basic skills, our education system is – to borrow a phrase – a moral and fiscal failure.ACT wants to break up the government’s monopoly on education by giving educators freedom, and by giving parents choice.A one-size-fits-all education system doesn’t work and cannot work. The needs of students are diverse and our schools must also be diverse. All children - not just the well-off - should have a choice in education.Partnership Schools were an example of this philosophy in action. Schools had the freedom to innovate and families could vote with their feet by taking their children to a school that better met their needs.Any future government that ACT is part of will bring back Partnership Schools in even greater numbers.But freedom in the classroom is just the start. We also need to put power in the hands of parents.The issue of who should control education funding comes down to this: Do we trust the bureaucrats or the parents?Taxpayers will spend $250,000 on education over the life of every baby born this year, but parents have little control over how it is spent. We could get much better value for that money for all children - but especially disadvantaged children - if it was used to empower families to choose their school, public or private.ACT says that taxpayer education funding should be placed into student education accounts to be controlled by parents. Those who want to continue at their current school will be able to do so, however those who don't will have greater choice.ACTThe good news is ACT is in place to push back the incursions on our freedoms, push out the sleaze, and replace the politics of gesture with the politics of real policy that actually solves real problems.Every poll in the last three months has shown that, if an election were held tomorrow, Beth would be an MP. She’d make a great MP. She is an award-winning businesswoman. A former sheep and beef farmer. A mother of two. A three times elected member of the Rodney Local Board and elected Chair of that Board. Beth would be a better MP than 90 per cent of them on her first day.But there are other polls that haven’t been widely reported. When I tell you what they say you’ll understand why. Multiple sources have told me that Labour’s poll at the end of last year, Labour’s poll had ACT on 3.5 per cent. That’s five ACT MPs.Why is this happening? Because ACT is the only party working hard for a better New Zealand. If that sounds simple, it is.ACT is constructive. We worked with every party to pass the End of Life Choice Act.ACT is also principled. When it matters, we stand alone against every other party.The common theme is that ACT alone works issue by issue for a better New Zealand. Every other party is operating on the politics of gesture.The ACT Party stands to hold the balance of power after this election. How would we use that position?Again, very simple. We stand for people who want to make a difference in their own lives and the lives of those they care about. We stand against politicians with grand Government schemes to buy us a better tomorrow, with our own money.Let me put it his way. The ACT Party stands for those who do. We believe that the world is made a better place by human action. We oppose the marketing led gesture politics that makes us feel good but leaves us all the poorer.We are campaigning to roll back government incursions on our freedom and deliver practical policies that solve real long-term problems with productivity growth, homebuilding, and educational inequality.I hope you will join us in this fight for a Free New Zealand.Free SpeechACT New ZealandPolitics in Full Sentences - Podcasts NZSchool of Practical Politics

Building a new house is a stressful process, with the battle of getting consent to build from your local consent often causing long delays and added expense. A building consent is approval granted by your local council under the Building Act to allow a person to carry out building work.But how necessary is it really, and are they actually helping places be safer or just bureaucracy?Ashley Church is a property expert for One Roof. He joined The One Roof Radio Show on The Weekend Collective to share his advice on the issue.LISTEN TO THE AUDIO ABOVE

Building a new house is a stressful process, with the battle of getting consent to build from your local consent often causing long delays and added expense. A building consent is approval granted by your local council under the Building Act to allow a person to carry out building work.But how necessary is it really, and are they actually helping places be safer or just bureaucracy?Ashley Church is a property expert for One Roof. He joined The One Roof Radio Show on The Weekend Collective to share his advice on the issue.LISTEN TO THE AUDIO ABOVE

Building a new house is a stressful process, with the battle of getting consent to build from your local consent often causing long delays and added expense. A building consent is approval granted by your local council under the Building Act to allow a person to carry out building work.But how necessary is it really, and are they actually helping places be safer or just bureaucracy?Ashley Church is a property expert for One Roof. He joined The One Roof Radio Show on The Weekend Collective to share his advice on the issue.LISTEN TO THE AUDIO ABOVE

