Des Houghton: Building regulator in line of fire

Queensland’s building and certification system is a fiasco allowing ‘dangerous buildings’ to sidestep the code, writes Des Houghton.

If further proof was needed that the Queensland building and certification system was a shambles, consider this: We now have one powerful State Government watchdog investigating another powerful watchdog.

As ludicrous as it sounds, the Crime and Corruption Commission is investigating serious allegations involving the State Government’s troubled Queensland Building and Construction Commission.

It’s alleged the QBCC failed to intervene, even though it was warned that a unit block under construction was a fire risk because it was being built too close to a family home. Worse still, a fire expert said he observed several “discrepancies” and questioned whether the building  materials conformed with the Building Code of Australia.

The homeowner Shaun McCrystal, a Yeronga surgeon, said the QBCC not only failed its watchdog role, but repeatedly blocked his efforts to seek the truth.

Surgeon Shaun McCrystal near the neighbouring apartment block that experts said was built too close,and without fire resistant materials.

So why has the CCC suddenly become interested in the case again, four years after McCrystal first blew the whistle?

Perhaps it’s because McCrystal’s complaints has now been backed up by others of influence.

The State Archivist referred the matter to the CCC after certain files went missing and so, too, did Dave Stewart, the Director-General of the Department of Premier and Cabinet. He’s a former engineer.

Stewart referred the case to the CCC on the eve of the State election after McCrystal wrote a four-page letter to Annastacia Palaszczuk pointing out failures in the system and making allegations of ineptitude and wrongdoing he said amounted to corruption. And McCrystal’s allegations spread beyond the QBCC to other government departments and some high-profile public servants.

Queensland Director-General Dave Stewart pictured during Estimates at Parliament House, in November last year. Picture: Josh Woning

Senior figures inside the QBCC back McCrystal’s claims of wrongdoing.

The CCC recently asked McCrystal for more information, a signal, perhaps, that it is finally taking the complaint seriously. In fairness, the CCC did not previously have a damning independent report into the breaches when McCrystal first complained. Neither did McCrystal.

In that report, an eminent fire engineer backed McCrystal to the hilt.

Stephen Burton’s peer review assessment of fire safety at the apartment block pinpointed serious flaws.

He said the block posed a “real” fire threat to McCrystal’s home next door.

“There is a risk of fire spread to this building (McCrystal’s) from the car park or apartment windows due to the geometry of the overhang above the opening,’’ Burton said.

Burton, the managing director of Ferm Engineering, is national deputy chair and Queensland secretary of the Engineers Australia

Society of Fire Safety.

He compiled his report in 2019 for the QBCC following McCrystal’s call for a review of the approvals and certification process.

However, the QBCC repeatedly blocked McCrystal’s access to the Burton report, releasing it only after he threatened a court challenge.

And it did not respond to an initial CCC call for an explanation for 17 months. The QBCC had, in effect, ignored the CCC, said McCrystal.

And if you need any more proof that the Queensland building approvals and certification system is a fiasco, consider this: There is now an astonishing game of political handball between the Brisbane City Council and the QBCC,

who seem to me to be blaming one another for not policing the building codes that allowed dangerous buildings to go up in the first place.

Brett Bassett, the head of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission.

In a “goodbye” letter to McCrystal, the QBCC commissioner Brett Bassett said the regulator had “exhausted its regulatory remit relation to these matters”.

Bassett said McCrystal had the right to complain to City Hall.

Bassett said he had discharged his duty, and if McCrystal believed he had breached his duty of care, he should get legal advice.

“The QBCC does not propose to engage with you any further regarding the matter,” he said.

A City Hall spokeswoman told me that while the council approved the development application, the QBCC was responsible for investigating the building certification process.

She added: “Council’s responsibilities do not relate to the fire and certification concerns raised by the resident. These matters rest with the private certifier and the QBCC.

“Council cannot block or overturn a certifier’s decision as this is the QBCC responsibility.’’

She said the council could only intervene if the private certifier issued an approval contrary to council’s planning scheme.

If national building codes were breached, that was a matter for the State Government and the QBCC.

Queensland fire commissioner Greg Leach can override them all.

He has powers to seek a court order to evict people from buildings deemed a fire risk. He was sent a copy of the Burton report. He, too, wrote to McCrystal saying he would not intervene. Big call.

It seems all too hard for Works Minister Mick Brenni, who declines to comment.

Des Houghton is a media consultant and a former editor of The Courier-Mail, the Sunday Mail and the Sunday Sun.