Engineers Australia has criticised the NSW Government for its response to the Shergold-Weir report, saying its proposed reforms do not meet the commitments it has made to implement the recommendations.
Engineers Australia has accused the NSW State Government of rushing its response to the Shergold-Weir report, saying its proposed reforms do not go far enough in improving professional standards within the building sector.
The NSW Government recently consulted on the ‘Building Stronger Foundations’ discussion paper, which proposed key reform elements of its response to the Shergold-Weir report.
After considering the submissions and feedback from industry consultation sessions, the government said it is set to release an exposure draft of the Design and Building Practitioners Bill 2019.
Engineers Australia was among the industry stakeholders invited to view the details of the government’s proposed reform for the state’s building sector last week ahead of its introduction to parliament later in the year.
The draft bill will include new requirements for registration of a range of building practitioners, including engineers if they provide plans, designs or performance solutions for buildings.
But Engineers Australia Public Affairs Manager Jonathan Russell said the new rules put forward by the state government would not deliver the comprehensive registration scheme that the engineering profession and the general public was expecting.
"It was expected that the government would make good on commitments to implement the first recommendations in both the Shergold-Weir report and the Opal Tower report that there must be compulsory registration of engineers in NSW," he said.
"The NSW Government’s proposed plan only applies registration to an engineer who performs a ‘compliance declaration’ for a Class 2 apartment building.
"It will not improve professional standards for any other part of the building sector like office towers, nursing homes or hospitals."
Since the Building Ministers Forum the NSW Government announced the appointment of David Chandler OAM as the state's Building Commissioner.
At the time, Minister for Better Regulation Kevin Anderson said the Building Commissioner’s priority will be to continue the extensive work already started by the NSW Government to reform the building and construction industry by lifting building standards across NSW and ensuring better protections for homeowners and purchasers.
A spokesperson from the NSW Government told WILLIAMS MEDIA it remained committed to delivering reforms to the building and construction industry, as shown by recent release of the draft Building and Development Certifiers Regulation 2019 followed by the draft Design and Building Practitioners Bill 2019.
"The documents cover key reform elements of the NSW Government response to the Shergold-Weir report," the spokesperson said.
"The government has committed to introducing legislation to Parliament before the end of the year to deliver tangible changes for the people of NSW."
However, Mr Russell has said the government's plan does not address the deeper issues and would result in the current problems being passed on to other parts of the building industry.
"The proposed reforms would suggest that residential apartments are the only problem," he said.
"Unfortunately, recent history throws up plenty of high-profile examples where statutory controls of professional engineering practices would have prevented loss of life, injury and cost."
He added Engineers Australia would like to see NSW follow the lead of Queensland when it came to engineering registration.
"Engineers Australia’s position is that we support NSW introducing legislation which is the same, or similar, to laws in Queensland," he said.
"There, comprehensive registration of engineers is in place, under a model which has proven to be highly successful in maintaining professional standards for engineers and public confidence in the building sector, as well as engineers more broadly."
By Sean Slatter
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