Architects ‘treated like plumbers’: Inside the revolt against the NSW building bill

Former NSW state architect Chris Johnson says a shock proposal to scrap the century-old Architects Act will diminish the profession’s status and importance by treating them like “plumbers.”

“Just at the time when the government is saying more density, more apartments, more height and everything, the trade-off has to be to do it well,” he told a meeting of angry architects with representatives of the Building Commission NSW.

Australian Institute of Architects vice president Kirby Rees, former NSW state architect Chris Johnson and institute president Elizabeth Carpenter at the meeting this week.Credit: Wolter Peeters

To reduce flaws and improve the quality of construction in NSW, a new licensing scheme in a draft Building Bill 2024 will require anyone from a bricklayer to an architect working on a new home or flat in NSW to be licensed, or work under the supervision of someone who is.

Now out for consultation, the bill proposes one act to replace 10 others, including the architects’, that will govern the licensing and regulation of building trades and professions from plumbers, building designers, fire safety experts and waterproofers.

Engineers Australia warns engineers need their own act. If they are included in the proposed single licensing system, with “everyone from bricklayers to interior designers”, it could result in engineers leaving the state, causing workforce shortages in NSW, a spokesperson said.

Industry groups including the NSW Institute of Architects say the 17 days first provided for consultation was not enough to consider the new bill and its 600 pages of supporting notes.

In a letter to Premier Chris Minns by the architects and 11 other industry groups including Urban Taskforce, the Property Council, they requested at least two more months.

They warned the tight consultation timeframe created a “significant risk” the reforms would hamper the ability to deliver the government’s housing targets: “Critical elements could be mistakenly adopted or omitted without proper consideration.”

Building Minister Anoulack Chanthivong said building high-quality homes to address the NSW housing crisis would require a range of professions to be well-regulated to give consumers confidence.

“We’re taking a staged approach to reforming the complex regulations and laws scattered throughout the state’s statute books,” he said.

“This is a big job, so it’s no surprise the sector wants the time to get it right. We’re listening to this feedback, and we’ll continue to work through it with these professions.”

The bill will mandate that all waterproofing work must be done by a licensed tradesperson. It also includes the introduction of licensing for some interior designers. They also allow building designers, who have a range of qualifications and experience, to be licensed to work on projects.

Elizabeth Carpenter, the chapter president of the NSW Institute of Architects, said, “There is no clarity on what a building designer can do versus an architect.

“We need to protect consumers by ensuring our most complex buildings have the most qualified professionals. That may be the intent of the legislation, but the problem with this rushed consultation is that it isn’t clear, and there are no details.”

A Building Commission spokesperson told a meeting of architects this week that it wasn’t their intention to change the existing requirement that only architects could work on apartment blocks higher than three storeys.

The spokesperson told the meeting that the proposals were only draft, and had not been considered yet by the minister or NSW cabinet.

“Our intent is to provide advice to government that the same work should require the same competencies and qualification requirements. We know architects have done an exceptional job … and that requires a high level of competencies and qualifications. We don’t intend to diminish that.”

Carpenter said architects required 3300 hours of logged supervised training after finishing their degrees and additional professional courses before they can even sit the exam to be licensed. “Just having a degree isn’t enough.”

Architect Tone Wheeler said the proposals were particularly bad timing after the opening of the metro where everybody was saying how absolutely wonderful the stations are. “All the thrill, the joy, and the delight” was architects work, he said.

The legislation is scheduled to be introduced to NSW parliament this year, and introduced some time in 2025.

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