Some fireplace compliance fees refunded after lockdown

The Marlborough District Council has handed back hundreds of dollars to two new fireplace owners after not travelling to inspect compliance during lockdown.

CHLOE RANFORD/LDR

The Marlborough District Council has handed back hundreds of dollars to two new fireplace owners after not travelling to inspect compliance during lockdown.

Two new fireplace owners in the Marlborough Sounds have been refunded several hundred dollars after council officers could not travel for compliance checks during the Covid-19 lockdown.

The Marlborough District Council issued a partial refund to the pair earlier this year after it was pointed out they had paid for boat travel, despite inspectors never coming out.

Installing a fireplace was considered essential work by the Ministry of Building, Innovation and Employment during alert levels three and four, so installers were exempt from the Government’s strict rules but council inspectors were not.

The council did not provide a dollar value of the refunds but a fireplace installer, who does not want to be named, said their client on Arapawa Island was refunded $686.

Council building control group manager Bill East says fireplace consent fees cover travel, site inspections and consent processing.

CHLOE RANFORD/LDR

Council building control group manager Bill East says fireplace consent fees cover travel, site inspections and consent processing.

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The installer asked the council to refund the client’s boat fee after realising its staff would not be inspecting the fireplace.

Instead, the council had set up an alternative approach.

Installers had to send over pictures of the fireplace – showing details like its hearth size, distance from walls, earthquake restraints and nearby smoke alarms – and a statement they had installed the fireplace to building codes.

This was on top of the usual standard paper work.

The council compared an installer’s evidence against the building’s consent documents to see if heating work was compliant, which took more administration time than usual.

If satisfied, staff then issued a compliance certificate, although several consents had required follow-up evidence.

The council received a total of two requests for travel refunds.

Council building control group manager Bill East said that after reviewing the requests, the council decided to charge the homeowners as if the works had occurred in Blenheim and not in the Marlborough Sounds, which included boat travel.

Boat costs are included in the Marlborough District Council fireplace consent fees for zones 4a (red) and 4b (blue).

Supplied

Boat costs are included in the Marlborough District Council fireplace consent fees for zones 4a (red) and 4b (blue).

The difference was credited back.

Building consent fees were between $480 and $715 cheaper in Blenheim than the inner and outer Marlborough Sounds.

Each zone fee included travel and site inspection costs, alongside consent processing, granting and issuing costs.

“Fees for this type of work are purposely designed to encourage compliance … and don’t always cover the full consenting process cost to the council,” East said.

The council did not reduce consent fees outside of the Sounds by travel or site inspection costs during the lockdown, as this was balanced out by added office work.

Arrow Water Taxis owner Paul Quinn on a boat in 2013.

Jared Nicoll/Stuff

Arrow Water Taxis owner Paul Quinn on a boat in 2013.

Arrow Water Taxis owner Paul Quinn said it cost $270 for up to four people to boat to Okukari Bay, on the southern end of Arapawa Island but the council often waited until there were several travelling in a direction before booking a water taxi.

Trade workers, like the council, also asked taxis to wait for staff to finish jobs due to health and safety reasons, he said.

This cost $80 an hour.

“They do their best to keep pricing down,” he said.

The council resumed its standard fireplace inspections when New Zealand moved to alert level 2, on May 13.