Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Chris Penk: Building and Construction Minister on the changes to the insulation rules

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Chris Penk: Building and Construction Minister on the changes to the insulation rules · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The government has backtracked and decided not to roll back
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: the new insulation standards that were introduced last year. Construction
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Minister Chris Penk has announced a review of the H
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: one standards after this is an insulation the H one
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: standards after reports came out that told them that it
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: may building a new house cost forty to fifty thousand
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  Speaker 1: dollars more, there was backlash from the industry. The ministry
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  Speaker 1: is now going to go back to the standards and
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  Speaker 1: just make some slight changes to them and trying to
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  Speaker 1: get everybody on board. Minister for Building and Construction Chris
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  Speaker 1: Penk joins me, Now, hello, Chris, and how are you good.
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  Speaker 1: It's going to be tough to actually to fight these
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  Speaker 1: regulations they seem ingrained.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think the point is that we need a
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  Speaker 2: sensible level of regulation. Usually that means we need less
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  Speaker 2: red tape and green tape, but actually there are ways
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  Speaker 2: that we can be sensible about the way that we
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  Speaker 2: have people meet the requirements that actually can reduce costs
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  Speaker 2: but also end ut with that good result of a
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  Speaker 2: sensible level of insulation. And so I think we're going
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: to end up in a good space on this.
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  Speaker 1: So when you came along to the insulation industry and said, look,
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  Speaker 1: this is crazy, we need to rationalize this. What did
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  Speaker 1: they say.
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  Speaker 2: Back to you, Well, I mean there are a number
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  Speaker 2: of different views out there. I mean, certainly for people
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  Speaker 2: who sell insulation for a living, obviously they had a
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  Speaker 2: particular view and sold the advocates, who you know, for
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  Speaker 2: all the right reasons, end with good intentions, always advocate
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  Speaker 2: for more insulation, not less as a mandated requirement, but
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  Speaker 2: certainly for homeowners who are feed up with paying massively
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  Speaker 2: increasing construction costs and those who are not homeowners that
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  Speaker 2: would like to be and facing those Thereas you know,
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  Speaker 2: there was a interviews of taking those all into account
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  Speaker 2: and as I say, I think if we can, you know,
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  Speaker 2: make everyone happy by having a good standard but ensuring
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  Speaker 2: that to be meet in a way that more flexiboord
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  Speaker 2: them have got currently, then everyone will be happy.
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  Speaker 1: That's the word flexible. And I believe your attitude is
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  Speaker 1: let's look at the entire building, let's look at the
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  Speaker 1: whole thing rather than worrying about each individual component.
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  Speaker 2: Well, that's exactly right, and to be fair, the rules
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  Speaker 2: do currently allow for that. And there's a modeling method
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  Speaker 2: which is pretty much worts down, but you can model
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  Speaker 2: what the missions are going to be and the us
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  Speaker 2: the efficiency is going to be taking the building as
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  Speaker 2: a whole. And then you've got a calculation method which
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  Speaker 2: is similar but a bit more basic. But the thing
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  Speaker 2: that we're getting or looking to get wrong, and I
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  Speaker 2: should emphasize actually the public consultation now, but certainly I'm
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  Speaker 2: interested in getting rid of a suital method, which is
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  Speaker 2: a really proscriptive approach where the roof in the wolves
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  Speaker 2: in the four all has to have a minimum level
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  Speaker 2: of insulation and it sort of locks in and having
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  Speaker 2: you know, probably as a result that that's more than
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  Speaker 2: is required in each of those components in the thought overall.
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  Speaker 2: And of course what that does is pushing up the
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  Speaker 2: cost a lot. And it's before you get into, you know,
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  Speaker 2: some of the concerns about lack of the equation.
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  Speaker 1: But it's going to be a tough war. Did you
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  Speaker 1: see the Richard Prebble noted in a recent column that
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  Speaker 1: there's two and three hundred pages of new regulations enacted
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  Speaker 1: in the last financial year end of June thirtieth, and
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  Speaker 1: you were there. David Seymour has got a red tape
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  Speaker 1: ministry they found out the other day that there's too
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  Speaker 1: much red tape in their own red tape ministry. This,
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  Speaker 1: this is a this is a this is a huge
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  Speaker 1: problem for you to try and stamp out. It's like
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  Speaker 1: I say, it's ingrained in our psyche. Regulate, regulate, regulate, regulate.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah it is, You're you're absolutely right. It is ingrained
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  Speaker 2: a little bit in the psyche, certainly in the Wellington
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  Speaker 2: where I've headed now. And and you know, the danger
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  Speaker 2: is that we overregulate. Was the best of intention then
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  Speaker 2: a little bit extra here, a little bit extra there.
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  Speaker 2: You know, people say to me, oh, Chris, it's only
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  Speaker 2: an extra fifteen funeral two thousand dollars on top of
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  Speaker 2: the house price for over you but the editor up
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  Speaker 2: and it does become significant.
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  Speaker 1: How do you eat an elephant, Chris? How do you
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  Speaker 1: eat an elephant? One bite at a time? And I
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  Speaker 1: understand that, and I thank you so much for your time.
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  Speaker 1: That is Chris Pink. For more from Early Edition with
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: Ryan Bridge, listen live to News Talk It'd be from
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: five am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.