After an extensive recruitment process, the Wairoa district finally has a new Building Control Officer (BCO) which now brings the team to two.

Wairoa local, Jared Olsen joined the Wairoa District Council last week and has hit the ground running.

WDC Chief Operating Officer, Helen Montgomery, says that “Building Control Officers are hard to find. Due to the demand by Christchurch and Auckland, it’s becoming increasingly challenging to recruit staff for these sorts of roles and in particular to attract staff to work in the regions.

“I know it’s been quite a process to get another Building Control Officer in place, but I’d like to thank our community and in particular the building fraternity of Wairoa for their patience.”

“I’m really pleased we’ve been able to appoint Jared. His local knowledge and networks will serve our Building Control department and our community well. He’s going to be spending a lot of his time in the initial stages settling in and working closely with our other BCO Sam Hayward to better understand the Building Control environment and council organisation.”

“It’s a lot to come to grips with but I’m sure Jared will take it all in his stride,” says Ms Montgomery.

Mr Olsen says “I grew up here and have lived in Wairoa most of my life. Before this role at council, I worked at QRS for four and half years in construction and before that I worked as a builder for two years.”

“I already know a few of the builders from Wairoa and I’ll be able to get to know some of the builders from out of town while working closely with Sam. I’m just really keen to get stuck in.”

“I think we know what people think of Building Control Officers, that they are there to make your life difficult. But that’s not the case at all, and I don’t want to be that guy, with a clip board there to just assess and say ‘no’; I want to have real conversations, offer advice about what’s required, what’s needed and how we can get projects across the line together,” says Mr Olsen.

While working at QRS, Mr Olsen received a diploma in civil engineering from the New Zealand Institute of Highway Technology and is also keen to achieve the relevant qualifications and competencies in the Building Control space as well.

Jared Olsen is the son of Sandra Hughes and George Olsen.

-Ends-

For more information:

Helen Montgomery
Chief Operating Officer
Wairoa District Council
(06) 838 7309

Kitea Tipuna
Communications Strategist
Wairoa District Council
(06) 838 7309

31 October 2018

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