McGill Rise: Housing Industry Association defends private building certification
As the fallout continues following the McGill Rise fiasco, Tasmania’s peak residential construction body has defended an approvals process questioned by the Glenorchy Council. LATEST>>
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The fallout of the McGill Rise development has prompted questions from the Glenorchy City Council around the issuing of private certificates to councils for building approvals, but one housing organisation says it supports the process.
In 2021, the Mercury revealed several homes in the McGill Rise subdivision were riddled with problems, including structural issues and electrical faults.
After a lengthy investigation, the council this week issued a notice to the owners of three of the homes to demolish their properties, because it was found they were not structurally sound.
The council is also working with the owners of five other properties, which were identified to be ‘structurally deficient’, to rectify the issues.
As the council handles the situation it’s been left to consider how to avoid similar situations in the future.
It’s raised concerns with Consumer, Building and Occupational Services about how private building certifiers are allowed to provide certificates to councils for building approval.
The council said certificates provided to council shouldn’t have been issued.
But the Housing Industry Association says that’s a practice it supports.
“HIA supports the use of private licensed certification for building approvals (and related inspections where required) of residential building work,” HIA executive director Stuart Collins said.
“With respect to McGill Rise there has potentially been failures at both the development and building approval stages, and there is a likelihood of proportionate liability for a number of the parties involved.
“However, overall HIA has long held the view that privatising building certification is a positive step, and that competition has reduced approval costs and sped up approval times while maintaining relevant building standards, with there being no evidence of significant building quality issues more broadly in Tasmania.”
The Department of Justice would not confirm whether CBOS was making changes based on the council’s concerns around the certificates.
It was confirmed CBOS is taking action against the builders responsible for the homes, after it launched its investigation two years ago.
McGill Rise builders face action after housing horror
Tasmania’s building regulator is taking action against the builders responsible for structurally flawed homes in Claremont, after it commenced investigations two years ago.
In 2021, the Mercury revealed several homes in the McGill Rise subdivision had a number of problems, including structural issues and electrical faults.
This week, the Glenorchy City Council revealed three of the homes (25, 42 and 44) would be demolished, after an investigation found the homes were constructed on unstable platforms and were not structurally sound.
The council is also keeping an eye on five other homes in the subdivision, which were identified as which have also been identified as “structurally deficient” and will be working with the owners to rectify problems.
When the faults came to light in 2021, the Consumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS) launched an investigation into the accreditation of the building surveyor and engineer.
The regulatory body now plans to take action.
“Based on the advice from the Director of Building Control, the Administrator of Occupational Licensing has commenced disciplinary proceedings against the building service providers who undertook work at the site,” a CBOS spokesperson said.
“Given this matter is ongoing, it is not appropriate to comment further.”
The spokesperson said several steps had been taken to prevent situations like McGill Rise from happening again.
“While the situation at McGill Rise was the responsibility of the Glenorchy City Council, the government has taken significant steps in recent years in improving the protections for consumers who have residential building work carried out,” the spokesperson said.
“This includes progressing the Residential Building (Miscellaneous Consumer Protection Amendments) Bill 2022 through the parliament.
“The bill focuses on addressing defective work, increasing accountability of statutory office holders such as the Glenorchy City Council as permit authority, and providing for timely and cheaper resolution of residential building disputes when they arise.
“Importantly, the Bill also provides the Tasmanian Government with additional powers to order a council as permit authority to take certain action to protect public health or safety, if the council has failed to do so.”
“In circumstances with severely non-compliant work, as identified at the McGill Rise subdivision, the first priority for regulatory bodies under the Tasmanian building regulatory framework is to ensure safety of life for owners, occupants and users of adjacent land.”
‘Uninhabitable’ homes to be bulldozed
Three uninhabitable houses in Claremont’s McGill Rise subdivision will be demolished after the homes, riddled with problems, were found to have an “intolerable risk” in heavy rain.
The demolition order comes two years after the Mercury exposed problems with several homes in the subdivision, including structural issues, electrical faults, and even mushrooms growing inside.
In 2021, the problems with the properties resulted in residents being forced to abandon their homes.
Two years on, the Glenorchy City Council has issued orders for 25, 42 and 44 McGill Rise to be demolished, after an investigation found the homes were constructed on unstable platforms and were not structurally sound.
The three homes in question have not been inhabited since 2021.
“Council has been engaged with owners of these premises through their legal representatives in an attempt to have rectification work carried out” Glenorchy mayor Bec Thomas said.
“That has not occurred, and council now has no option but to have the buildings demolished to prevent them collapsing and potentially injuring someone or damaging other property.”
The three homes weren’t the only ones identified to have problems, the council is closely watching five other homes, which have also been identified as “structurally deficient”, but those homes aren’t considered to pose the same risk.
“Council will continue to work with the owners of these vacated houses to determine a way forward regarding rectification work that ensures necessary standards are met and public safety is not compromised,” Ms Thomas said.
“We will also continue monitoring the houses to ascertain if there is any change in their structural integrity which may require more urgent action.”
Ms Thomas said the situation could haven been avoided if adequate building surveyor checks had been conducted.
“Unfortunately, the private building surveyor used by the developer signed off on the construction and those certificates were provided to council,” she said.
“However, the fact is that the platform the houses were built on should not have been certified.”
The owners of the homes at 25, 42 and 44 McGill Rise have 90 days to comply with the demolition order.
The council has raised concerns with the Consumer, Building and Occupational Services about private building certifiers providing certificates to councils.
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