Transcript: Building Product Information Requirements webinar

Speakers

• Hayden Taylor
• Lisa Clephane
• Amy Moorhead
• Andrew Vere-Jones,
• Conor Topp-Annan

Slide 1

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"Welcome – Building products information requirements webinar."

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Amy Moorhead: Ata mārie, kia ora koutou, welcome everybody to MBIE's Building Products Information Requirements webinar. We still have quite a few people joining. So, I thought we'd just get started with a little bit of housekeeping. We've got quite a lot to cover today. And I know that many of you have questions that you want to make sure get answered. So, we will just get underway now. So, as I said, just a few housekeeping things. My name is Amy Moorhead, I'm the manager of the Building Policy team here at MBIE. And with me presenting today, I have Conor, who's a Senior Advisor, in our Design and Implementation team. And I've also got Lisa, who's a Senior Regulatory Specialist in the Building System Assurance team. And we're going to be presenting today on the building product information requirements, which are coming into force on the 11th of December this year. Now, what we're going to be talking to you about today, is largely contained in the guidance document that we have already released. So, somebody is going to pop a link to that guidance document in the chat. If you want to click on that link, it will be referring to various parts of that guidance document as we go through today. Just familiarise yourself with the content of that and take it home for your bedtime reading. A couple of other things about the process for this webinar. If you have a question that you want to ask, we're going to do those at the end. But please do use the chat function, or sorry, the Q&A function. So that's this one down here next to the chat function, please don't put your questions in the chat function, pop them in the Q&A function. That just means that I've got one place to look for all of the questions that people want answered. And it just makes things a little bit easier. And make sure that if you've got a question that's got the best chance of getting answered at this webinar. We do also have a lot of questions through already. When it comes time for the question portion of this webinar, we're just going to start with the questions that have been already fed through and there's a lot of consistency in the kinds of things that people are interested in. So, there's definitely a very good chance that your question will be answered. I can see that the number of participants is sort of starting to slow down a little bit, in terms of people coming through, so we might get underway. And to begin with I'm just going to spend a little bit of time talking to you about where the Building Product Information Requirements have come from.

Slide 2

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"Building Product Information Requirements – New regulations", described by Amy Moorhead.

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Amy Moorhead: Many of you might be familiar With MBIE's building system reforms. These series of reforms has been going on since around about 2019. When we consulted on a discussion document, that had a whole bunch of proposals for ways to lift the performance of the regulatory system and get better outcomes for the sector and for New Zealand. The building system reforms, the first phase of building system reforms really focused on building products and building methods, and making sure that in particular new and innovative products and building methods had a really good chance of participating in the market here of making sure that there was the right information, the right assurance around these products, and methods for things like the building consent system. Other things that we have underway, that are under the building system reforms is our occupational regulation reform, and also the building consent system review. So, the building product information regulations are one part of the reforms, they fell into the first phase of reforms that I referred to earlier. And we've been working on those for about three or four years now.

Slide 3

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"What is BPIR", described by Amy Moorhead.

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Amy Moorhead: What are building product information requirements? The building product information requirements regulations come into force on the 11th of December this year. And essentially, what the regulations require, is that a minimum level of information about those building products is provided publicly, and it's important to note that the responsibility to provide that information falls on the manufacturers and the importers of the building product. Retailers and distributors on the other hand, just need to make sure that that information is available for the products that they sell or distribute.

Slide 4

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"Why is BPIR being introduced", described by Amy Moorhead.

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Amy Moorhead: And in terms of why we're introducing the building product information requirements, and one of the things that we found early on in the building system reforms is that building owners, homeowners and consumers want to have confidence that the building products they use and the buildings that they live in are safe and fit for purpose. But the quality of information on building products is really variable. And the lack of consistent comprehensive building product information is leading to a number of issues. The first issue is that product information often lacks clear detail about performance and other important matters. And this can lead to situations where building products aren't appropriate for the intended use or won't perform as needed. The second issue that came through is around poor-quality product information slows down the consent process, especially where testing information cannot be easily verified, or where the building consent authorities don't have the information they need to assess an application. And so essentially, the way that we have designed these regulations is really to seek to achieve a bunch of different things. So first, we want to make sure that designers, builders, product manufacturers are able to be held accountable for the building products that they manufacture, select or use. We also want there to be trusted and quality information about building products. We want to make sure that designers and builders choose products that meet the requirements of the Building Code. And we want to make sure that those products are installed correctly, to reduce the risk of defects in building work. And finally, we want to make sure that the building consent authorities have the information they need to officially consent and inspect.

Slide 5

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"BPIR timeline", described by Amy Moorhead.

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Amy Moorhead: So, in terms of the timeframes for the building product information requirements, I mentioned that we initially started consulting on these back in December, sorry, in April 2019. This is the more recent timeline for the development of the regulations, which really started in 2021. At the same time that we were passing the Amendment Act that gave us the ability to make these regulations. So, in April 2021, we issued a regulations discussion document and sought feedback on the specific proposals that are contained in the regulations have now been made. And we've also released a summary of submissions on those submissions that were received on that discussion document in around about November 2021. In June, that's when we passed the regulations. And there was an inbuilt 18-month transition period to enable people to do the work, to get up to speed with what the regulations require and make any changes necessary to the systems and processes. And as I've mentioned a couple of times now, the regulations are going to come into force on the 11th of December. So that's a little bit of information around how the regulations have come to be. I'm going to hand over to Lisa, who's going to take you through the next slide.

