As a series of builders on Illawarra homes and apartments go into administration or insolvency, a council crackdown on building sites across Wollongong found more than half in breach.
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Seaside Building & Design was the latest company to hit the wall in the Illawarra, entering voluntary liquidation earlier this month, owing over half a million to contractors and suppliers.
Elsewhere in the region, work has halted at multi-storey apartment buildings in the Wollongong CBD, while an affordable housing project in Dapto faced delays after Canberra-based builder PBS Building went into administration.
Amid these financial failures, a number of non-compliance incidents across the Wollongong LGA caught the attention of Wollongong City Council, sparking an enforcement blitz in November 2022.
In the months since, snap inspections of hundreds of building sites found almost 200 instances of non compliance, over half of all sites inspected.
Wollongong council director planning and environment Linda Davis said this was a telling figure.
"While it's disappointing to see so many people do the wrong thing, I think that there's a real opportunity to educate the construction industry, to improve the standards to which they work and to demonstrate to them that Council will act if they're not meeting the requirements," Ms Davis said.
The compliance crackdown has hit the hip pocket of non-compliant operators, with council collecting $77,615 in revenue through fines and penalties between November 2022 and April 2023.
"What we've found is that issuing penalties is one of the best ways we can encourage people to do the right thing," Ms Davis said.
The release of the figures comes as the NSW government moves to increase the powers of the construction industry watchdog.
The state government is following through on an election promise to establish a Building Commission, following on from the work of Building Commissioner David Chandler who made a number of high profile visits to non-compliant Wollongong worksites.
"The Building Commissioner David Chandler has done a remarkable job cleaning up the construction industry. We want to expand on that and ensure we can get supply moving while still maintaining public confidence in the quality," NSW Premier Chris Minns said.
Property Council Acting Illawarra Regional Director Kelly Jones said while there was strong demand for new residential and commercial builds, the industry faced the most difficult situation in modern times, with labour and supplies shortages, rising costs.
"By focusing on innovation, collaboration, and regulatory reform, we can build more affordable housing and commercial properties, and contribute to the growth and prosperity of our communities," she said.
"It is imperative that the property industry and policymakers work together to address this challenge, to ensure that our housing supply crisis does not worsen."
While Ms Jones said data indicated the cost of construction is beginning to reduce, the nation-wide issues remain.
Wollongong City Council compliance actions taken since November 2022
- 369 site inspections
- 31 penalty notices issued
- 12 written warnings issued
- 70 verbal warnings
- 193 educational discussions (advice on preferred practices and controls to be implemented on site to minimise environmental impacts)
- 22 notification emails/letters to the relevant Principal Certifying Authority (PCA)
- Seven clean up notices issued.
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