Regulation 6A – Notification requirements

Last updated: 10 October 2024

The notification requirements will ensure the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the accreditation body are advised of significant changes in a building consent authority.

Amendments to the BCA Accreditation Regulations

The following regulation changes came into force on 17 June 2024.

Regulation 6A

This change seeks to clarify that a change of the BCA quality control manager requires formal notification to MBIE and IANZ. This is because the quality control manager is viewed as an integral part of the accreditation system and the departure of this individual can have a significant effect on how well a BCA performs.

This change also involves better defining some of the key roles in a BCA such as the:

'quality control manager'
'authorised representative'
'responsible manager'.

The objective of the regulation

The notification requirements in the Building (Accreditation of Building Consent Authorities) Regulations 2006 are intended to enable the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and the accreditation body to remain assured that a building consent authority (BCA) is meeting its accreditation and registration requirements.

The regulatory guidance below has been developed to support understanding of the Regulations as amended by the Building (Accreditation of Building Consent Authorities) Amendment Regulations 2016 (the amendment Regulations).

Regulation 6A is a new regulation. You can view regulation 6A on the Legislation website.

MBIE's guidance on meeting the accreditation requirement

Checklist for regulation 6A outlines the minimum criteria for compliance.

A BCA must comply with the notification requirements of regulation 6A and outlined in the table below. Any required notification must be made with 20 working days of the decision, action or event to be notified occurring or being identified. It should include advice to MBIE and the accreditation body on the BCA's view of whether the event will impact on their compliance with accreditation requirements. It should also detail any mitigations being put in place to address any potential impacts.

MBIE or the accreditation body may decide that any notified change may result in non-compliance with the scheme's accreditation requirements. If this is the case, either organisation may seek further information from a BCA or initiate an assessment.

Notification requirements for the BCA accreditation scheme

An applicant or BCA must notify MBIE and the accreditation body where:	This means where:
There are significant changes in the legal, commercial or organisational status of a BCA or the wider organisation in which it operates	An applicant or a BCA must notify MBIE and the accreditation body where there is a change in its legal or commercial status. For an applicant or BCA that is part of a territorial or regional authority, this may include a decision to set up a new entity to undertake its BCA consenting functions. For a private BCA, this may include changing from being a sole trader, partnership, company or trust to another type of business. A private BCA should also notify MBIE and the accreditation body if it ceases operating. For all applicants or BCAs this notification requirement includes any legal, commercial or organisation change that will result in a change in reporting lines from the responsible manager to the next senior manager in the organisation hierarchy. It includes any change within the management structure of teams delivering consenting functions, for example, the establishment or disestablishment of management roles and teams that requires change to the organisational structure required by regulation 15(1). This notification requirement also includes where status changes, such as the applicant or BCA: is unable to carry out its building control functions for any reasons including if it becomes bankrupt makes any arrangements with creditors enters into liquidation, whether compulsory or voluntary (but not including liquidation for the purpose of reconstruction) has a receiver appointed is sold or is taken over.
The “authorised representative” departs or is replaced	An applicant or a BCA must notify MBIE and the accreditation body of the departure or replacement of the authorised representative nominated by their Chief Executive.
The BCA’s “responsible manager” departs or is replaced	An applicant or a BCA must notify MBIE and the accreditation body of the departure or replacement of the responsible manager.
The BCAs "quality assurance manager" departs or is replaced	An applicant or a BCA must notify MBIE and the accreditation body of the departure or replacement of the quality assurance manager.
In any one quarter of the calendar year, 25 per cent or more of any employees doing technical jobs depart and are not replaced with equally qualified and competent people	An applicant or a BCA must notify MBIE and the accreditation body if, in one quarter of the calendar year, they record the departure of 25 per cent or more of employees doing a technical job and those staff are not replaced with equally qualified and competent people. An employee is not replaced where their job is: disestablished, or changed to a non-technical job advertised but no replacement is appointed not advertised and the job remains vacant. A replacement employee needs to commence work in the technical job in the BCA within 20 working days of the original employee departing their technical job. The replacement employee will be considered to be: equally qualified where they hold a qualification at the same level as, or that could be reasonably compared to, that of the employee departing equally competent where the BCA’s system required by regulation 10(1) of the Regulations demonstrates equal competency. To make a reasonable comparison, reference can be made to the New Zealand Qualifications Authority Qualifications and Standards advice. However, MBIE will be satisfied with the hiring manager or responsible manager making a reasonable comparison.
The applicant or BCA accepts any or all of another BCA’s functions under section 233 or 244 of the Building Act 2004 (the Act)	If a BCA accepts any or all of another BCA’s functions by way of a formal transfer under sections 233 or 244 of the Act, it must notify MBIE and the accreditation body. This notification must occur within 15 working days of the publication of any statement of proposal under section 83 of the Local Government Act 2002.
The applicant or BCA formally transfers any or all of its functions under section 233 or 244 of the Act to another BCA	If a BCA transfers any or all of its functions under sections 233 or 244 of the Act, it must notify MBIE and the accreditation body. This notification must occur within 14 working days of the publication of any statement of proposal under section 83 of the Local Government Act 2002.
The applicant or BCA outsources a significant portion of its functions under section 213 of the Act to another BCA	If a BCA enters into an arrangement to outsource a significant portion of its functions under section 213 of the Act to another BCA it must notify MBIE and the accreditation body. A significant portion includes outsourcing any: of its consent processing or inspection or certifying functions function that results in the redundancy of a manager function that results in the disestablishment of a team. A significant portion of functions may result in changes to the organisational structure required by regulation 15(1) of the Regulations.
The applicant or BCA accepts a significant portion of another BCA’s functions under section 213 of the Act	If a BCA enters into an arrangement to accept a significant portion of another BCA’s functions under section 213 of the Act it must notify MBIE and the accreditation body. In this case, a significant portion of functions may affect the organisational structure required by regulation 15(1). This may be due to the need to establish new management positions or teams.
A material change of policies, procedures or systems occurs	If a BCA materially changes a policy, procedure or system required by the Regulations, it must notify MBIE and the accreditation body. The intention behind this notification requirement is to enable MBIE and the accreditation body to assure themselves that no changes are made that would impact on a BCA’s compliance with its accreditation requirements. It is not intended to prevent a BCA improving any policy, procedure or system. A “material change” requiring notification means where the guidance or instruction in the policy or procedure is changed to give new guidance or instruction. A “material change” does not include where the policy, procedure or system is re-structured or the language is changed for the purposes of clarification (maintaining the same intent).