What do forest femmes, goth mylk baths, wicked queens, dark water sirens, and 1970's technicolor horror hotels have in common? An artist who believes that every woman should have a portrait of herself that she absolutely adores. Melissa Katherine is a Sydney-based internationally published creative photographer, makeup and hair stylist she specializes in pin-up, vintage and cinematic creative portraiture. Through her multi-disciplined approach, she creates unforgettable experiences for creative kick-ass babes to celebrate and capture their inner spirit by creating timeless, otherworldly and nostalgic portraits that remind women of how extra special and unique they are. With self-belief high on her agenda, Melissa loves breaking rules and stereotypes and getting her hands dirty to create unique fantasy world portraits with exciting and surprising themes. When you work with Melissa, it's like jumping on the "Creative Express" to discover your inner essence and create a memory that outlasts you. "Success is almost like a mirage; when you have goals and you reach those goals you still want more... Success is almost elusive because once you get there, it's not really about the destination, it's about the journey." Join us for a discussion of empowerment and transformation, channeling your inner babe and soaking up the magic of YOU through creating an impressive memory that will not only live with you forever as an unforgettable experience but that will also dazzle all of your Instagram friends and fans. Here are more details of what we talk about: The transformative power of creative photography Why every woman needs to have a portrait of herself that she absolutely adores Celebrating womanhood and self-esteem through portrait photography The benefits of a creative photoshoot What happens in a creative photo session Why a creative photoshoot can be an empowering and confidence building experience The importance of creating a memory that will outlive you Discovering your essence through creative photography Why the way we see ourselves is the most powerful indicators of success Why true empowerment is about blooming from within and much more...   Join us at girlskill.com/110 P. S. Sign up for the free, exclusive training from me on “The Lie of Female Success: How to Get Unstuck, Release Pressure & Stop Trying to Do It All” to find out: How to overcome the "Superwoman Syndrome" so you can start living in freedom, with ease, and owning your truth True feminine power and what you can do right now to begin feeling supported, stop pushing & controlling your life and men How to rediscover, embrace and cultivate feminine flow and become embodied so you can stop overthinking and start making decisions from the heart The essence of masculine/feminine polarity and how to attract and magnify the relationship you want And much more… Sign up at girlskill.com/webinar   Girlskill Podcast is brought to you by: MagellanTV- a brand-new streaming service that features the very best collection of documentaries available anywhere. The service includes over 1,500 documentary movies, series, and exclusive playlists across major genres. Check out their curated women of history playlist and explore the lives of visionary women who made their mark on history. >> Start your exclusive two-month free trial today  Yoni Please Palace by Rosie Rees- World's leading supplier of crystal yoni eggs for pelvic floor strength and crystal pleasure wands for sacred self-pleasure, helping women awaken their femininity, pleasure and power. >> Get your "Goddess Kit" today *(use code GIRLSKILL at checkout for a 15% discount)  

