Highlights from the Chair's report

Our goal at Standards New Zealand is to 'boost New Zealand's economy and advance the welfare of all New Zealanders, regionally, nationally, and globally'. In 2007/08, the Standards Council began a new phase to re-energise and transform the business. We were delighted to appoint Debbie Chin as Chief Executive in October 2007 to drive our strategic agenda.

We have actively promoted how Standards and standardisation can make a significant contribution to New Zealand's economic growth. Countries have attributed gains in labour productivity, economy-wide productivity, and faster economic growth, to standardisation. New Zealand's economy-wide labour productivity levels are in the lower quartile of OECD rankings, and slipping. This productivity gap can be addressed, in part, by increasing levels of standardisation and more coordinated use of the national standards and conformance structure.

Joint Australian/New Zealand Standards represent 80% of our Standards catalogue. Joint Standards make business and trading arrangements more seamless between the countries. This important contribution to trans-Tasman harmonisation and the single economic market needs to be promoted and better understood. Both national Standards bodies look forward to continuing to work closely together, and to working with regulators on both sides of the Tasman.

In late 2007, we benchmarked our Standards development process with international peers and can report an average time of 12 months as the norm for development of a Standard in New Zealand. This compares very favourably with other Standards development time frames internationally, which in many cases, average between 23 months and 36 months.

We represented New Zealand's interests internationally within the modest funding provided by the Ministry of Economic Development. There is a growing need for greater New Zealand participation in the international Standards community – both to protect our national economic interests and ensure the transfer of knowledge.

Operating surplus

The 2007/08 year shows a significant turnaround with the Standards Council achieving an operating surplus and a small overall loss of $169K (compared with a loss of $767K in 2006/07). The much improved result was achieved through reduced costs, and increased revenue from development projects and the sale of publications. We had budgeted to break-even, but a combination of delays by regulators in citing Standards, and extraordinary expenses relating to unfunded projects and the transformation programme, have led to a small net loss for the year.

In recognising the efforts of Standards New Zealand's management and staff, the Standards Council notes that the team delivered a significant improvement in the operating result and noticeably improved relationships with sectors, regulators, potential funding organisations, and other parties. These efforts are a direct result of our strategic drive for transformation and the Chief Executive's leadership.

Looking towards the future

We have a period of continuing change ahead, with changes to legislation proposed – we remain committed to undertaking the activities outlined in the Minister's letter of expectations and our Statement of Intent. We will continue to ensure Standards contribute to government goals and represent New Zealand in the international Standards arena.

Standards play a pivotal role in achieving national economic transformation objectives and can support the creation of globally competitive New Zealand firms. They can drive innovation in firms, help transfer 'better practice' knowledge, and enable our firms to participate in the international economy and successfully export products. They can also help the government of the day achieve its environmental, health, and safety objectives, without unduly compromising economic growth.

We are committed to achieving our key performance indicators and targets in the year ahead. To achieve enduring and sustainable results we will need to resolve issues associated with our current business model and longer term funding arrangements. There is also a much-needed investment required to refresh and update our technology platforms to help us achieve our goals.

I should like to thank my fellow Council members, Standards New Zealand management and staff, our stakeholders, and our monitoring agency, for their support, commitment, and efforts over the past 12 months. I also wish to thank the 2000+ volunteers who contribute their time and expertise when they sit on Standards development committees – our volunteers enable us to deliver Standards solutions that benefit New Zealand.

Richard Westlake
Chair
Standards Council

Highlights - new Standards developed in 2007/08

Consumer and product safety

• Safety of toys – Organic chemical compounds series sampling, analysis and requirements (AS/NZS 8124.10, AS/NZS 8124.11, AS/NZS 8124.9 – published April 2008)
• Children's nightwear and limited daywear having reduced fire hazard (AS/NZS 1249:2003 – New Zealand-only Amendment A – published May 2008)

Health

• Ambulance and paramedical services (NZS 8156 – published May 2008)
• Health and disability Standards (incorporating NZS 8134, NZS 8141, NZS 8142, NZS 8143 – published October 2008)
• Procedures for specimen collection and the detection and quantification of drugs of abuse in urine (AS/NZS 4308:2008 – published March 2008)

Building and construction

• Electrical installations also known as the Australian/New Zealand Wiring Rules, Verification guidelines, Periodic verification (AS/NZS 3000 – published March 2008, and companion Standards: AS/NZS 3017 and AS/NZS 3019 – published November 2007; awaiting citation by regulator)
• Code of practice for glazing in buildings set (NZS 4223.1, NZS 4223.4, and NZS 4223 Supp1 – published May 2008)

