2015-01-12 General Committee Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                             12 January 2015


11                        REVIEW OF BUILDING ACT 1975 AND BUILDING CERTIFICATION IN QUEENSLAND
DOCUMENT IN FOR MATI ON




Author                              Building and Plumbing Services Manager, Allan Hazell
                                    Planning & Infrastructure Department

Index                               Proposed Legislative Changes to Building Act 1975

Attachments                         Nil


RECOMMENDATION
That Council note the report by Building and Plumbing Services Manager to the General
Committee Meeting dated 12 January 2015 with regard to proposed changes to the Building Act
1975 and authorise the Chief Executive Officer to respond to the State Government on points 1
to 7 identified in the report.



REPORT
This report is to inform Council of a review of building legislation undertaken by State
Government. As part of the State’s 10 point action plan in relation to the building and construction
industry and in particular the Queensland Building Services Authority, an implementation
committee engaged construction law barrister Mr Andrew Wallace to undertake a review of the
Building Act 1975. This review included reviewing private building certification in Queensland.
The Wallace report has been released for consultation until 30 January 2015. The State is
seeking industry and community feedback on the proposed recommendations. The Wallace
report is a 447 page document that deals with a large range of issues and contains some 122
recommendations, many of which are not relevant to local government.
A copy of the Wallace Report is online at
http://www.hpw.qld.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/TheWallaceReport.pdf
The bulk of the proposed recommendations within the Wallace report are focused on the
administrative functions of private building certification. However, a number of proposed
recommendations may affect the Council and this report focuses on those.
The Wallace Report is recommending the retention of private building certification in Queensland
but with significantly stronger controls. It seems apparent that the State intends to retain private
certification however, it has also received significant feedback on problems with the current
system of private certification.
The following proposed recommendations listed within this report have been identified as issues
that may affect Council and are matters upon which we should make a submission.

PROPOSED RECOMMENDATIONS
1.                        Recommendation to retain the current system of private certification with
                          appropriate improvements to strengthen private certifiers’ obligations in complying
                          with Local Governments Planning Schemes. This recommendation encourages
                          building certifiers to make application for a Town Planning Compliance Appraisal.

The proposal to strengthen the obligations of private certifiers is supported. The proposal to
encourage building certifiers to seek a Town Planning Compliance Appraisal is also supported
noting that this will not be a mandatory obligation in every instance. Noosa Council already offers
this service to customers under Council’s approved fees and charges schedule.



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