Additional notification requirements for BCAs not part of a territorial or regional authority

There are additional notification requirements for BCAs that are not part of a territorial or regional authority. A private organisation or person that is accredited and registered must ensure that MBIE and the accreditation body are also notified of:

any professional misconduct of the BCA or its management (including conduct that may give rise to a professional misconduct action being taken by a professional association)
a civil claim being made against the building consent authority or its management in relation to contract or tort
a conviction of, or pending proceedings against, the building consent authority or its management, in New Zealand or in another country, for a:
- crime involving dishonesty
- building control offence.

Regulation 6A defines “management” for the purposes of this regulation and the people to whom this clause applies.

You can read the following on the Legislation website:

Responsible manager and authorised representative definitions can be found in Key roles and responsibilities.

Working days and technical job definitions can be found in the glossary.

Qualifications and Standards is available on the New Zealand Qualifications Authority website.

How to notify MBIE and the accreditation body

Any required notification must be made by the applicant, accredited organisation or BCA’s authorised representative within 20 working days of the decision, action or event to be notified occurring or being identified.

The notification made to MBIE and the accreditation body can be the same.

MBIE

The notification to MBIE should be addressed to:

Manager, Compliance & Assurance
Building System Delivery & Assurance
15 Stout St, Wellington

It can be emailed to: consentsystem@mbie.govt.nz

Accreditation body

The notification to the accreditation body should be addressed to:

Programme Manager: Building Consents Authority Accreditation
International Accreditation New Zealand
Private Bag 28908, Remuera Auckland 1541

It can be emailed to: bca.info@ianz.govt.nz

What to include in any required notification

When notifying MBIE and the accreditation body of any changes, an applicant, accredited organisation or BCA should be as specific as possible about the change. They should detail:

the notification requirement that they are complying with
the nature of the change including:
- what the change is
- why the change is being made
- who is making the change
- when the change will be implemented
- how the change will be implemented.

The provision of this detail will enable MBIE and the accreditation body to better understand the nature of the change and its potential impact on the applicant, accredited organisation or BCA’s compliance with accreditation requirements. It may be useful for the authorised representative to also offer a view on this, although this is not required.