Bucking the Trend & Staying Close to Your Friends!

Everyone in the property sector is affected by the economic situation, and as time rolls on, there are some interesting ways that we and other New Zealanders are trying to ‘buck the trend’ to kick start and maintain business activity:

• Diversification – firms are looking at different ways to earn fees and add value. Working with a number of clients, for example, and using our networks to help them secure funding and get client projects ‘off the ground’
  
• Property funds – there are a number of players in the market establishing new property funds and this is resulting in property changing hands. When these funds purchase property they tend to be more risk averse and hence physical due diligence becomes more important, especially as in tight times property maintenance expenditure takes a beating!
  
• Getting more from less – improving asset efficiency through re-tendering maintenance contracts; now is a good time!
  
• Joint ventures – are a win/win and businesses are collaborating to secure opportunities and offer a better ‘combined’ solution to clients
  
• Competition is tough! Whereas a year ago, if we turned over 5 stones we’d secure work from two of them, today we are searching harder to find the stones, turning over many more of them and securing less. Fee levels are highly competitive, so building on established relationships is key. Finding new points of difference and rediscovering your business focus are also things that are at the forefront of thinking.
  
• Everyone is becoming ‘an expert’ to the Government sector - those in education, health and other Government-related organizations are being hounded with marketing calls as firms seek to establish relationships and secure a position with them to offset the downturn in the commercial sector. 50 registrations of interest on a $250,000 project at a local school is a story we have heard more than once - so differentiating ourselves becomes essential
  
• Changes to the RMA to enable quicker development processing will have a positive effect , so some are positioning now to take advantage of those changes
  
• Firms are guarding their primary client relationships like gold dust as the opportunity and need for clients to ‘change the guard’ and find more cost effective alternatives increases
  

For us it is about changing some habits and doing business differently – New Zealanders are reknown for being focused on ‘adding value’ and following this simple principle makes sense.

It is a time to stay positive, motivated and in touch with your friends – and that includes maintaining a reasonable rapport with competitors who can often become your greatest allies.

We look forward to helping you and your business buck the trend!”

CCC or No CCC? That is the Question.

IGNITE Building Consultancy is becoming increasingly involved in obtaining Code Compliance Certificates (CCCs) for buildings that do not have them.

Unfortunately, nothing is simple and the implications of a missing CCC depend on when the works were consented.

Generally, where a Building Consent has been granted but the works do not proceed, the application for BC can simply be cancelled. However, where works have commenced, but no CCC has been applied for, this can (and frequently does) lead to problems.

The risks are varied:

1. Public Use: It is an offence to use or permit the use of public premises affected by building work that has no CCC or Certificate for Public Use

2. Insurance: Lack of a CCC can invalidate the building’s insurance as there is no proof that any alterations comply with the Building Code

3. Quality of Work: Lack of a CCC raises questions about the extent and quality of the work done. This in turn can create uncertainty around the cost of completing and / or remediating the work to the standard required by the Building Code.

We have also come across instances where a Building Consent Authority cannot issue a CCC. Because a CCC cannot be issued without a Building Consent, and a Building Consent cannot be issued retrospectively, this is where a Certificate of Acceptance, introduced by the Building Act 2004, can be used.

Unfortunately a Land Information Memorandum (LIM) will not identify unconsented works. Only by completing a physical inspection of the property – and comparing the findings against the plans held by Council - will any unconsented works be revealed.

All of these options, however, are far more complicated and costly than ensuring that all the necessary Consents and CCCs are obtained (or cancelled) at the time that the work is undertaken. This goes as much for tenants’ alterations as for any base build works because when tenants move on it is often the landlord who is left to sort out any problems.

Should you find yourself the owner of a building without CCCs, IGNITE Building Consultancy can help. We can pin-point any problems and advise on the most effective remedies. We have also developed strong relationships with many local Councils to enable us to resolve the issues as swiftly as possible.

Does your Body Corporate have a Maintenance Plan?

The Unit Titles Act 1972 (the law governing multi-owned property) is up for review.

Major changes in the number, scale and nature of property developments in New Zealand means the Act no longer provides a sound basis for the creation and sustainable management of intensive, multi-unit developments. One of the changes proposed includes a requirement for body corporates to establish long-term maintenance plans and long-term maintenance funds, and broadens the role of the body corporate in relation to maintaining and managing the building as a whole. The aim of this change is to encourage sound property management practices which will help protect the long-term value of investments.

Other changes proposed in the Bill will:

• Make managing unit title developments easier and more efficient by clarifying rights and responsibilities of unit owners, the body corporate, developers and tenants, and by allowing the body corporate to act on behalf of all the unit owners for the good of the development as a whole.
  
• Make joint decision-making by the body corporate easier by promoting participation and by removing requirements for unanimous resolution.
  
• Make information more readily available to purchasers, unit owners and the body corporate so that they can make informed choices by introducing disclosure requirements for vendors and developers.
  
• Establish effective ways to sort out problems and move forward by providing for the Government to establish a dispute resolution service for unit title matters covering education and information, mediation and adjudication.
  
• Make survey and title processes more streamlined for surveyors and developers by making the staged development process more flexible.
  
• Allow for large, staged or complex unit title developments to be set up and managed more easily by providing for ownership structures to include ownership of common property by the body corporate.
  

The Unit Titles Bill had its first reading in Parliament on 5 March 2009 and it is now at the Social Services Select Committee for consideration, where any member of the public can submit views or concerns regarding the Bill.

Please watch this space for further news on the Act and if you know of a Body Corporate that requires assistance in any aspect of the management of their property, then please do not hesitate to contact us.