Slide 6 

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"Roles and responsibilities", described by Lisa Clephane.

Bullet points with the parties involved.

Audio

Lisa Clephane: Good morning, everyone. I'm just going to talk a little bit about roles and responsibilities with the regulations. There are a number of parties who are touched by these, and obviously those who have obligations under the regulations as well. If we start with MBIE, which obviously is us, MBIE is responsible for making sure that the regulations are successfully implemented. So that involves working with our key stakeholders and talking about how they'll be impacted, and to make sure they understand their responsibilities what they need to do to comply, and how they can access education and information resources. And the MBIE Chief Executive has powers under the Building Act to enforce the duties and obligations within the regulations. The building consent authorities and I think there's probably a few of you here today. Building consent authorities don't have any new responsibilities as a result of the regulation. Once they are in force, BCAs will need to check that the building work and the products used are compliant with the Building Code via the building consent process just like they normally do. Where a consent application contains building information that doesn't appear to meet the new requirements in the regulations, you can still process the building consent application, and you can still request further information. You're encouraged however, to contact MBIE, if you feel like the information doesn't meet requirements, so that we can have a look at that. Over time, we are expecting you should see fewer requests for information about building products due to the increased amount plus the consistency of the information that's been provided about building products, and hopefully also see a reduction in the number of inspection failures or notices to fix due to the requirements for information, such as scope of use and installation requirements being provided with the product information. For designers, same thing, no new responsibilities as a result of the regulations, but there are benefits and giving you access to consistent and more reliable product information about designated building products, including things like the scope of use design requirements and any installation information. It should help you make the right select of the right product for the right job and be much more easily able to compare different products. Again, where you see there might be insufficient product information or it doesn't look like it complies with the regulations, we encourage you to contact us so we can take a look at it. For tradespeople, similar, no new responsibilities under the regulations, but again, seeing the benefits of having reliable product information, good information about installation, much clearer, so that you're able to install those products as they're intended to be installed. And for consumers again, no responsibilities but we're hoping that this will allow consumers to make much clearer and well-informed decisions about the products that they're looking to use, compared being able to compare products and use them as they were intended to be used. For manufacturers and importers, wholesalers, retailers and distributors. These are the groups who have new responsibilities under the regulations. In this webinar, we're going to go into more detail about those groups. And I'll hand over to Conor.

Slide 7

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"Detailed guidance", described by Conor Topp-Annan

Title page of the Building Product Information guidance.

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Conor Topp-Annan: Hey, guys, so my name's Connor Topp-Annan, I’m working in the Design and Implementation team on the implementation side of these regulations. So, Amy mentioned earlier that we've got a detailed guidance document that we've released. So, I really recommend you guys have a look at that. I'm just highlighting it here, because I'm going to work through the key steps to comply with these regulations. But go to that document and there'll be more detail on that.

Slide 8

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"Steps to comply", described by Conor Topp-Annan.

