Selwyn District Council eyes more remote inspections to tackle backlog

Selwyn District Council is looking at expanding its use of remote building inspections as it struggles to keep pace with the district’s housing growth, with wait times currently running well beyond the legal standard.

The council is legally required to complete at least 80% of building inspections within three working days. The current average wait time is 12 working days. Inspection volumes have climbed sharply, with the council completing between 1600 and 1900 inspections a month from March to the end of June, up from 1000 to 1400 a month in the preceding seven months.

Council head of building Vanessa Mitchell said reported compliance figures of 91% were inaccurate due to how bookings had been recorded, with customer services staff previously telling builders when the next available slot was rather than logging the date actually requested. “We’ve sent some new instructions to the customer services team, so when a customer rings, you need to ask what date they need the inspection for, that has to be the request date,” she said, adding that corrected reporting over coming months would show a lower true compliance figure.

The council currently employs 12 building inspectors, including three dedicated to commercial work, and has recruited an additional senior inspector alongside contractor support to help meet demand.

One option under consideration is greater use of remote inspections through the council’s professional partnership programme, which uses live video or photos so inspectors can check compliance without visiting site. Uptake has been slow so far, averaging around five inspections a day and concentrated mainly among drainlayers, who can use the option to lay and cover drains on the same day. The council has also run events targeting brick and block layers to encourage wider adoption.

Not everyone is convinced the approach can scale safely. Councillor Samuel Wilshire, who has spent 18 years in the building industry, said some inspection types are difficult to verify remotely. “With the example of brick, at half-height inspection you can’t really tell from a grainy photo that the brick ties are at every lift and that weep holes are clear, so I’m a little bit sceptical,” he said.

Mitchell said tradespeople need to be pre-approved for remote inspections and have a good compliance history with the council. Subcommittee chair Bruce Gemmell suggested the council could position itself as an industry leader by investigating live video remote inspections more broadly, which could also reduce travel time for inspectors covering the district.