The
construction union has slammed the Victorian Liberals plan to oppose the
introduction of a registration scheme for engineers as reckless and
irresponsible.
The Bill,
currently before the Victorian Parliament would for the first time introduce a
registration scheme for engineers in Victoria, ensuring only those properly
qualified and accredited could undertake work.
CFMEU Construction and General Division National Secretary Dave
Noonan said that the registration of engineers was an important first step in
tackling the national crisis in the building and construction industry.
“The
Liberals plans to oppose the registration of engineers in Victoria, a measure
that would begin to address the national crisis in construction, is reckless
and irresponsible.
“Just
last week, independent research revealed the cost of repairing defects in
residential apartments across Australia would cost a staggering $6.2 billion.
“Liberal
opposition could cost the State and consumers billions. They’ll fight for
deregulation at any cost.
“In
Mordialloc, Victoria residents have just been advised that their apartments are
no longer fit to occupy due to combustible cladding and significant fire
risk.
“We now
have legislation that begins to address the issues of shoddy workmanship and
defective construction work and the Victorian Liberals oppose it.
“Where is
their commitment to helping the thousands of families who cannot live in
apartments they’ve paid for, or face huge bills due to dodgy construction work
and design?
Mr Noonan
said that Victoria was in the extraordinary position of having no registration
scheme for engineers.
“In
Victoria, anyone can call themselves an engineer. Builders, electricians and
plumbers all need to be registered but the people who design the buildings they
construct do not.
“Construction
workers who drive cranes, erect steel and build scaffold are required to have
high risk licences to ensure site safety. Yet the Liberal Party doesn’t think
engineers, who are crucial to site safety should be registered and accountable?
They are again putting profits ahead of safety.
“The
failure to register engineers and the failure of government regulation in the
building and construction industry more generally goes a long way to explaining
why we now have a crisis that is bringing the sector to its knees.
“It’s
time for the Victorian Liberals to quit being part of the problem and start
being part of the solution. Support the registration of engineers in Victoria
now.”
Property insider Edwin Almeida and I discuss the recent ABC 4 Corners programme on high-rise construction issues, and consider the broader implications.
Australia’s apartment sector is reaping the costs of a “poorly oversighted industry with a lack of competence and, in some cases, a lack of integrity”, says the author of a landmark report into Australia’s building industry. From The New Daily And ABC.
Bronwyn Weir has told an ABC Four Corners special investigation
into the apartment construction industry that “commercial imperatives
have really overtaken public interest” and that the industry was in
crisis.
Ms Weir who, with former senior public servant Peter Shergold, co-wrote the landmark Building Confidence report, found widespread noncompliance and dysfunction in Australia’s apartment construction industry.
The
report has come into even sharper focus after some high-profile
high-rise failures in Sydney and Melbourne, and hundreds of buildings
discovered to have dangerous flammable cladding.
Ms Weir said given her knowledge of industry practice over recent years, she would never buy a newly built apartment.
“If
I was going to be investing in an apartment, I’d buy an older one. It’s
common sense, isn’t it? It’s just logical,” Ms Weir told Four Corners.
The ABC investigation comes only months after the evacuation of Sydney’s Opal and Mascot
towers due to faults, and on the same day as a report by the nation’s
leading construction union that found fixing the country’s residential
apartment block defects could exceed $6.2 billion.
The Shaky Foundations: the National Construction Crisis report,
commissioned by the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy
Union (CFMMEU) with analysis done by Equity Economics, found the “costs
of failure are piling up” and that Australia’s building industry had
reached “crisis point”.
Another study of apartment building
defects by Deakin and Griffith universities found 97 per cent of
buildings examined in NSW had at least one defect in multiple areas,
while the figure in Victoria was 74 per cent, and in 71 per cent in
Queensland.
Together, the findings together with recent structural
failures and flammable cladding saga paint a picture of an industry in
crisis – a crisis that politicians seem unwilling – or unable – to
tackle.
One of the authors of that report, Nicole Johnston, told Four Corners that defects were “very common” nationwide.
“We have got a real problem here,” Dr Johnston said.
“It’s
systemic, and it’s infecting lots of buildings across the landscape in
all parts of the country. It’s very clear, it’s very prominent and we
have a serious problem here.”
Ms Weir told Four Corners
that noncompliance within the industry had become “particularly bad … in
the last 15 to 20 years”, which had left a huge legacy of sub-standard
buildings.
“It’s gotten worse over that period. And that means
there’s a lot of existing building stock that has defects in it,” Ms
Weir told reporters.
Ms Weir advised anyone thinking of investing in apartments should consider something built five or more years ago.
“You would like to think that if there are major issues with that building, they’ll have started to show,” Ms Weir said.
