Cladding Safety Victoria Report – The AIBS Response
Recently, Cladding Safety Victoria (CSV) released a report titled Research Analysis, Compliance in Building Design (CSV Report). The CSV Report made a number of observations about the role of contractors and consultants in the building process, yet failed to mention a lack of oversight by government agencies. This led to an article published in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) on Thursday 25 July 2024 with the headline Architects, fire engineers, building surveyors fingered over cladding.
Both the CSV Report and the AFR article have generated widespread comment and concern among AIBS members and throughout industry. Many members have contacted AIBS and, as a result, we make the following comments about the CSV Report and the urgent need for further industry reform in Victoria.
Member concerns
There is no cause for members to be alarmed about the CSV Report in the current context which, in the main, makes observations that are out of date. It is disappointing to receive the CSV Report at a time when the vast majority of the concerns raised regarding building surveyors have been actioned and remedied some years ago with the ongoing support of AIBS. We note this has led to misleading media headlines at a time when the attraction and retention of building surveyors is at a chronic low, following years of unfair and intensified scrutiny.
Further reforms needed urgently
Nevertheless, not all of the industry wide issues have been fixed and the publication of the CSV Report draws attention to the urgent measures that AIBS has been advocating for some time. These include:
• The pitfalls concerning the current Design & Construct procurement methods which adversely affect project participants and the ultimate delivery of the project;
• Lack of accountability and oversight of project managers; and
• Widespread industry demands for the Relevant Building Surveyor (RBS) to sign consultancy agreements in breach of the Building Act 1993 (the Act).
Indeed, these unsatisfactory practices are used by CSV itself in its remediation programme.
As members will be aware, AIBS has put in place very robust processes to lift the standard of building surveying throughout Australia. The AIBS Professional Standards Scheme for Building Surveyors requires all practicing members to meet the highest professional standards in the industry. Under the AIBS Scheme, members are required to meet Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements and we offer a comprehensive education program to enable members to complete these requirements. It is our long- held position that all building surveyors registered to practise in Victoria should be required to meet similar high professional standards.
It is regrettable that while AIBS members have lifted their game considerably, and despite advocating by some sectors of industry, government agencies continue to allow the Design & Construct procurement practices to continue unrestricted and unchecked, paired with attempts to bully the RBS into making decisions they may not be comfortable with, unregulated and unregistered project managers, as well as the use of consultancy agreements which support the notion of conflict of interest and are in breach of the Act.
It is difficult not to take exception to the CSV Report. Indeed, members are asking who commissioned the report and why it was released now? It is frustrating that government agencies, while blaming industry participants for the use of combustible cladding on buildings, ignore the fact that the Building Code of Australia was amended out of normal cycle in the context of the use of external cladding on Type A building facades in March 2018, thereby confirming that the Code was ambiguous in the first instance.
AIBS considers that government agencies should have been included in the CSV Report as they must share the accountability for the cladding situation that arose despite the fact that it was their responsibility to carry out auditing over a very long period of time.
In contemplating all of the above, we must be clear that AIBS has never condoned deliberate poor practice which is rare, but we acknowledge has occurred in the past.
What now?
Many of the findings in the CSV Report support the work that AIBS has been doing on behalf of our members which is, amongst other things, lobbying very strongly for all participants in the industry to be registered, Design & Construct procurement practices to be more closely monitored and regulated, as well as making it an offence for developers, project managers or builders to attempt to coerce an RBS to sign a consultancy agreement. The publication of the report provides AIBS with an excellent opportunity to intensify our advocacy work which will focus on convincing government that the implementation of the above provisions is not only necessary but urgently required to support building surveyors, protect consumers and restore the confidence of the Victorian community in our industry.
Any members who have comments or would like to support our advocacy work, please contact members of your Victoria Chapter Committee.