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Conor Topp-Annan: Cool. So, the first step around the steps to comply is to consider which of the products you manufacture, sell or intend to use are actually impacted by the regulations. So, products which are which are covered are referred to as designated building products and the regulations you might see that term come up. And the regulations set the criteria that needs to be met in order for a product to be impacted. So, in order for it to be impacted, all of these things must apply. So, it needs to be manufactured in or imported into New Zealand on or after the 11th of December. So that's when the regulations become enforceable. It also needs to be a new product, so can't be a used product. And, you know, the regulations only apply to building products that when used and building work may affect whether the building work complies with the Building Code. There's also the last point which can't be exempt under Regulation 7, and the regulations. So, this covers things like if the product has a CodeMark, if it's part of BuiltReady, or the old sort of MCM scheme, products that are temporary, like scaffolding, they're not impacted, frames and trusses fully bespoke products. And also, the last one is around any gas or electrical products, so, they're not impacted by the regulations either. So, once you know your product, or your set of products are impacted. Step two is around determining whether you or your organisation meets the definition of what's called a responsible person. So that's not a generic term. The regulations define that and there are two types of responsible person. So, the first is manufacturers and importers. And the second group is the wholesalers, retailers and distributors of building products. Amy might have mentioned that each of these groups have different responsibilities under the regulations. And it's important to note that in order to meet the definition, you or your company needs to be living in or incorporated into New Zealand. Just at a high level, the responsibilities of each of these two groups, so are the manufacturers and importers. They have a responsibility for collating and producing the required information and disclosing that online in a way that's free of charge to the public. The second group, the wholesalers, retailers, distributors, their responsibility is more around making sure that the information is available to anyone that they sell the product to. So importantly, the product can't be sold if that information isn't available. Step three. So, this is about determining whether you have a Class One or a Class Two designated building product. The regulations set the criteria for what the Class One and Class Two actually mean. I'll quickly run through that now. So, a Class One product is one which is mass produced or produced in batches. So that's the key thing here. It also needs to be available for wholesale or retail purchase, again needs to be new and not used. When used in building work, it may affect whether it complies with the Building Code, and similar to earlier can't be exempt under Regulation 7. So, the key here - Class One, it's those mass-produced products or ones that are done in big batches. So, some examples of a Class One products include cladding, mechanical fixings insulation products, internal lining products. We've come up with a list in the guidance document, it's not exhaustive, but it'll give you a fair idea around what a Class One product is. In terms of a Class Two product. The key here is that these products are based on a line of products, where each unit has been customised to the specification of an individual client or a building. So that's the key difference here. Similar to a Class One, though, has to be new can't be used. And when used in building works that may affect whether the building complies with the Building Code, and also can't be exempt under Regulation 7. So, some examples of a Class Two products: external window joinery might be a Class Two, doors and skylights, which have been customised to the specifications of a client. Also, fire doors and windows, fire alarm sprinkler systems, you know, if they've been customised for an individual or to a building itself, then it's likely a Class Two. So, step four, this is about ensuring that the information requirements are being met. So, this is really the bulk, the meat of the regulations here. So, the regulations prescribe what, when and how the information must be disclosed. And it also outlines the requirements for reviewing, updating and maintaining the information. In the guidance document, we've split up the content for each responsible person, as it's defined in the regulations. So, step 4A just to reiterate, this is the manufacturers and importers. So, they're responsible for actually collating and producing the information and then making sure that's disclosed online. Schedule one of the regulations goes into all the detail provides a full list of the information that must be disclosed. I won't cover everything here, but recommend you guys go and have a look at the regulations themselves, but also, that guidance document. Based on our research, most manufacturers and importers will already have the majority of the required information about the building product. But the key thing here is it might not all be disclosed in one place. Or in a way that's like overly accessible. If you have a product technical statement, or an appraisal of some sort, then you've likely already got the majority of that information. So, recommend you use that as a starting point. And then go from there to see if you have any, any gaps rather than starting from scratch. Okay, so once you've got the information, well, then what? So, the regulations, they have requirements for not only what must be disclosed, but also how that information must be disclosed. So, the key here is it must be published and maintained on a website, and available free of charge. And there must also be no preconditions on access. So, there's things like needing to create an account and set a password login, add an email address, for example. Okay, so once the information's there, it's up on a website. Next step, how does a customer actually access it? Well, again, the regulations outline a number of options for doing this. So, you'll need to make sure that the website where that information is published, it can either be disclosed on the building product itself, it could be on the packaging that the product comes in, if it's sold in a store with a merchant, could be on a label or on a product on a sign next to the product. And then the regulations have this kind of other clause in there, which says, you know, any other similar way, so that the public has a clear link to that website and the product information. So yeah, I really recommend as a manufacturer, or importer, if you're selling through a merchant, recommend having a chat with them, and confirming what sort of approach you're going to take around and how that information is disclosed. Yeah. So last bit here, step 4B as was split it up in the guidance. Just to reiterate, this is for the wholesalers, retailers, and distributors. So they're responsible for making sure the required information is available before the product is distributed or sold. We've talked to a number of merchants about how they're going to go about this. Ideally, the products probably on sorry, the website is on the product itself, or on the packaging straight from the manufacturer. But again, it could be on a sign or a label or on a sticker within the store. Key thing for this group, it's not your responsibility to actually provide the information and collate it, all that sits with the manufacturer. But in saying that you can't sell the product if that information isn't there. So, it's kind of like a second, a second check.

Slide 9

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Resources to support you – Published on the Building Performance website

(https://www.building.govt.nz/building-code-compliance/product-assurance-and-certification-schemes/building-product-information-requirements/)

Audio

Conor Topp-Annan: And so that was quite a bit to cover. Very aware of that. So, we have got a number of resources out there for you guys. Have a look at the Building Performance website. We've got a link there and I think someone's hopefully chucked a link in the chat as well.

Slide 10

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Images of:

• a title page of the Guidance document
• a blank template
• an Example of two products page
• a Checklist.

Audio

Conor Topp-Annan: So, we've talked about guidance document recommend you having a look at that. We've also got a blank template, which fully optional to use. But if you are starting from scratch or don't have the information somewhere already, you can use this to input your information into. So, this is more aimed at the manufacturers or the importers. And we've also got two examples of what it actually looks like to provide or disclose this information. So, one for a Class One, and then we've got another for a Class Two products. So that should give you a fair idea about, you know, maintenance requirements, how much detail to go into there. And then we've also got a checklist. So recently put this up on the list. So, if you've already got an appraisal, or a product technical statement, bring up this checklist that you can find on the website, bring up the information you've got. And you can do a bit of a gap analysis to see how you're doing.

Slide 11

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"Compliance and enforcement"

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Conor Topp-Annan: So that's it for me, went into a bit of detail there. But check out the guidance for more information, and also on the website. Now going to hand over to Lisa. So Lisa talked earlier, she's in our Building System Assurance team. And she's going to talk a bit about the compliance and enforcement approach that MBIE will take.

