Producer statements

The concept of Producer Statements is quite straightforward but use in the real world can be complicated and cause confusion.  However, Producer Statements are not clouded in mystique and should not be treated as just another piece of paper to collect in order to get a Code Compliance Certificate.  Understanding Producer Statements can save a lot of time and avoid unnecessary disputes.

Producer statements are a mechanism adopted by Building Consent Authorities (BCA’s), but they are not incorporated into the Building Act 2004.  Their purpose was to provide a means for BCA’s to satisfy their “reasonable grounds test” particularly in situations where they may not have the resources or expertise to fully review parts of a building design.

Producer statements are divided into four categories.

• PS1      Design

  A PS1 confirms the identity of the person responsible for the design, the scope of the design and a declaration by the author that the design will comply with specific clauses of the building code.

• PS2      Design review

  This is a peer review of the design and the PS1 by an independent expert.  A PS2 is not always justified but is most likely to be required on a project of high risk or complexity.  A building consent authority will determine whether a PS2 is required.

• PS3      Construction

  This is a form prepared by the contractor who built the portion of design defined by the PS1.  This confirms that they have completed the building work in accordance with the design that was certified by the PS1.

• PS4      Construction review

  This s a form prepared by an independent expert who has observed the construction and confirms that building work has been completed in accordance with the design. 

Originally, producer statements were required for the structural design elements of commercial buildings because building consent authorities may not have had the in-house engineering resource to fully review a structural design.  Over time their use has been expanded into many specialist aspects of building design. BCAs are not constrained by statute regarding how they use producer statements. They are not compelled to list all producer statements required at the time of issuing a building consent because circumstances or knowledge may change as a project progresses.

A PS3 and PS4 must be nominated in advance of work commencing because specific arrangements must be put in place for these to occur.  A BCA cannot retrospectively impose a PS4 requirement at the end of the project because the PS4 author must be engaged in sufficient time to observe the required stages of building.  Equally, if a PS3 is required the contractor must know to put in place the internal recording procedures required before work is done. 

For commercial buildings producer statements are required most of the time but there are other ways that compliance with the building code can be demonstrated by consent applicants.  There are several other paths including.

1. Acceptable solutions contained in the building code are a method that is deemed to comply with the building code.  Producer statements would be unlikely to be required if reliance is placed on an acceptable solution. The most common acceptable solution, E2/AS1 has a scope limited to 3 stories or 10m so higher buildings are excluded and require specific design. There are also limits regarding floor area, wall verticality and roof pitch. Therefore, buildings higher than 3 levels require specific engineering design and a PS1 will always be required for structure, building enclosure and other specialist areas.

2. Verification Methods prescribe a test that could be applied to a material, and if compliant with that test, then the product / method would be deemed to comply with the Building Code.  This is unlikely to be a suitable path for most commercial buildings because it is unlikely that a commercial building will be the same as the laboratory testing. A producer statement would probably still be required to account for different uses of the product and site-specific conditions.

3. Independent third-party appraisal such as a CodeMark or BRANZ appraisal may deem that a product or methodology is compliant with the building code.  A producer statement would probably still be required due to site specific design or conditions that are outside the scope of the appraisal.

4. Regulation such as the Plumbers, Drainlayers and Gasfitters Act 2006.  If specialist work is governed by a specific Act that may be sufficient to nominate an installer qualified under the Act to do the work and a producer statement may not be required. 

The compliance paths (a) – (c) listed above are typically all limited to a building height of 3 stories or 10m.  In addition, the above compliance paths would rarely apply to commercial and industrial applications due to site or design specific features.  For buildings below 10 metres a PS3 and PS4 may still be required if there is no PS1 because reliance is placed on one of the alternative compliance paths for design.

For buildings above 10 metres both the PS3 and PS4 must be specific to the specific engineering design that was certified by the PS1.

Commercial buildings are of a size, complexity or unique design such that a producer statement may be the only mechanism that a BCA has for satisfying their reasonable grounds test regarding compliance with the building code.  In most situations, the BCA is relying on the expertise of specific professional designers to produce a product that will comply with the building code. Commercial contractors will be well familiar with the process and expect that producer statements will be a feature of every project.

Preparation of a PS1 – design may involve negligible time and cost.  It is a simple 1-page form that is a declaration in respect of a specific portion of design that.

1. Identifies the person responsible for the design work,

2. Identifies the scope of the relevant design work,

3. Identifies the the Building Code clauses applicable to the statement,

4. Confirms that in the opinion of the author the design will satisfy the requirements of the nominated Clauses of the Building Code.

The form is provided at the conclusion of a package of design work and only takes a matter of minutes to prepare.  It is the design work itself that involves cost, not the subsequent PS1.  However, if the design work is done by one party and a separate party is asked to provide a PS1 then there will be a cost for obtaining a PS1.  In this situation, the PS1 author will incur time and cost to become familiar with the design and be satisfied that it will be building code compliant.  So, the process is more efficient if the designer completes the PS1.

For some disciplines, particularly exterior cladding, provision of producer statements is quite complicated.  For exterior claddings there may be three design parties involved.

(a)         The architect who selects the types of materials and draws the extent and layout of all the different materials making up the exterior and how they are connected.

(b)         A façade engineer or expert will be required to calculate wind and seismic loading and determine the method of attachment to the building.

(c)         A material supplier who will have their own proprietary methods for use of their product.

There are many ways in which those parties can interact and that will not be the same on every project.

There may be no façade engineer appointed for the project as a whole because compliance of the exterior cladding may be delegated down to specific suppliers. Wall cladding may form a different design package than windows that may have a separate design and PS1.

Proprietary products all have their own specific methods for fixing and joining parts together.  They may also have various combinations of third-party appraisal or laboratory testing to facilitate the easy incorporation of their product into a wider design. Some material suppliers have highly developed design capabilities and resources.  They may be able to prepare the specific design for the product (specific to the building) and may be able to author their own producer statements. 

There are many options, many design disciplines to accommodate and the situation can become quite complicated, but the constant is that a PS1 will always apply to specialist parts of buildings above 10 meters, due to the specific engineering design required. The purpose of a PS3 and PS4 is only to confirm that building work has been completed in accordance with the design covered by a PS1.