A new report says our building code is behind international standards and needs to change

The report's been prepared by economic consultancy Sense Partners.

It compares the costs and benefits of constructing the 100 thousand KiwiBuild homes to the New Zealand Building Code - and to a higher quality, independent standard, called Homestar.

Economist Shamubeel Eaqub says New Zealanders could miss out on almost 700 million dollars of household savings and social benefits, if the Government's flagship KiwiBuild programme constructs homes only to the minimum legal standards.

But he warns the code should not change too quickly as that would drive up costs and create disruption.

Instead he says KiwiBuild could be used to test it out, prove to the market it's possible and also give the industry time to incorporate best practice.