Slide 12

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"For compliance, some key things to consider", described by Lisa Clephane.

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Lisa Clephane: Thanks, Conor. Before I do talk about that, I just thought it might be worth just wrapping up and sort of segueing from what Conor's been talking about. Probably now, as you've listened to what's been said, you'll know that probably some manufacturers and importers will have more work to do with their product information than others, in order to meet the requirements of the regulations. And I suppose, if we have a look at it, in a sort of a plain English approach, what's really important when you're wanting to comply here is to make sure you're understanding your roles and responsibilities here. So again, the guidance document is as helpful there. I suggest you consider as a first port of call, what which of your products are covered by these regulations and which are not obviously, some products are exempt under Regulation 7, so have a look at the guidance for more information about that. I think it's important to also consider where, especially when you've got a lot of products, to consider where you might be able to group products on one disclosure, or we may be supplying or selling products that are part of a system. Then I think it's important to look at the information you already have. Conor's already mentioned this and because it's possible for those who have a lot of product information already that you're able to just build on that rather than having to create all of this from scratch. And that might be, as Conor said, you might have a product and technical statement, even a technical data sheet, maybe a comprehensive technical manual or an appraisal. So, use that and build on it, you might find with using our check list and doing a gap analysis that you've gotten a lot of that information already, and then move into collating and publishing your disclosures. We will be here, MBIE continuing to provide education up to but also after the 11th of December. And in order to realise the benefits of these regulations, it is important that those who are required to comply with the regulations do so as well as providing ongoing education. The Build Act also provides a number of statutory tools to address noncompliance. And we can't really comment on the specific approach that we take to compliance and enforcement, because it's something that is approached on a case-by-case basis. But we do, as I mentioned earlier, the Building Act does give MBIE's Chief Executive powers under the Building Act to enforce the duties and obligations in the regulations. So, if we go to the next slide, Conor.

Slide 13

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"Enforcement tools", described by Lisa Clephane.

Audio

Lisa Clephane: Thank you. We would be able to issue a notice to take corrective action, there are infringement offenses with fines and it's also an offence to fail to comply with information requirements. So MBIE's role as a regulator, it's a decision around looking at what is the most appropriate tool to address a particular situation. So really, the emphasis for us is a regulator as to ensure that we are notifying importers and manufacturers if the product information is not compliant, and that that situation is promptly rectified. But going hand in hand with that of course is that we will continue to educate, and it might be appropriate to just to sometimes be providing targeted education even after the 11th of December. We'll be monitoring and responding to complaints. And we in the BSA team, we have a team of a small team of investigators who will support this work, as well as other complaints work that we also do around building products. Conor can I just have the next slide, thank you.

Slide 14

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New slide is continuation of "Enforcement tools", described by Lisa Clephane.

Audio

Lisa Clephane: And it's also worth mentioning, some may not be aware that there is also an offense now in the Building Act around making false misleading and unsubstantiated claims about building products. In the past these types of complaints, we would have referred to the Commerce Commission to be assessed under the Fair Trading Act, but that has jurisdiction has now been passed to MBIE. And I suppose you could look at it that we have the team and the capability to work with building products, so it's appropriate that they come to us. We also have now a power to compel information and documents to assist us when we're investigating complaints. And I think that's really important because it gives us the ability to dig in and find out what's going on where we need to. But I think it's really important for people to remember too, that there are defenses against non-compliance both with the information requirements and that false and misleading claims offense. And that's under Section 362VD if you want to have a closer look at that.

Slide 15

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"Supporting compliance with the Regulations", described by Lisa Clephane.

• Our guidance: https://www.building.govt.nz/BPIR
• Subscribe to our updates: https://www.building.govt.nz/subscribe
• Get in touch: products@mbie.govt.nz
• Download FREE Building Product Information requirement guidance document:
  https://www.building.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/building-code-compliance/certifications-programmes/guidance-complying-with-building-product-information-regulations-2022.pdf

Audio

Lisa Clephane: Thanks, Conor. And then the last thing I just want to reiterate here for you is just the areas that we can offer support, and assistance, information and education. So obviously, we have our website. And we also have our guidance document, there's a QR code there, if you want to access it like that, we recommend that you subscribe to our website. So, you can do that building.govt.nz/subscribe. And then that gives you the opportunity going forward to tune into any information updates or changes in this area. So that's really helpful. But also, you can reach out to us. So, there's a team of us that sit behind the products@mbie email address. So please reach out, we recommend firstly that you read the guidance. I think that's really important. But if you read the guidance, and then you have some other questions that haven't been answered, please reach out to our team through products. And I think that's me. Thank you.

Slide 16

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"Common questions", described by Amy Moorhead

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Amy Moorhead: Awesome. Thank you, Lisa. Thank you, Conor. That's awesome to see so many questions in the chat. I think we've got about 41 of those at the moment. We have actually hopefully addressed many of those questions in this next section, that just sort of details some of the very common questions that we've been getting through, and the webinars that we have been leading to date. So, I'm going to quickly run through some of those now.

