Leaked video sparks investigation into NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler

The video, relating to an ‘informal list of certifiers’, has sparked concerns that the commissioner has misled the parliament.

NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler. Picture: Tim Hunter.

A leaked video of NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler telling builders he has given banks an “informal list of certifiers” which has led some “finding they are unemployable” has sparked a departmental investigation into the revelations amid concerns he has misled the parliament.

Obtained by The Australian, the video has led NSW Small Business Minister Eleni Petinos to launch an internal probe, asking the Department of Customer Service secretary Emma Hogan to “review the available information”.

Concerns were raised after Mr Chandler told the NSW parliament that his role as regulator did not include recommending particular certifiers, but the leaked video from around August last year suggests otherwise.

In front of around a dozen builders on a construction site, Mr Chandler says running some certifiers out of business is “good news”.

“The banks now want to declare who your certifier is, because I have given them an informal list of the certifiers I wouldn’t be bloody having on a job,” Mr Chandler said.

“Some certifiers are suddenly finding they are unemployable. Well that’s good news. Because I need to put the profession back into the profession.”

Mr Chandler’s claims appear to conflict with evidence he provided to the NSW parliamentary committee in October last year. Asked by Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MP Mark Banasiak about whether he had the power to “recommend a particular certifier”, Mr Chandler said that was not his role.

“A regulator does not do that. A regulator says, ‘You have got a problem’ but it is not going to tell you how to fix it … But we do not ever say ‘that certifier’ or ‘that design solution’. That is not what the regulator does,” Mr Chandler said.

Mr Chandler directed The Australian to the NSW Building Commission after being contacted for comment.

A Department of Customer Service spokesman said: “The Department of Customer Service has been made aware of this claim and is currently investigating.”

“As the investigation is underway no further comment can be made at this time.”

Ms Petinos: “As an employee of the Department of Customer Service, Mr Chandler has been consulted by the Secretary. The Minister has asked the Secretary to review the available information and provide advice accordingly.“

Speaking to The Australian, Mr Banasiak said the question “really needed to be asked” whether Mr Chandler had misled the NSW parliament last October.

“If so, that’s essentially akin to lying in a Supreme Court,” he said.

“If he has taken upon himself just now, start doing this: Where’s the procedural fairness? Where’s the right of appeal? Where’s the proper process?”

Opposition better regulation spokeswoman Courtney Houssos said the revelation demonstrated the Building Commissioner did not have the necessary “powers or resources” to do his job.

“This is a remarkable step by the Building Commissioner. He has compiled his own secret, hit list of dodgy certifiers,” Ms Houssos said.

“The Minister must explain what action she will now take to ensure homeowners and home buyers are protected from dodgy certifiers.”

In April, Mr Chandler had his term as the state’s Building Commissioner extended by 12 months after being appointed in 2019 to the position remunerated at nearly half a million dollars per year.

Mr Chandler was handed extraordinary powers by former premier Gladys Berejiklian to clean up the construction sector after a number of defects were discovered in unit buildings across Sydney, including Opal Towers in Mascot.