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Standards Council submissions to the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission
September 2012
In August, the Standards Council lodged its third submission with the Royal Commission on the Canterbury Earthquakes. In July 2012, the Royal Commission issued a Discussion Paper: Roles and Responsibilities presenting key issues faced by central and local government, and the building and construction industry, when developing and enforcing legal and best practice requirements for buildings in earthquake events. The paper looked at systemic issues that have appeared to date in the course of the Inquiry, and asked for further information and views on these. The discussion document invited submissions on aspects relating to roles and responsibilities for stakeholders in the building regulatory system.
If you would like to read the Standards Council submissions, they are all available on the Royal Commission website
On 2 March 2012, the Standards Council lodged its second submission with the Royal Commission on the Canterbury Earthquakes. This second submission relates to Issue 4 of the Notice of Issues relating to appropriate future controls for new and existing buildings. It describes the underlying concepts of standardisation, with particular reference to the interaction between research and standardisation. The submission seeks to demonstrate how a well-resourced New Zealand Standards process, based on international best practice, can deliver new standardisation tools in the most timely and efficient manner and ensure their accessibility to users.
On 14 October 2011, the Standards Council lodged a submission with the Royal Commission into Building Failure Caused by the Canterbury Earthquakes. The submission relates to Issue 3 of the Notice of Issues 'Legal and best practice requirements for the design, construction and maintenance of buildings, including those that are or should be considered as earthquake-prone'.
Standards can raise GDP by 1% or $2.4 billion
At a time when it is critical to raise New Zealand's economic performance, New Zealand Standards Chair John Lumsden and his Council are keen to engage with industry, the community and Government to look at harnessing the full potential of standardisation
6 September 2011
This study, conducted by the independent economic research firm Business and Economic Research Limited (BERL), provides compelling empirical evidence of how sustained investment in developing and maintaining Standards could lift New Zealand's gross domestic product by up to 1%.
The Standards Council, in conjunction with the Building Research Association of New Zealand (BRANZ), and with the support of the Institution of Professional Engineers in New Zealand (IPENZ) and the New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA), commissioned the study to highlight the value of building and construction Standards to the New Zealand economy.
