The Minister for Regulatory Services, Gordon Ramsay has called on the local building industry to comply with regulations and standards in the face of community concerns about building quality in the Territory.
The Minister said that with the increase in the number of building approvals, particularly multi-unit developments, now was an opportune time for the industry to provide confidence to people purchasing new dwellings.
“The Government alone cannot solve this problem,” Mr Ramsay said.
“Industry needs to step up, drive professionalism and accountability, and manage underperformance.”
He said the Government did not build buildings — the industry did — and the message to industry was clear.
Mr Ramsay said a number of measures had already been implemented in the Improving the ACT Building Regulatory System reforms which were developed in 2016.
“Further to these reforms, the Government is announcing tough new changes to licensing requirements targeting builders who have had regular complaints made against them,” he said.
Mr Ramsay said that from next year, up to 20 per cent of all builders seeking to renew their licences would need to pass a test to ensure their skills and technical knowledge were of the standard expected by regulators, industry and the community.
He said those applying for Class A, B and C licences for the first time in the ACT would need to sit a test at point of application.
He said tests would also be used at any time by the Constructions Occupations Registrar as part of a skills assessment of builders, where the Registrar believed grounds for occupational discipline existed.
The Minister said he had been working with the Minister for Planning and Land Management, Mick Gentleman on these improvements from a regulatory perspective.
“It is important that we work to address issues in quality at the source by weeding out those in the industry who are not delivering to a standard we expect, rather than just managing the end result — which can be works that do not meet standards,” Mr Ramsay said.