“So
I think if people are looking at investing, there are ways to do good
due diligence. Buying off the plan is a really tricky proposition at the
moment.”
“The
existing building stock is what it is. We have hundreds of thousands of
apartments that have been built across the country over the last two,
three decades,” she told the program.
“[The new reforms] won’t
improve existing building stock, unfortunately. So there’ll be legacy
issues for some time and I suspect there’ll be legacy issues that we’re
not even fully aware of yet.”
Deakin’s Dr Johnston told the program that previous calls for reform had gone largely unheeded.
“People have been jumping up and down about this for years and years and years,” Dr Johnston said.
“There’s
been lots of committees formed, there’s been lots of task forces,
there’s been lots of consideration around these, but really nothing has
happened.”
In 2017, NSW did try to propose a bill to police
dangerous or non-confirming building products, similar to laws in force
in Queensland.
Executive officer at the Building Products Industry
Council Rodger Hills said the draft bill was shown to industry leaders,
who felt it was even better than the Queensland equivalent.
But by the time the bill entered Parliament, it had been “absolutely gutted”.
“We counted up about 80 clauses that had been pulled out of the documentation,” he told the program.
Engineers
Australia chief executive Peter McIntyre said there was a “crisis of
confidence” in the industry that needed to be fixed urgently.
“There’s
concern among organisations like ours, Engineers Australia, so this is a
pivotal time to take action and fix it,” Mr McIntyre said.
New research commissioned by the construction union has revealed that Australia’s building and construction crisis will cost $6.2 billion in remediation and associated costs.
The
independent research, undertaken by Equity Economics and contained in the
report ‘Shaky
Foundations: The National Construction Crisis’ being
launched today, analysed the additional costs to owners of remediating water leaks, fire safety breaches, structural failure
and combustible cladding and associated costs, in apartment buildings
constructed within the last ten years.
The
research also found that over 3,400 apartment
buildings across Australia had defective, non-compliant combustible cladding
installed, and would require remediation work to make the buildings safe.
CFMEU
Construction and General Division National Secretary Dave Noonan said that the
cost of Australia’s building and construction crisis was now clear, and
unfortunately often homeowners would likely be the ones to foot the majority of
the bill.
“Australia’s
building and construction crisis will cost a staggering $6.2 billion to fix
apartments they’ve already paid for.
“This
includes the cost of remediating water leaks, fire safety breaches, structural
failure and combustible cladding, and costs associated with increased insurance
premiums, legal fees and alternative accommodation.
“In some
cases, the costs of this remediation has been up to $165,000 per dwelling –
enough to sink many families.
“Tens of
thousands of families, many of whom have purchased their first home, are now
stuck with the crippling cost and mental anguish of owning homes that they may
not be able to live in, are unsafe and cannot afford to repair.
Mr Noonan
said Australia’s building and construction crisis was brought about by a range
of factors the union has been raising concerns over for many years.
“This is the result of the construction industry’s
obsession with ‘deregulation’ at any cost, and poor oversight by government.
“It’s the
result of years of not enforcing building standards and of allowing industry to
‘self-approve’ with little or no oversight. Often, it has fallen on the
union to blow the whistle.
Mr Noonan
also said that a national problem required a national solution and that the
union was willing to work with government to resolve these important issues for
the community.
“This
national crisis in construction can only be resolved through close consultation
with workers and the Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union
will continue to play a constructive role in developing solutions for our
industry.
“We’ll be
producing detailed policy solutions and will work with the Federal and State
governments across Australia over the coming months. Now is the time to
come together – not silence dissent.
Over the year to June 2019 new home sales fell 12.4 per cent compared with the previous financial year with every state recording a sharp contraction in sales says The HIA New Home Sales report – a monthly survey of the largest volume home builders in the five largest states.
Around the states, new home sales rose for the June quarter compared to the previous quarter in Victoria (+5.1 per cent), Western Australia (+2.9 per cent) and South Australia (+2.6 per cent). The quarterly declines in sales in New South Wales (-1.7 per cent) and Queensland (-8.9 per cent) still represented a moderation of earlier declines.
However, the small improvement in sales in the June quarter, up by just 0.8 per cent on the preceding quarter, suggests that the decline in new home sales that has been underway for more than a year, has started to ease said the HIA.
The upside of the current building industry downturn is that activity levels have synchronised across the east and west coasts – and within each state – making it easier for policy makers to coordinate policy settings.
Two interest rates cuts, a tax cut and repeal of regulatory restrictions will encourage increased activity in the home building market.
These measures, combined with ongoing stable population and employment growth should see new home sales improve toward the end of the year
Property insider Edwin Almeida and I discuss the recently announced changes to the supervision of building standards and ask if this is too little too late.