Questions and answers session

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The speakers appear on screen as they answer questions, some submitted throughout the webinar, as read by Amy Moorhead. 

Audio

Amy Moorhead: And in this section, we're going to be joined by Andrew Vere-Jones and Hayden Taylor, who are just going to help with answering some of those common questions.

So, the first question, I'm going to kick over to Hayden. Hayden, why is there a requirement to disclose the manufacturer's details for imported products.

Hayden Taylor: So, for this one, the greater transparency of origin can help building product users to make informed decisions about burning products. And disclosure of that information can also assist in the event that there's a product failure or building failure where that product importer has gone out of business and an investigation is actually required. We've got more information on that particular question on our website as well if people would like to go there and have a look.

Amy Moorhead: Great, thank you, Hayden.

And the next question is for Lisa. Is it possible to group products together and give them one BPIR (pronounced ‘bee-par’)?

Lisa Clephane: Yes, Amy it is. So, manufacturers and importers can consider having one set of building product information for multiple products, I suppose you could say grouping or it's a line or range of products. And this can definitely be done for products that have perhaps a cosmetic difference such as colour but could be done where products are physically different, such as different thicknesses or different lengths. So, I suggest have a look at pages 16 and 17 of our guidance document if you need further information on that.

Amy Moorhead: Great thanks Lisa.

This next question's for Conor. How do we approach BPIRs when we sell a system which is made up have individual components?

Conor Topp-Annan: Yes. So, it's sufficient for the system or the product as a whole, to have its own product information. So, to have that BPIR, rather than every individual product or component that makes that up, to need its own set of information. So individual products that make up the system should be in the product, you know, within the description of the BPIR. But, yeah, the responsibility sits with the manufacturer or the importer of the system as a whole, to provide that information rather than the individual manufacturer of the components itself. Yeah, just worth noting, if the manufacturers intention is an addition to that component or product being used within a system, if that's going to be sold, separately sold or use separately, then that also need its own BPIR or set of information.

Amy Moorhead: Cool, thank you, Conor.

Heading back to Hayden now - can a product be Class One and Class Two? And what do people do in that case?

Hayden Taylor: So, the intent behind this is not to require two sets of information disclosures for the same product. What manufacturers and importers need to do is basically, produce one disclosure that best meets their use case. One thing that's probably worth noting here is that the information that's actually disclosed for Class One and Class Two products is actually very similar, but a key difference is when it is disclosed. So for the mass produced off the shelf type product it's disclosed at the point of sale prior to sale. Whereas for the Class Two product, that information needs to be disclosed before the customised product based on a product line is ordered. But if people have a look at pages 12 to 13 of the of the guide, there's a bit more of a discussion here about the differences.

Amy Moorhead: Cool, thank you, Hayden.

This next question, I think I'm going to kick over to Lisa. Why are products with a watermark certification not exempt?

Lisa Clephane: Okay, well essentially watermark as an Australian certification scheme for plumbing products. So products with a watermark certificate are not assessed against the New Zealand Building Code. Whereas for instance, if some people say well, why is CodeMark exempt and watermark not exempt. CodeMark New Zealand products are certified to the New Zealand Building Code. So, we are you main manufacturing or importing from plumbing products with watermark certification, you will need to provide a statement specifying the clauses of the New Zealand Building Code that are relevant to the product. And you'll also need to meet the other requirements in the regulations as well. So, it's a little bit more information on page 17 of the guidance. But what I'd also recommend as if you're in that position, you could consider looking at our checklist and doing a gap analysis or having a look at your watermark certification and just looking at what other information you would need to provide.

Amy Moorhead: Cool, and Lisa, I think we're going to stick with you for the next question. Can a building consent or authority reject the use of a product? Because it doesn't have a BPIR?

Lisa Clephane: No, no, no, that's not the intention of the regulations. So, a BCA will still need to check that the building work and the products used are compliant with the Building Code as part of processing that building consent application. So, you're also still able to request further information about those building products. So, it can better inform your decision about the building consent application, but where you feel that that information is deficient, you can certainly raise that with the importer or manufacturer. But where you can't resolve that issue, please reach out to products@mbie.govt.nz. And that's the team where I work. Obviously, we can have a look at that. But I think for us in a way BCAs are a bit of the eyes and ears on the ground for us. So, getting feedback helps us understand how this is going, how the how people are complying with the regulations, but obviously also, it will help us ensure we're targeting education and looking at any enforcement action, where that might be necessary.

Amy Moorhead: Great. Thank you, Lisa.

Andrew, we're going to come to you next. What happens if the building product is intended to be used in multiple situations with different building code requirements?

Andrew Vere-Jones: Right. So, the product can reasonably to be expected to be used in multiple situations where they affect different Building Code clauses, then the product will need to have information available for all the situations that are relevant to it. For some products, there might be some strong overlaps. And some cases, maybe not so much. So, for example, drainage pipe might help contribute to compliance with clause E1, for stormwater and clause G13 for foul water. And the requirements might be very similar, no matter which of those uses you use. But a sheet of plaster board that can be used for fire rated wall, but also be used for bracing it might have different nailing requirements. Or other things about its instructions that mean the information needs to be very clear on which parts of the information apply when it's used in one way in which apply in a different way.

