It’s time for the Building Commission to take a harder line on shoddy builders

Serious defects are occurring because of a shortfall in qualified builders, and some deficiencies in education among others.

You don’t have to look very far on the Building Commission’s work orders website to find the common problems. “Onsite it was observed that no evidence of a waterproofing vertical membrane or any upturned flashing has been installed to the underside of the sill section of the glass sliding door protecting from any moisture ingress,” a recent rectification orders reads. Translation: when it rains, water is going to come in through the door frame.

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The problem is worse in newer suburbs in the city’s west. Grahame McCulloch, a third-party building inspector, has told The Sun-Herald the amount of defective building work was “very, very widespread” in the parts of Sydney’s south-western greenfield fringe. He says so-called “accelerated learning pathways” for tradesman have left a broader pool of underqualified workers to choose from.

Once a defect is reported, the building commission steps in, to catch and kill as much shoddy work as it can. If work isn’t rectified in the time frame set by the commission, builders face conditions being put on their licences, possibly losing their licences and ultimately going out of business. But standalone-home owners are often left in the lurch, faced with spending more money on legal challenges or waiting for a high threshold to access compulsory insurance scheme.

The upside of the commission’s work is anyone building a new home can easily check a builder’s licence on the Verify NSW website. They can demand to see the builder’s Home Building Compensation Fund insurance certificate before allowing work to start. Buying an apartment? Check the list of rectification orders first.

The new building commissioner James Sherrard told the Herald this month he did not believe the proportion of rectification orders defied represented a compliance problem for the regulator.

But they do for the home owner.

On the score of transparency, the building commission is doing good work. But in terms of compliance, and weeding out dodgy builders, there is still some way to go.

Over to you, Mr Sherrard.