Building quality in Wollongong was placed under the microscope on Monday when inspectors from NSW Fair Trading and the Office of the Building Commissioner visited residential apartment building construction sites.
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NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler said the visit was one of many across the state following a number of prohibition and rectification orders on NSW apartment buildings by Fair Trading.
Mr Chandler said inspectors were looking at any practices which could lead to serious defects in finished products.
He said a quick look at the Wollongong skyline revealed just how many residential apartment buildings are going up in the city at the moment. And it was important to ensure no one was cutting corners.
Mr Chandler said the visit was not about examining consumer related defects within individual apartments. Monday's focus was on serious defects affecting common property including problems relating to structure, water proofing, flammable cladding, fire safety systems and building enclosures.
Mr Chandler said his office has been liaising with councils such as Wollongong who have been reporting developers. He said certifiers are taking note and work is improving.
"Good developers are now taking notice that the industry needs to lift its standards and ensure buildings meet customer expectations." he said.
"The NSW Government has given me extraordinary powers to turn this industry around and start producing safe and trustworthy buildings for the consumers who are buying their most important investment, their home.
"The modern unit is something that has suffered in its image in the last five or 10 years and for good reason. The builders have needed to lift their game and have needed to be much more compliant with standards and buildings also need to be better designed.
"Since I have been Building Commissioner I have been out to over 100 building sites delivering this message. Unfortunately for some that message has included stopping their jobs until such time as the serious defects we are finding have been fixed."
Mr Chandler said while there have been much publicised cases in Sydney and other large cities regional centre such as Wollongong are not immune to standards not being met. Which is why he was visiting the city on Monday.
"If we do find buildings down here that are not good enough. Then we will be stopping those projects until they are made good. My powers allow me to intervene before the issuance of an occupation certificate. And if you don't have an occupation certificate you can't force an owner to settle on an apartment.
"We are making sure we are using really high powered risk breaking tools to find out who are the most risky developers out there. And we are spending most of our time with them. In the last month we have been out to 10 new occupation certificate orders. Our audit tools now are so high there is no place to hide.
"I am here to make developers understand they are the people who sell the apartments to consumers, take their deposits and make a promise they are going to deliver the building that the consumer expected to buy.
"So we are holding the developers 100 per cent accountable. If they make bad decisions there will be consequences."
During his visit Mr Chandler also noted seven Wollongong sites contain combustible cladding on high-risk, residential apartment buildings. And urged strata managers and owners to register for the NSW Government's Project Remediate program.
Project Remediate helps owners and corporations remove flammable cladding from buildings and provides quality assurance and program management services, delivered by experienced professionals that are supported with 10-year interest free loans.
"Project Remediate is working with local councils and Fire & Rescue NSW to ensure there are necessary safety measures in place as we move toward replacement of the combustible cladding," Mr Chandler said.
The NSW Government has appointed Hansen Yuncken as managing contractor and they will support building owners and residents in ensuring the remediation work is delivered to the highest standards of safety and quality.
Mr Chandler said strata communities who are eligible for Project Remediate can register their interest online until the end of September.
He said up to 10 buildings in Wollongong have been identified with flammable cladding that needs to be removed and it will start being removed from as early as September.
"There are under 10 buildings in Wollongong we are aware of at the moment and I would encourage the owners of those buildings to come forward and register for Project Remediate," he said.
"This is an opportunity for them to get this work done using the best capable expertise, enjoying low interest loans, and not necessarily having to go through the financial stress if they had been left to it on their own."
Mr Chandler said the last thing he wants to see is people trying to do it on their own or cutting corners.
He said he was unlikely to see a fire in this city cause the same loss of life that occurred with the horrendous Grenfell Tower Fire in London. He said in that blaze the firefighters didn't fully understand how that materials burned and also they had different practices to what firefighters have in Australia.
"One of the big differences is they took a view that they would get everybody to stay in their apartments while they fought the fire," he said.
"In Australia the number one rule for firefighters is to try and get everybody out first."
Mr Chandler also sits on the Government led Construction Leadership Group that engages with industry.
He has been sitting in working groups discussing the latest lockdown and its impact on the construction sector.
And has been involved in the conversation about how to get the industry restarted.
He said he he was pleased to see that not only occurring in Wollongong but the responsible way the industry has embraced QR check ins and safe COVID practices onsite.
"What we need to do is just tell all workers we want them back but they have to have their first vaccination which is a rule introduced by the builders.".
Mr Chandler said workers are also required to have a COVID test every three days.
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Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
