Page 3617 - Week 10 - Thursday, 19 September 2019
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nation-leading reforms and other jurisdictions have asked to come here to look at their implementation so that they can implement similar systems in their state.
To further strengthen the system and to help make sure that only people with the skills and the knowledge to be licensees are given a licence, I have declared new qualification requirements for new building surveyor licence applicants. These include that, from 1 November this year, they will need to complete an assessment relating to their role as well as the existing technical and experience requirements. This complements the building licence exams that were introduced earlier this year for classes A, B and C builder licence applicants.
The builders exam also applies to existing licence holders at the time of licence renewal, with the construction occupations registrar now having the power to select individuals to sit the exam. This includes people who have an identified poor compliance history, as well as people who have not done any recent work under their licence. The exam questions cover the licensees’ obligations relevant to their licence class. It assesses interpretation of technical codes, standards, plans, drawings and other technical documentation and applying relevant information to building processes. This nation-leading reform was discussed at the recent building ministers forum and it will lead to further work to ensure our education system for builders is fit for purpose.
Since April 2019, 58 individuals across the three classes have sat an exam—30 in class C, 16 in class B and 12 in class A. Fifteen of these were new applicants, 26 had expired licences and 17 were renewals. Seventeen individuals did not pass their first attempt—10 class C builders, two class B builders and five class A builders. Those who did not pass their first attempt were invited to make a second attempt. Five people who sat an exam did not pass. Three of those were class C builders, one was a class B builder and one was a class A builder. These people will now be excluded from applying for a licence for six months.
The reforms include rolling out changes to licensing processes such as increased criminal history checks for building and building surveyors licences. The new guide for nominees of corporate and partnership licences also helps them to better understand their role and their obligations as well as the responsibilities of corporation or partnership.
A new regulation also requires that from 1 October 2019 any agreement for a builder to act as the landowner’s agent to appoint the building certifier and apply for approvals for certain residential building work must be separate from a building contract. This helps landowners understand that they have the right to choose the building certifier and to make a more informed decision if they want to assign that right to someone else.
We have reviewed responses to the federal inquiry on insolvency and the result of other trials of various payment protection models. Further to these reforms, we have also developed a new online course on the ACT’s building regulatory system for people intending to operate as building surveyors in the ACT or work in the ACT building industry.
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