Amy Moorhead: Awesome, thank you, Andrew.

Conor we're going to come to you next. Do people need to archive information for discontinued products?

Conor Topp-Annan: Yeah, so this links in with the reviewing updating and maintaining part of the regulations. So you know, as a product develops over time, and new versions are supplied, manufacturers and importers should consider how they're going to manage that information to make sure it's up to date, but also that the information remains accessible for previous versions of that product, because they may still be within the supply chain and being used. So, if a product is superseded or taken off the market, yeah the manufacturer will need to consider how they communicate this with merchants and also manage that information in the future. The regulations don't actually prescribe any set timeframes, for how long the information needs to be available. But in the guidance document, we've recommended, keeping it up to date keeping it there and available for a period of about 10 years. It seems like a long time, but it aligns with the implied warranties, which are outlined in the Building Act. In terms of the website side of things, you know, you could have an archive tab or a section on the website, which may be useful for a consumer.

Amy Moorhead: Cool, thanks, Conor.

Back to you, Hayden, why wasn't an embodied carbon considered when making these regulations?

Hayden Taylor: Yeah, so these the building product disclosure requirements are based on the current Building Code. So that does include the current H1 Energy Efficiency provisions, but so changes to regulations would be needed to include things like embodied carbon and would depend on future policy work.

Amy Moorhead: Cool, thanks, Hayden.

Conor, I think you've got the next question here. Which is really around, you know, if someone's already got a BRANZ appraisal, or a product technical statement, you know, what happens then?

Conor Topp-Annan: And so we've touched on this a couple times. But yeah, like an appraisal or a certification might provide people with confidence about a building product or a system. But it doesn't necessarily mean the product is automatically exempt from the regulations. So, refer to Regulation 7, that's got a full list of exemptions. But yeah, if you've got a PTS or an appraisal, you know, get up the MBIE checklist and use that to see if you've got any gaps there.

Amy Moorhead: Cool, thanks, Conor.

Lisa, coming back to you for the next one. Temporary products, permanent products, what's the difference in their requirements?

Lisa Clephane: That's an important question, because under Regulation 7, it exempts products that are of a temporary nature. So, where you think a building product might be temporary in nature, have a think about the rule of thumb is that if the product does not form part of the building, when the construction is completed, then it can be considered a temporary product and is exempt. So again, have a wee look at the guidance there's, just a little bit more information and a few examples of what could be considered a temporary product there.

Amy Moorhead: Great, thanks, Lisa.

And I'm just lastly on the common questions back to you, Andrew. Raw materials versus a final product. What do the building product information requirements apply to and when?

Andrew Vere-Jones: Right so, the requirements apply to products, when they've essentially been processed to the extent necessary that they could reasonably be expected to be used as a component of a building. So the regulations talk about relevant considerations for a building product. They include matters, such as the purposes for which it is ordinarily used purposes for which it's intended by the supplier or manufacturer to be used, purposes for which it's represented or stated as saying it can be used and for which it's likely to be used. So, a couple of examples sheet of corrugated iron could probably be reasonably expected to be used as a component of a building. A ship load of iron ore is not likely to be used as a component of a building or an ingot of bulk metal. Similarly, length of structurally graded preservative treated timber probably can be reasonably expected to be used as a component of a building. But an unprocessed log or drum of preservative chemicals probably can't be expected to be a component for building.

Amy Moorhead: Cool, thanks, Andrew. All right, we're gonna go through to the questions that have been asked in the Q&A function. Again, thank you so much for sending these through. I'm going to start at the top. And we're going to see how we get on in the 15 minutes remaining. So please do bear with us.

And as I say, if we don't get to your question today, please go and check out the guidance document. And we'll put some contact details up on the last slide for you to send any questions through to us if you can't find the answer in the guidance document.

So, there's a question here around again, products that look like they're part of a system. So, drainage channels relate to the building code E1 and E2, but the grate itself doesn't? Will, the information needs to include information about the grate is well, we're gonna chuck this over to let me think maybe, Conor?

Conor Topp-Annan: Yeah. Yeah, so we touched on systems before. So, the intent is that the system as a whole just needs to have the BPIR information. But there will be individual components that make up that system. So if they're not going to be sold individually, just list them on within the information. But if they are going to be sold individually, if the intention is that they could be, then, they will also need their own product information. So, it's about yeah, having as much information for the consumer as possible.

Amy Moorhead: Yeah. And maybe just sticking with you. I think that we've spoke about this a little bit in the webinar. But if you've got a couple of different suppliers for a product, like say, one that's here in New Zealand, and one that's overseas, which one do you list?

Conor Topp-Annan: Yeah, so they have to be living or incorporated in New Zealand, for them to actually be covered by the regulations.

