Wellington, Beehive, 24 March 2016  -  Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith today announced the launch of a new website, www.building.govt.nz, to make information on regulation of New Zealand’s $25 billion a year building industry more accessible.

“This new website is about making better quality information more accessible to the public and industry on the regulatory requirements for residential and commercial buildings. It is part of the modernisation work we need to do to ensure our buildings are well designed and well-built and that they met the requirements of the building code,” Dr Smith says.

The new website, which replaces the former site, includes information on requirements of the building code, acceptable solutions and verification methods, stages of the building process, tips on managing the building process and on homeowner’s rights and obligations.

The upgrade has cost $898,000. The new website has the advantage of being properly accessible by mobile phones plus tablets. The information has also been re-organised and improved to make it quicker and easier for information to be found.

“New Zealand is going through a sustained period of strong growth in building activity and the challenge is to maintain standards at the same time as increasing volume. This new website is part of the broader plan of increased investment in skills, new standards, and improved laws to ensure we achieve high standards of building work.”