GoShift speeds up process
AWELLINGTON City Council-led project is already living up to its catch-phrase ‘‘simpler, faster building consents’’.
Called GoShift, it’s a partnership between central and local government to improve performance, consistency and levels of service across the building consent system.
To date, 21 councils from Bay of Plenty down to Nelson are a part of the programme, which includes an online building consents process.
‘‘It’s basically a standardised and aligned process with forms, templates and checklists, a shared online service, data and resources and a single, best practice, quality management system,’’ says strategic and engagement manager Ross McCarthy.
Put simply, the new online service, which went live on August 1, makes it easier and faster to get a building consent, no matter where people live and work. And for homeowners, builders, architects and designers alike, the unified online approach should also mean much better experiences with local councils.
It’s only been several months since Wellington went live, and already McCarthy says GoShift is being wellreceived by customers in Wellington and the seven other councils who are offering the service.
‘‘We’ve had positive feedback from within the industry, people have said this is what they’ve needed for a long time, that it’s an efficient, transparent, quick process – and that is a gamechanger for them,’’ says McCarthy.
‘‘In the first month we had almost 60 per cent uptake, November was close to 70 per cent, it’s definitely exceeded our expectations.
‘‘There’s no doubt that shifting into the digital world with consents able to be submitted in real time and shifting into aligning quality systems will have a lasting effect on the industry.’’