Some within the building window industry are concerned the Government’s proposed deregulation of building industry imports may not improve housing affordability and may close local manufacturers.
Window & Glass Association NZ CEO Brett Francis says the Government’s proposal might appear to take some cost out of building but asks, “What is the real cost?”
“We support any initiative that will improve housing affordability but have concerns about a narrow focus on the purchase price of building products. We believe purchase decisions need to ensure products are fit for purpose, support local manufacturers, and also consider the products’ maintenance including access to replacement parts and warranties, which are worthless if the provider is overseas and the warranty is unenforceable.
“We already have non-compliant products being used in New Zealand, and believe the changes being proposed will only work with a level of oversight and enforceability not in our current framework.
“Our concern is that the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, the agency tasked with implementing the Government’s new policy, delivers a workable solution. There are huge issues in understanding the overseas standards (the trustworthiness of overseas test reports) and how they can be applied in New Zealand.
“Considering the number of windows made in New Zealand we have very few failures of tested product. Our standards work. If we start introducing competing standards what will that mean?”
Building Officials Institute of New Zealand chief executive Nick Hill said he fully supported the Government’s overriding objective of improving housing affordability through healthy competition, but it would be unfair if the playing field between local and overseas manufacturers was uneven.
“We welcome the Minister’s focus on product compliance, quality and assessment using reputable certification schemes as not all schemes are equal. We accept the details of the proposed changes still need to be developed.”
Hill says if an overseas product had not been tested for a particular technical requirement area needed for New Zealand conditions, a manufacturer could test for that feature to show it met the New Zealand standard. He said issues of ongoing product support were credibility matters for importers, wholesalers, building sector specifiers and the market to address.