Page 2992 - Week 08 - Thursday, 15 August 2019
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The construction industry is a key driver underpinning the ACT’s strong economy, with the sector growing 38 per cent in the last five years. That is why, in the 2019-20 financial year, this government has again invested in Access Canberra’s resourcing to ensure that members of the ACT community continue to feel safe in their homes and in the places where they work and entertain. This government will invest a total of $8.9 million over the next four years to boost building quality in the ACT even further.
As both Minister for Building Quality Improvement and Minister for Business and Regulatory Services, I have been sending a clear message for some time: if you want to build in Canberra, you must deliver high quality work. There will be no place for builders and developers who do things on the cheap and leave Canberrans with the bill. As a government, we are cracking down on dodgy builders.
We understand that this, and meeting community expectations, cannot be achieved unless we invest. We need to continue to invest in our regulator. We need to support the regulator in its efforts to administer tougher licensing requirements and undertake better education and engagement for the community and the industry. That is why this year Access Canberra is getting a funding boost for 16 staff specifically to tackle building quality. Of those 16, eight rapid response officers will undertake up to 1,000 more inspections and site assessments each year. That is an investment of approximately $4.7 million.
The Access Canberra rapid regulatory response team works to manage building complaints quickly and effectively. The inspectors undertake preliminary assessments of complaints and site inspections to determine whether there has been or whether there is likely to be a breach of building and/or planning legislation. The team also assesses whether a complaint requires a regulatory response, measured against Access Canberra’s compliance framework, which ensures that resources are directed to where the risks of harm, unsafe practices or misconduct are the greatest. Regulatory action undertaken by the team includes stop-work notices and demerit points for construction licensees.
As an indication of the number of activities undertaken by the team, it is worth noting that last financial year the pilot rapid regulatory response team assessed 352 cases. The team attended and closed 246 cases. The team escalated 64 cases for further investigation, and 42 were referred to other areas of government for further action. The team is now formalised, with eight staff working for our community to resolve complaints quickly.
The introduction of licensing exams means an increase in scrutiny. Four additional officers will support the administration of the government’s tough new licence requirements for new and existing builders. That is an investment of approximately $2.1 million. The ACT is leading the nation when it comes to setting mandatory exams for builders looking to be licensed in the ACT across A, B and C classes and select builders at the point of their licence renewal. Exams were introduced across the classes in May 2019, and they test the knowledge of builders in Canberra. New builder licence applicants will have two opportunities to sit the exam before their licence application is refused.
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