Sixteen months after Canterbury’s September 2010 earthquake Christchurch City Council is trying to streamline resource consents.

More than 350 written submissions were received on proposed changes to the Building Act, Building and Construction Minister Maurice Williamson said today.

A discussion document outlining the proposed reforms was released in late February followed by an eight week public consultation period before submissions closed on April 23.

National's aim with the proposed reforms is to reduce the cost and complexity of consenting and to ensure the people hired to do the work take responsibility for building it right first time and stand behind their work.

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.