Parliament has passed a law to speed up the building consent process but Building and Construction Minister Maurice Williamson admits further work is required to make the process more efficient.

A wider review of the Building Act is under way.

“It is an important first step, but there is more to me done,” Mr Williamson said.

The Building Amendment Bill (No.2) is supposed to streamline the paperwork behind the building process by reducing duplication and making project information memorandums voluntary.

The consent process for subdivisions would be simplified, with mass consents available. National multiple-use approvals for houses to be replicated on a substantial scale will be introduced as part of the Bill.

Making alterations to building plans after they have been consented will be easier, reducing the time in managing minor variations for council and applicants alike.

"Reducing building delays and costs is an important first step but it doesn’t go far enough. Everyone in the sector is going through tough times - homeowners, developers and builders – so there’s more to be done.”

“Preliminary work on a wider review of the Building Act is progressing and I hope to be able to announce further streamlining measures in due course,” Mr Williamson says.

Further review will most likely cover reducing the underlying risk and liability framework, consenting based on the actual risk levels of a project, and considering how consent authorities would be affected if more responsibility is moved to the consumers, designers and builders.

Work on the national multi-use consents update is progressing with “urgency” and changes should be in force early 2010.