6 September 2023
LGOIMA No. 8140011855
(Please quote this in any correspondence)
Hunter K
By Email:
[FYI request #22541 email]
Tēnā koe Hunter
Local Government Official Information And Meetings Act 1987
Structural engineering reviews
Thank you for your information request dated 23 April 2023, regarding the structural
engineering reviews for building consents. My sincere apologies for the delay in getting this
response to you and thank you for your patience while we have worked on this response.
In response to your request, I consulted with the council’s Regulatory Engineering
department to provide information relevant to your request. The specific details of your
request and our response is below.
Under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA),
please provide all information regarding:
1. How Auckland Council selects its external consultants, including (but not limited
to):
a) any policy or process documents on tenders or procurement relating to
external consultant engineers; and
b) any information setting out the minimum standards of external consultant
engineers and that of their staff (e.g. CPEng registration).
The selection is through a tendering process which includes all details including KPIs,
Quality assurance and consistency requirements.
Please refer to
Attachment 1 for more details about the proposal for selection of
consultants, where we ask applicants to provide information and then it is evaluated
against set parameters and the selection is based on the valuation outcome.
2. If there was a tender process for external consultants, how many companies
applied and how many were successful? Please also provide any information
regarding how applicants were evaluated, selected and rejected, and in particular
the reasons for why certain candidates were successful and others unsuccessful.
Yes, there is a tendering process.
12 companies applied and 4 were selected as per the evaluation matrix based on
Experience & track record, Relevant skil s & resources, service delivery Methodology
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 |
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz |
Ph 09 301 0101
and grading system was used to evaluate each. A tender evaluation team was
formulated to complete the selection process.
Please refer to
Attachment 2 for the evaluation matrix results for the selection process
adopted.
3. The performance expectations or KPI external consultant structural engineers are
expected to meet, including:
a) any performance expectations the external consultant engineers are expected
to meet, such as budget per project, communication with industry design
engineers (e.g. availability, contactability, correspondence, phone, meetings);
Same conditions apply as they apply to inhouse engineers. We do not have a budget
per project as it is not feasible due to variations in the type of application, quality of
documentation provided, type of construction, size and scope of valuation required
etc etc. All KPIs, Quality of service requirements, Quality of output is clearly defined,
as you can read through the proposal document.
b) details of how the work of review engineers are reviewed/evaluated (e.g.
assessment criteria, marking schedules etc);
As per the contract we apply same policy for inhouse engineers and external
Contractors and have assessment criteria for both. Before Covid 19 hit us, all
contractors worked alongside our own staff. The information to both internal staff
and external consultants is provided through
Attachment 3 (AC0812 Request for
specialist review). The starting point of review is same for all engineers to attain
consistency. The details of performance evaluation and monitoring follows.
c) policy, processes or any other systems ensuring that consistency is
maintained between engineers (both external consultants and internal Council
engineers).
Please refer to information provided, which provides full details about performance,
KPIs, Quality and consistency. Al engineers both internal and external are required
to complete an extensive checklist (
Attachment 4) and explain what was reviewed
and how they take decision for completion of the review. This is the process we use
for maintaining consistency among both internal and external engineers. Please also
refer to
Attachment 5 for information on evaluation process.
4. The process by which complaints about external consultants are addressed, and
any relevant documentation.
Please refer to the following steps:
a) Complaints received by Regulatory Engineering Team Leader for structural team.
b) Complaint reviewed and relevant supplier contacted for comment.
c) Supplier feedback considered.
i. If further input or feedback required, contractor notified and additional
discussion, review undertaken.
d) Response prepared to customer.
NB: If Council believes the services are considered non-compliant or defective, Council
may require the supplier to rectify the non-compliance or defect or may reduce the price
payable for such services and/or engage another person to rectify this service at the
supplier’s expense.
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 |
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz |
Ph 09 301 0101
5. The policy/process for resolution of technical design disagreements between
Council review engineers (internal or external companies) and the design
engineers (e.g. policies/process for escalation to senior CPEng engineers).
If an escalation of any disagreement arises, it is bought to the notice of team leaders /
Manager or can get escalated to General manager level. Where necessary any design
disagreements may be reviewed by Principal or senior engineers or by specialists within
Auckland Council or we can use services of suitably qualified consultants who are on our
panel. ( CPEng ).
6. The minimum credentials of internal Council and external consultant engineers
who deal with industry practitioners.
Please refer to the attached position descriptions based on which selection of internal
engineers is completed.
For external consultants we have the process as per the contract, where pre identified
engineers with suitable qualifications can only review the council applications. We are
providing the position descriptions used for the purpose of maintaining minimum
credentials for our engineers. External consultants should have no lesser requirements
than internal staff.
7. Process for deciding which projects undergo further review following a building
consent submission to the Council (at present a Building Consent Application with
a PS2 often goes through without further review, but at other times it goes for
further review by Council external consultants - seems arbitrary);
Please refer
to the AC2301 - Producer Statement Policy document which provides full
details about how further review is determined based on risks. On occasions PS2
documents cannot simply be accepted without a level of technical review. Eg: This could
be reason such as producer statement author not on council register, scope not
consistent with PS1 or design changes after PS1/ PS2 is issued. In such cases we may
need to undertake review of such documents to ensure what is designed and built will
comply with the building code. Irrespective of whether PS1 or PS2 is issued, it is the
Building Consent Authority’s decision to determine whether we are satisfied on
reasonable grounds that the design, when built, wil be compliant with all provisions of
the building code.
8. Please provide the average fee per project charged for Council structural design
reviews as followings:
a) Residential subdivisions 3 storeys and under
We have interpreted this request as relating to 3 storey dwellings, rather than
subdivisions. There are numerous factors that influence the cost to assess a building
consent. Building consents can include a number of units on a single consent, or a
single dwelling. Individual elements can require detailed review, and producer
statements supplied can also impact the complexity and depth of an assessment.
Our external suppliers are more likely to receive multiunit applications, hence their
rates are higher than internal staff.
External : Median fee per project $3045.24 (15.38 median hours booked per consent
@$198)
Internal : Median fee per project $1089 (5.5 median hours booked per consent
@$198)
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 |
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz |
Ph 09 301 0101
b) Only considering cost per project that are under $20,000/project and under,
and
Al projects subject to structural engineering reviews are listed as projects having a
value in excess of $20,000.
c) for the year ending 31 March 2023.
Refer to answers to request a and b above.
9. Please provide the total fees paid by the Council to QDesignz Limited for building
consent structural reviews for the year ending 1 March 2023.
$545,000
Decisions about this response to your request were made by
Daniel Lawrence-Sansbury,
General Manager Regulatory Engineering.
Should you believe Auckland Council has not responded appropriately to your request you
have the right to seek a review of the decision from the Ombudsman.
I hope you find this information useful. If you have any further queries please contact me on
09 301 0101, quoting LGOIMA No. 8140011855.
Ngā mihi
Jenny Hua
Senior Privacy & Official Information Business Partner
Governance Services
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 |
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz |
Ph 09 301 0101
