Government vows crackdown on dodgy practices in construction sector
The state government will launch an immediate audit of private certifiers as it moves to restore confidence in Sydney’s new high-rise apartments in the wake of the Opal Tower cracking incident.
An immediate audit of private building certifiers will be launched by the state government to ensure the safety of high-rise living.
The safety blitz will take place in the wake of the Opal Tower emergency and is designed to restore confidence in the increasing number of high-rise residential buildings appearing on the state’s skyline.
The failure of a prefabricated concrete panel in the Opal Tower at Homebush has focused attention on the role of private certifiers, who are responsible for ensuring the work of developers meets legal requirements.
Fair Trading Minister Matt Kean will launch a four-point industry action plan today.
It comes as residents evacuated from Opal face another move because their hotels are booked out for New Year’s Eve.
Mr Kean, who began work on cleaning up the sector two years ago, said his action plan was to improve transparency for both homeowners and investors.
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Under the plan, Fair Trading NSW officers will conduct random inspections of construction projects, including buildings and documentation, under one of the biggest compliance blitzes to have ever been conducted on private certifiers.
The private certification system — privatised by Labor — has been subject to criticism, with multiple reports suggesting it was open to rorting given it is the developer who chooses and pays for the certifier for project sign-off.
Mr Kean said the government did not suggest that the certifier of the Opal Tower was responsible for the cracking, and investigations were ongoing.
The government has set a target of auditing up to 30 per cent of private certifiers each year, with those found to have passed dodgy buildings to face strict conditions or be stripped of their licences.
Breaches of a new code of conduct will also mean private certifiers will be banned from working on new developments.
The government will also set up a “name and shame” register to allow homeowners and developers to view any disciplinary action taken against any operator.
“I’m sick of seeing certifiers signing off on buildings that are not fit to live in, that do not meet the standards that hardworking mums and dads paid for,” Mr Kean said.
“We need to purge the industry of cowboys and that’s what I will do with the biggest compliance blitz in the industry’s history.
“We will be taking a zero tolerance approach to building safety and corruption.
“If a certifier is found guilty of misconduct they will not be able to work on new strata developments.”
The government this year introduced new laws targeting private certifiers following a scathing report into the Building Professionals Act 2005, which found a “lack of clarity about the roles, responsibilities, functions and accountability of private certifiers”.
Released two years ago, the Lambert Review was followed by another report into the state’s planning system by Nick Kaldas, who also found confusion in the system.
The new laws, which passed through state parliament in October, aim to lift standards to protect a construction sector that conducted $53.5 billion worth of work in NSW this year alone, while also creating about 250,000 jobs.
Under the new Building and Development Certifiers Act 2018, certifiers must be registered with NSW Fair Trading instead of the existing Building Professionals Board, with the laws empowering the department to request information from third parties as part of a new vetting process.
Those who breach licence conditions will face a maximum penalty of $33,000.
Association of Accredited Certifiers CEO Jill Brookfield said that the recent structural issues with the Opal Tower must drive change in the industry.
“For too long, governments in NSW have failed to act to ensure robustness and accountability in the apartment construction industry in NSW,” Ms Brookfield said.
“Under current regulations there is no requirement for structural or services engineers to undertake inspections of structural or services elements in buildings.”
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