Jos Cozijnsen shakes his tangled black mane and adjusts his leathery blue suit – fashioned, it turns out, from overalls discarded by German railroad workers and available through his sustainable clothing company, Goodfibrations. “[If you have] an office park, the Building Act says how much energy efficiency you need,” he explains. “But if you go to zero energy use, you do much more.” When it comes to fixing the climate mess, he wants everyone to do much more than the law requires, especially his fellow Dutchmen. Indeed, it seems to bother him immensely that here in the Netherlands – the birthplace of wind energy and the headquarters of Greenpeace – the average Dutchman contributes far more to climate change than does the average Swede, Swiss, or Frenchman. But the Dutch are also notorious penny-pinchers with fervent pride in their local communities and a deep love of games and puzzles – three traits that he thinks will help them drive emissions down dramatically under a nationwide voluntary carbon program called the Green Deal, which he’s spearheading along with the Ministry of Environment and several environmental NGOs. The program has been in the works since mid-2016, and it’s slated to go live later this year as a compliment to the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). EU ETS is a “compliance” program that legally caps greenhouse-gas emissions on some of Europe’s biggest industries – including electricity, paper, and steelmaking. It requires companies in those sectors to either reduce their emissions or buy offsets from projects that do, but it also leaves more than half of all emissions outside the regulatory apparatus. The Green Deal is a “voluntary” program, he says, and its goal is to dramatically drive down emissions in un-capped sectors like agriculture and automotive, and to do so by encouraging people to develop carbon projects under existing standards like the Verified Carbon Standard, CarbonFix, and the Gold Standard. The project will encourage un-capped companies and individuals to first reduce emissions by reducing energy use and becoming more efficient, but it will couple that by promoting home-grown projects that generate offsets by planting trees or helping farmers reduce their emissions from methane and other greenhouse gasses. It will include a hub so people can see which type of projects are located where, and it will encourage groups to aim for zero net emissions. “That’s the fun,” he says. “I can go to zero!” Like coupon-collectors? I ask. “Exactly!” he says. Transitioning to a Post-Paris World While Cozijnsen publicly emphasizes the “fun” aspect of getting to zero (and becoming, he says, a “carbon hero”), the Green Deal could drive millions into sustainable development projects, and it comes two years after a Dutch court ruled that the government is legally obligated to slash emissions 25 percent before the Paris Climate Agreement comes into effect in 2020. Cozijnsen, who long represented the Netherlands in global climate talks, sees the Green Deal as a way for the government to meet its pre-2020 obligation, and for companies to prepare for a post-2020 regime, when all sectors will presumably be capped. Domestic Buying Power Dutch companies and NGOs are already active in both the voluntary and compliance markets. They transact millions of carbon offsets per year, but that money usually goes abroad – to save and restore forests around the world, according to an analysis of European voluntary carbon markets that Ecosystem Marketplace and EcoStar Natual Talents published last year. Specifically, the report found, companies and NGOs based in the Netherlands transacted 4.4 million carbon offsets in 2015 alone, helping to build wind farms and save or restore forests across nine countries – from Indonesia and Brazil to Turkey and Uganda. One country missing from the list: the Netherlands itself, and it’s not alone. The report also found no active land-based projects in France, Spain, or Switzerland, and only a few in Germany, the UK, and Italy. The German Ministry of Environment has been supporting efforts to develop voluntary carbon programs domestically, and Cozijnsen says similar efforts are underway across the European Union.

Despite Winter setting in we are off to the seaside this week. After Hastings Borough Council had to shut down their pier in 2006 one of the companies who owned an amusement arcade and bingo tried to claim compensation under the Building Act 1984. However would their alleged infractions of the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957 and Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 work against them? Music from bensound.com

Mark Honeybone talks with property renovation advisor Rosemary Killip (part 1) This weeks Podcast I interview Rosemary Killip from Building Networks in Wellington who knows everything there is to about consents and the Building Act, and what you do and don't need to do when doing a renovation or build. She teaches all sorts of people in the industry including council staff and investors to name a few. In this first Podcast we discuss: Are all councils the same and why not Why do they have consents What don't you need a consent for Where do you find the rules  

BuildingDesignExpert Podcast – LABC 1 Your time in the construction industry will determine what iteration of Building Control you may have encountered. Prior to the 1984 Building Act there was the largely adversarial system, where Building Control often went out of their way to make life difficult for all involved. We look back upon those... Read more »

The New Zealand Building Code is implementation of the Building Act 2004. It's a 'performanced-based' code, but don't let the name fool you. In this epside I discuss why the Building Code can't be relied upon to produce a good home for you, and what you can do about it.  Useful Link:  EECA Report Investigatin quality of insulation in new build residential homes:http://www.eeca.govt.nz/node/11719