Performance‐Based Regulation and Regulatory Regimes: The Saga of Leaky Buildings

Abstract

Regulatory reformers have widely endorsed greater use of a performance‐based approach to regulation that defines objectives in terms of desired outcomes. The appeal of the performance‐based approach is as much about introducing a regime that overcomes problems of overly rigid rules and inflexible enforcement as it is about regulating for results. The case of leaky buildings in New Zealand provides a cautionary tale of a flawed performance‐based regulatory regime. It allowed for flexibility without sufficient accountability and in so doing showed the Achilles’ heel of performance‐based regulation.