Building Ministers need to maintain momentum on regulation compliance and enforcement
05 September 2019
Australia’s building ministers
must continue the momentum on
building regulation compliance and
enforcement to deliver better outcomes for
property owners and tenants.
It has now been one month since the Building Ministers Forum meeting in
Sydney committed to the uniform implementation of the 24 recommendations
in the
Shergold Weir report on building compliance and enforcement.
“A month ago building ministers agreed to the important step of taking
joint action to strengthen compliance and enforcement within the
building process, a move that followed 18 months of not enough action,”
said Ken Morrison, Chief Executive of the Property Council of Australia.
“It’s critical that ministers keep the momentum going to ensure the
Shergold Weir recommendations are enacted across all states and
territories.
“As last night’s Four Corners program showed, while Australia’s building
regulations are very strong, governments do need to do more to ensure
these are being complied with and enforced.
“People in the building industry are overwhelmingly doing the right
thing, but it is important that those that cut corners are not let off
the hook. This is important to deliver better outcomes for owners and
tenants as well as strengthen confidence in the industry as a whole,” Mr
Morrison said.
Mr Morrison said it was important that industry professionals were
provided with greater certainty about their roles and accountabilities
through uniform and consistent application of building regulations.
“For example, the fundamental role of private
certifiers in the
construction process needs to be reinforced.
“The Shergold Weir review did not find that private certification was
mistake or recommend that it be unwound.
“Instead it found that the key focus needed to be better compliance and
enforcement strategies from state and territory governments.
“The report noted that overwhelmingly private certifiers were
professionals acting with integrity, and private certification now
occurs as part of the vast majority of building approvals processes,” Mr
Morrison said.
Mr Morrison said industry was now looking to ministers for a clear sense
of purpose in delivering on the Shergold Weir recommendations and
following up on the commitments given at the BMF meeting last month.
--ENDS--
Source: Property Council - www.propertycouncil.com.au
Contact: N/A
External Links: N/A
Recent news by: Property Council