How we are `building confidence' in our industry

The work of the Building Confidence Report (BCR) Implementation Team is central to progressing this reform agenda. Since July 2019, the Team has been working towards addressing all 24 recommendations of the Shergold/Weir BCR including the design construction and certification of complex buildings.

Through the Board and the Building Ministers’ Forum, and in consultation with the states and territories, industry leaders and subject matter experts, the team has progressed a significant quantity of work, including:

• Development and consultation on a definition for ‘complex buildings’
• Development of a draft code of conduct for building surveyors
• Development of a holistic package of measures to provide a reliable conformity assessment framework as an alternative to a compulsory product certification system for high-risk building products
• Developing proposals for nationally consistent registration requirements for all construction practitioners
• Development of specific requirements for practitioners to use in the development and documentation of Performance Solutions, which is included in NCC 2019 Amendment 1.

While not all this work is complete, many of these proposals are well advanced and are well-placed for completion in the near future.

With little over 12 months until the Team is due to deliver the proposed national approach to all BCR recommendations to Ministers, a number of other projects will gather momentum over the coming months, including:

• The drafting of detailed specifications for the collection of building information to enable digital building manuals to be produced
• Working towards a nationally consistent terminology for defined terms used in the NCC, referenced standards, and state and territory legislation
• Continued development of NCC CPD training materials for construction practitioners

Implementation of the Team’s work will remain the responsibility of each state and territory. The status of each jurisdiction in relation to the BCR recommendations as at December 2019 is published on the BMF website.

To ensure the proposals that the Team is developing are feasible and practical, and to maximise the likelihood of uptake of these responses by the states and territories, the Team has a robust approach to consultation. Ongoing guidance is sought from the Experts Panel and the Industry Leaders Consultative Group. The Team also works with state and territory governments through specific working groups, leverages off existing committee forums, seeks public comment through the ABCB Consultation Hub, and where appropriate undertakes targeted engagement with individuals.

To keep the industry and public abreast of progress, the Implementation Team has produced a public report, which is downloadable from the Resource Library, titled ‘Delivery of the Building Confidence Report National Framework – May 2020’.

Additionally, the Building Confidence Report National Framework is a downloadable chart which provides further detail on the progress and method of addressing each recommendation. This is periodically updated.

If you still have any questions for the BCR Implementation Team, please reach out to the Team.