New Product Information Requirements for New Zealand

07 Apr 2022

If you supply building products to the New Zealand construction market, then you will be aware the Building Law Reform Act is likely to come back to cabinet sometime in 2022 with either more detail or to be approved. The reforms legislation includes a new manufacturer certification scheme, revised product information requirements, a strengthening of the CodeMark standard, and new maximum penalties and time frames.

Masterspec has been keenly observing development of the new product information requirements to insure we are ready to help with the changes this will bring to the sector. We have been consulting with range of industry partners and both our shareholding partners, NZIA and Master Builders.

Although we are not aware of the final details and formats of the changes, MBIE has indicated broadly what those changes are, so we have initiated our own programme preparing for the legislation as a sector in the coming months. The main changes are signposted here on the MBIE website detailing the Building Law Reform programme.

The new Act’s aim is to provide clarity on products so the construction industry, from designers to consumers, can make better decision when evaluating product. The changes to the Act should further increase the quality of our built environment, improve efficiency in construction sector and help increase confidence in building products.

NEW PRODUCT INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS

The Act requires all construction suppliers to make publicly available a number of product and supplier details. Although not finalised, we do have a clear outline supplied MBIE, and this should provide you with an indication of what will be required of building product suppliers.

MBIE proposes an outline of each system/product requirements and performance as follows:

•    a description of the product
•    details of the supplier, including contact information
•    information on the scope and limitations of use for the product
•    design and installation requirements, and maintenance requirements
•    a declaration of whether the product is subject to a warning or ban.

PREPARING TO COMPLY WITH THE ACT

As a supplier you should start to assess what information you have for all your products and check that you have this content in a clear, concise summary form. If you are a Masterspec Product Partner the majority of this content will already be reflected in the miproducts listings format maintained by Masterspec as part of its “connected data” architecture and operating system. miproducts is a free, public, online database that has been an industry resource since 2010.

Masterspec is in the process of updating the miproducts templates to allow you to meet the finalised requirements of the BLR changes. We advise you when these changes are available, but it is important we understand the final requirements so as not to waste time and you confidently make the changes.

We also appreciate that you may initially want to start that process in house and hold that information on your own websites. Masterspec will be making available an open-source template for anyone in the industry to use and publish on their own site.

The alternative is to load it for free to Masterspec’s miproducts site which it easily accessed and standardised for Designers and Spec Writers that may be specifying your products through the Masterspec system. Miproducts listings are free for suppliers to create and upload – go to miproducts.co.nz and sign in using your Masterspec account credentials

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New Product Information Requirements for New Zealand