Fire protection

• Portable fire extinguishers – General requirements (AS/NZS 1841.1 and Parts 2, 3, 4, 5,6,7 and 8 – published August 2007)
• Automatic fire sprinkler systems (NZS 4541 – published December 2007)

Energy efficiency

• Adoption of NZS 4246:2006 Energy efficiency – installing insulation in residential buildings as a means of compliance for the home grants programme by EECA
• Performance of electrical appliances – Air conditioners and heat pumps (AS/NZS 3823.2 – published February 2008)
• Performance of household electrical appliances – Refrigerating appliances – Energy consumption, minimum performance, labelling (AS/NZS 4474.1 and AS/NZS 4474.2) – published August 2007)
• Incandescent lamps for general lighting services – Test methods – Energy performance (AS/NZS 4934.1 and AS/NZS 4934.2 – published April 2008)
• Solar and heat pump water heaters – Design and construction (AS/NZS 2712 – published September 2007)

New development – environmental sustainability

• On-site domestic wastewater treatment units – Septic tanks; Waterless composting toilets; Aerated wastewater treatment systems (AS/NZS 1546.1, AS/NZS 1546.2 and AS/NZS 1546.3 – published May 2008)

New development – transport

• Dangerous goods – Initial emergency response guide and Guide for the packing and transport of dangerous goods in transport units (SNZ HB 76, SNZ HB 77 – published April 2008)
• Transport of dangerous goods on land – Technical information and user aids (NZS 5433.1 and NZS 5433.2 plus B, D and F – published December 2007)
• Standard for heavy vehicle towing connections – Drawbeams and drawbars (NZS 5446 – published November 2007)

Key facts

A total of 2985 Standards was offered in our catalogue in 2007/08 – an increase of 14 on the previous year:

• of these, 2476 were joint Standards, (making up 82.9% of our total catalogue)
• 1281 of available Standards were derived from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Standards derived from ISO/IEC comprised 42.9% of our catalogue.

In the past 12 months:

• 77 standards solution projects relating to 'innovation', 'productivity', and 'maintenance of infrastructure' were completed and 141 were ongoing (as at 30 June 2008). A total of 34335 resource hours was spent on projects sponsored by agencies and benefiting these areas.
• 61 standards solution projects relating to 'social responsibility', 'environment sustainability', and 'environmental risk management' were completed, and 98 projects were ongoing (as at 30 June 2008). A total of 24,794 resource hours was spent on projects sponsored by agencies.

Consensus was reached by expert committees for New Zealand Standards development in 100% of instances. A total of 96.5% of nominating organisations accepted invitations to participate on expert committees.

Our overall customer satisfaction result was 6.14 out of a possible 7 points (compared with 6.11 in 2006/07):

• expert committee satisfaction survey results were 6.06 out of a possible 7 points (compared with 6.11 in 2006/07)
• sponsor satisfaction survey results were 5.59 out of a possible 7 points (compared with 5.40 in 2006/07)

Results showed improvements in a number of areas including increased levels of purchaser satisfaction, website and webshop user satisfaction, and contracts for Standards development satisfaction.

Financial results

Standards New Zealand is a not-for-profit Crown entity. We rely on revenue primarily from contracts with industry and government, and from sales of publications. Revenue earned enables the development of Standards to continue, which improves safety, prosperity, quality, and convenience for all New Zealanders. Any surplus will be reinvested into our processes to add value for our stakeholders and customers.

Summary of financial performance
	2008	2007
Income	8,475,973	8,126,508
Expenditure	8,645,088	9,050,817
Net surplus/(deficit)	(169,115)	(924,309)

Summary of financial position
	2008	2007
Total assets	5,446,207	5,297,419
Total liabilities	2,706,662	2,388,419
Net assets	2,739,545	2,909,000
Total equity	2,739,545	2,909,000

Statement of cash flows
	2008	2007
Net cash from operating activities	317,741	146,002
Net cash from investing activities	(280,144)	(774,617)
Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	37,957	(688,013)
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year	411,441	373,844

*This is the first set of financial statements prepared using NZ IFRS, and comparatives for the year ended 30 June 2007 have been restated to NZ IFRS accordingly.

Download a copy of the full Standards Council 2007/08 Annual Report.