Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
RNZ can reveal moves to bring in stronger fire protection rules for high density in-fill housing have been stymied.
A year of work went into toughening up the rules to slow down the spread of fire in townhouses and other new types of intensive housing.
But these were withdrawn just days before the fatal Loafers Lodge fire in Wellington last Tuesday.
And as Phil Pennington reports it was partly because the housing industry is worried the changes will push up building costs.