Page 1769 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 15 May 2019
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We have also released a preview of new documentation guidelines for building approval applications for apartment and commercial buildings. These guidelines will make clear to people who are commissioning design work and people undertaking that work what the minimum information is that must be included in an application for building approval.
New codes of practice for building, for builders and for building surveyors will also be released for consultation shortly. The code for building surveyors recognises the important regulatory role that they play in the system and includes requirements in relation to building approvals and stage inspections. For builders the code will provide guidance and practice standards for supervision and for verifying the compliance of building work at critical points in a building project. We look forward to hearing industry’s views on each and every one of these documents.
We are also working on reforms to help people entering into contracts for residential building work to know their rights and obligations when they are entering into contracts for building work or for a home off the plan. We are also soon to launch our new build and buy web portal, which will be a central point for the community and industry to find information about the building system.
When it comes to resourcing this work, the government has allocated significant budget resources to improve the building quality here in the ACT. The investment includes $3 million to undertake work in the building sector, including reforms within the Environment, Planning, and Sustainable Development Directorate and Access Canberra. This includes 43 reforms spanning compliance, policy and design quality, licensing reforms and dispute resolution, just to name a few. In my ministerial statement of 20 March 2019 I advised of the program and of the reforms, including those that were completed, those that are to be completed by 30 June this year and those that are scheduled for completion by the middle of next year.
The team in the EPSDD has been augmented since the beginning of 2019 to include an additional qualified building surveyor and a qualified structural engineer, as well as experts in policy development, regulation and design. Since this significant investment the team within EPSDD has increased from three full-time equivalent to eight full-time equivalent. This will ensure that the government can deliver on this comprehensive reform package.
I note and welcome federal Labor’s commitment to working with the states and the territories on the implementation of the Murray review. It is yet another reason why people across the ACT should be voting Labor this weekend in the federal election, as they will work with us on the issue of the security of payments, which the current federal Liberal government has not committed to do.
Since the reforms began we have included new and enhanced powers in building and construction licensing laws. The ACT government has a renewed focus on building quality regulation, and much progress has been made in this space. Since July last year Access Canberra has resolved over 400 building and planning cases. Almost 200
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