59215 (2025). Arena Williams to the Minister for Building and Construction

59215 (2025). Arena Williams to the Minister for Building and Construction: What steps, if any, has the Minister taken to assess the risk of possible fraudulent certification of overseas building products?

Hon Chris Penk: I have assessed and addressed the risk of fraudulent certification through the design and implementation of the overseas product pathway under the Building Act. In 2025, regulations were made prescribing decision criteria the Chief Executive of MBIE must apply before recognising any overseas certified product. These require that the certificate is valid and equivalent to a New Zealand product certificate, publicly accessible, written in English, and issued under an appropriately accredited scheme. Certificates must also have sufficient technical evidence of Building Code compliance. Any certificates linked to suspended or revoked bodies will be excluded. These measures are intended to prevent the use of counterfeit or unreliable documentation. Building Consent Authorities, at time of consent, are also required to confirm that any recognised product’s certificate is current, authentic, and matches the product by cross checking the status of the certificate on the Building.govt.nz website. Recognition notices are published and treated as secondary legislation, supporting traceability and audit. MBIE has also advised that emerging risks will continue to be monitored, and action taken where needed.