Hayden Taylor: I think this this might relate to the answer Andrew just gave to that last common question. It kind of depends on what that raw product or raw material is, can be reasonably expected to be used for. So like a barrel of chemicals on its own, probably not subject to this, but when it's used to treat some timber, that end thing is a building product. So, it kind of depends on the circumstance there. Like I would generic roll plate of steel, maybe not, but some steel products that are intended to be sold as building products and used in building work. They could be, really kind of depends on the intent.

Amy Moorhead: Great, thanks Hayden.

This next question is around, you know, consumer confidence and, and the building product information requirements. So, who's going to ensure that the information is accurate and can be trusted? And how will building product information requirements prevent the type of problems that are now apparent in the UK with the RAAC, I think that's the concrete products. Lisa, do you want to take this one?

Lisa Clephane: Yes thanks. Now obviously with the regulations, the onus lies on the importer and or manufacturer to ensure the information is accurate. And I guess you could argue that it is in your best interests to, to make sure that is the case. And I suppose if you're looking at someone who's specifying products, they're going to be wanting that information to be clear, and comprehensive and meeting requirements. So, I think I suppose that's important. There's an onus but also best interest, obviously, backing that up is MBIE, who will be responsible for monitoring and enforcing these requirements, when necessary, but I suppose also, just remembering that new section on the Building Act around false misleading and unsubstantiated claims, that it has a very strong consumer focus. So obviously, we'll be looking at that closely as well. It's very important for people to feel that their information is accurate, and it has any claims that are being made can be substantiated. I apologise, I'm not familiar with the RAAC situation in the UK.

Amy Moorhead: Awesome. Thanks, Lisa.

The next question is around what is the definition of a product identifier? Is this a statement on the product technical statement that describes the product? Or is that some kind of mark on the product itself? That enables it to be identified Conor or Hayden do one of you to want to take this one?

Conor Topp-Annan: So, the intent here is that it's something that can distinguish it from another product. So it could literally just be the name of the product, if it's unique from others. Yeah, that's the main intent. Is that right Hayden?

Hayden Taylor: Yeah, that's right. But I mean, people may choose to use more specific identifiers. They could use QR codes or things like that. But it's really just to, as Conor said, distinguish the product from another product.

Amy Moorhead: Thanks guys.

All right, we've got a couple for Andrew now. The first one's around difficulties in obtaining the physical properties of products, which affects some aspects of the E3 clause of the Building Code or such parameters as vapor receptivity become more available.

Andrew Vere-Jones: This is a bit of a tricky one, does come down to what the product could, how could reasonably be expected to contribute to compliance with the Building Code. Now the question was included a mention of modeling of a building, which is one way of achieving compliance but it's perhaps not the most common way and other ways for perhaps simpler buildings, and acceptable solutions. So, a product where the manufacturer could reasonably expected to think someone might decide to use my product, and try and comply with clause E3 because of the properties of my product, we would expect them to disclose the relevant properties which can include vapour transmittance, and that would certainly be relevant for something like a wall underlay. On the other hand, someone using achieving E3 compliance in a way that's a bit unusual involves thermal modeling and is not in an acceptable solution, they may be using products in a way that's not necessarily what the manufacturer intended, and therefore, would be unusual. For the manufacturer, be unusual to be able to say that, the manufacturer could reasonably be expected to understand that situation and provide information.

Amy Moorhead: Cool, thanks Andrew.

And just sticking with you as well for the next question. What if, what if products are made with recycled products? You know, some products we use things like recycled rubber, for example, which is no longer new.

Andrew Vere-Jones: Essentially, it's the product that is produced, whether that is new or used, if it's been on a building before, it's clearly used, if it's just come off a factory, even if one went into the factory was recycled, then it's probably new.

Amy Moorhead: Right. So, it's just the final product that comes out of audit the manufacturer, right?

Andrew Vere-Jones: That's right.

Amy Moorhead: All right. Lisa, coming over to you. This is a question, which is about upcoming products, but I suppose could apply to anything. You know, if via the building product information requirements, there is discovery that, in fact, the product is not compliant with the Building Code, what real time action is possible to immediately discontinue use of that product, until compliance is proven?

Lisa Clephane: There's a couple of things in that question. And obviously, we would want to know about it. So again, products@mbie.govt.nz, the Building System Assurance team, responsible for looking at warnings and bans for building products. And so, you know, there's a, I think we would want to hear about that, because we can have a look at that with the potential to issue a product ban if that if that meets the requirements for that that's under Section 26 of the Building Act. There are also part of MBIE, we have a Product Safety team as well who manage recalls as well. So that's another area that we would be wanting to look at pretty quickly. There can be voluntary recalls, as well as compulsory product recalls. So, I'm looking for preferably a voluntary recall where it meets those requirements and remediation of those products as well. So, these are the kinds of things we would want to look at. But absolutely, that's something that there's definitely falls into the area of the team I work in.

Amy Moorhead: Thanks, Lisa.

The next question is around electrical products being exempt and does this extend to all things electrical, so HVAC systems, fire alarms, that sort of thing? Does one of our panel want to pick this one up? Maybe you Hayden?

