Looking forward to cheaper house builds.

So Luxo has signed us up to trading with the sub-continent.

Recent investigations on my part shows that their building code (IS 875) evolved from the British Standard (India was all British in the days of the Raj, speaking and understanding English very well).  

Very similar in intent and application to our building standard of AS/NZS 1170 series (we've partnered with Oz).  And tried to have both the British standard and the Yank ASCE series for content.

So they understand the standards-based processes involved, have a similar range of climate extremes and have been doing the build business for 300+ years.

So, hopefully in this now tariff-free nirvana of the near future, one could expect that engineers, architects and others that seriously inflate our build costs might hang their shingles at much reduced in providing services to NZ.

One wonders how that might go down in the totally risk-averse closed-shop MBIE / BRANZ / local council / Worksafe ticket-clipping world?  Or "for your own good" would more road cones be required?

And one for Mr. Penk - Housing Minister.  Would there still be room for DIY builds using such engineering services from the sub-continent?  Although I believe there is a DIY avenue in law, but the utterly risk-averse councils do everything possible to stop such a train of thought.

I sincerely hope that in the long-term such competition does arrive via the FTA and reduce build costs.