Posted: 2019-07-19 14:10:00

But this national approach, encouraging as it is, doesn’t mean anyone is off the hook. There
is an enormous amount of urgent work yet to be done, starting with the rectification of
buildings that have already been identified as posing a risk from flammable cladding and
other defects. Victoria has stepped up to the plate with a package enabling this work to
commence. We call on NSW and every other state and territory to follow suit. The sooner
the better.

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The Commonwealth must also play its part, together with industry. The safety of our built
environment is a collective responsibility that needs collective action. At the Institute of
Architects we are actively engaging with all stakeholders from developers, designers,
engineers and builders through to strata owner consumers to foster an holistic approach
focused on finding effective, lasting solutions.

These solutions must address the root cause of the problem, namely a culture and practice
that has put time and cost (or greed and speed to put it bluntly) above quality. That
equation has seen quality lose out, jeopardising both people’s safety and their economic
security. It’s an equation that must now be reversed.

At the same time, continuous, truly independent oversight by a properly registered and
qualified professional must be reintroduced with a "clerk of works" full-time on the building site; this is the only way quality will be maintained.
People’s homes are, in most cases, their greatest asset. They are also a sanctuary, the
secure base from which we live our lives. They must be protected.

Stronger regulation and greater compliance are essential but on their own they are not
enough, especially for complex projects. The only way to achieve the level of lasting change
required is to embed quality into the construction process from start to finish and at all
points in between.

This is at the heart of the Australian Institute of Architects’ concerns with the reform
proposals put forward by the NSW government. While the Building Stronger Foundations
discussion paper, for which submissions are due next week, includes many meritorious
measures, it also has some glaring gaps.

Waterproofing defects in a Sydney apartment block.

Waterproofing defects in a Sydney apartment block.Credit:Ross Taylor

We, like much of industry, wholeheartedly support the creation of a Building Commissioner, the introduction of a new building practitioners’ registration scheme and legislating a duty of care to building owners. What’s missing, though, is the mechanism to ensure that as buildings are being constructed, corners aren’t being cut, that inferior products aren’t substituted for the specified and approved materials, and that the best interests of the owners (current and future) are served.

As part of a profession whose members have been regulated for almost a century now, I can
attest both to the importance of registration but also to the fact that, in isolation, it’s no
silver bullet. That’s why the February 2018 Shergold-Weir Building Confidence report put
forward a suite of 24 recommendations, including the penultimate one that said they were
to be treated as "a coherent package". The authors stipulated a three-year timeframe for
implementation. The clock is ticking.

While there have been many contributing factors to the current crisis, a significant part of
the problem has been the rise of a method of procuring building services called the design
and construct, or D&C, contract.

Essentially, D&C contracts see the developer hand over decision-making powers to the
builder. Whereas previously other building professionals, such as architects, would have
maintained a direct relationship with the developer, today that is no longer the case. The
consequences are that it is much harder to override, challenge or even effectively
communicate concerns about decisions that can have an adverse impact on quality.

And quality is what it all comes down to. Because without it the government and industry
will never win back the public confidence that has been shaken and cracked just as surely as
the physical structures.

Kathlyn Loseby is the chief operating officer of Crone Architects and the NSW president Australian Institute of Architects.

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