Hayden Taylor: Yep. So, under Regulation 7, there is an exemption for all electrical and gas appliances and fittings as defined under the gas and electricity acts. So, I think our guide has a little bit more information on that. But so pretty much anything that's already covered by those two pieces of legislation. They're not covered by these requirements.

Amy Moorhead: In terms of the disclosure requirements there's a question here where somebody imports and sells a Class Two, building product and doesn't have a New Zealand website. And the Australian and Swiss manufacturers don't want to add this New Zealand document to their website. So, what's the potential way that this person can comply in this situation? Conor, do you have any ideas on that front?

Conor Topp-Annan: Yeah, well, I mean, there does need to be a website somewhere. So that information does need to be disclosed online. So, I guess an option is setting up a website based in New Zealand, where you could link through to just for those products.

Amy Moorhead: Okay. Thanks, Conor.

Andrew, kicking it back to you with this question. What about generic products like timber framing or timber bevel back weatherboards? Are they all expected to have product information available, even though they are covered as generic under the Building Code and 3604?

Andrew Vere-Jones: Short answer is yes. They do need building product information requirements. Unless they meet any of the exemptions. The compliance with the Standard is a very good place to start in explaining why it complies with the Building Code.

Amy Moorhead: Yeah. Great. Thanks, Andrew. Here's a good question. If products are sold over the phone or via an e mail order, and delivered direct to site, do we have to? Do we have to have our customer service agents tell customers where to access the declarations before they're allowed to take orders? Maybe Conor is this one for you?

Conor Topp-Annan: Yeah, yeah. So, we've had this one in the past. And the recommendation is, you know, if it's the orders made over the phone, if you send out a quote to them and have it all priced up as a part of your standard business, I think that would probably be quite a good place to have a link to where the information is. So, they could double check that yep, this is the right product. Have a look at that information. So, you're probably on the close of the product as an option.

Amy Moorhead: And just similarly here, like what about products where it's only seen in its packaging by the tradespeople, it might be taken out of the packaging in order to put on shelves or was something along those lines. What are the options for people in that sort of situation?

Conor Topp-Annan: So, is this from a retailer perspective?

Amy Moorhead: So this is our this is from the product manufacturer perspective, I think, right? How do they make sure that they get their information? You know, how do they make sure that they get the information across all the required information, you know, to the consumer when they're not necessarily seeing it on the packaging?

Conor Topp-Annan: You I mean, ideally, I guess the website is on the product itself. Or on the packaging. Yeah, the regulations kind of have that that clause at the end, which says in any other way. So yeah, without having known the actual supply chain and how it's working. Kind of hard to comment, but unless someone else has an idea on the panel.

Amy Moorhead: Thanks, Conor.

I'm gonna kick one back to Lisa, this is about the compliance and enforcement. Someone here has asked if people do miss things, regarding any specific information, you know, what's going to happen first if, you know, if MBIE issues some kind of notice to correct, is there going to be some kind of grace period before a fine is issued?

Lisa Clephane: No, I mean, we don't talk, I can't talk in terms of a grace period. Again, it comes back to approaching each scenario, case by case and looking at the circumstances of the situation, you know, it could be just some targeted education, if it's something small, that's been overlooked, you know, it could be that we might choose to just target some education or also use that notice to take corrective action. So issue a notice just directing the importer or manufacturer to, you know, to draw their attention to the area that we feel isn't compliant and having them address that in a timeframe.

Amy Moorhead: Okay, thank you.

I've just noticed that there's a couple of questions around, you know, building consent authorities able to not accept a building consent application where there's no building product information requirement in place. Um, did you maybe just want to reinforce that point that you made in the webinar, Lisa about? About that?

Lisa Clephane: Yes. the regulations are not intending for you to have that as a ground to reject a building consent application, you still, you know, assessing the application on under the normal reasonable grounds, I think for you would just be, you may need to request further information if you're not finding that information is sufficient. And also, if you do feel it is seriously deficient, reaching out to MBIE through our products@mbie.govt.nz.

Amy Moorhead: Look, we are out of time, I've done a very poor job at keeping a keeping to time here. So I am going to wrap it up. There are quite a few questions in the Q&A function about requesting access to this recording, we're going to make that available on our website after this in the next few days. So do look out for that. Please share them on your networks. We really want to get the word out far and wide about the building product information requirements coming into force later this year. We would really love your help in order to do that. Conor, I think are you going to be one more slide that gets people the necessary links to our website, our guidance document further information?

Conclusion

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"Have further questions?", described by Amy Moorhead.

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Amy Moorhead: And again, just reinforcing that if you do have a specific question, if it hasn't been answered here in the webinar, if it's not in the guidance document, then there is that products@mbie.govt.nz it. Bear in mind there's you know there's quite a lot of people who have questions about the new requirements they're coming into force pretty soon. Please bear with us while we you know, make sure that we get back to you with a good answer if you do come through to that email address. But look, it just leaves me to say thank you so much for joining us today. Really appreciate you taking the time to come and listen about the building product information requirements. Please do go check out our guidance. And if you have any feedback on that get in touch with us and have a wonderful rest of your afternoon. Ka kite.

Lisa Clephane: Thank you. Bye.