From 1 July 2025, the ACT Government will assess the work of private certifiers and assess building applications.

An Access Canberra team will review building design documents for quality assurance and attend mandatory inspections at each stage of the construction process, Rebecca Vassarotti, Minister for Sustainable Building and Construction, said.

“These reforms will support private building surveyors to identify defects as early as possible in the design and construction process, where defects can be fixed at lower costs while professionals and trades are still engaged and on-site,” Ms Vassarotti said. 

“In many cases, this will put the onus of fixing defects onto developers in the construction phase, meaning Canberrans won’t be shafted with a dodgy house once they’ve moved into it.”

Starting in mid-2025 will give the government time to recruit the team and industry time to transition to the new requirements, Ms Vassarotti said.

At first, the team will focus on complex high-rise apartment buildings (Class 2), then other residential buildings. Master Builders ACT considered this “a good place to start”.

The MBA welcomed the announcement of the quality assurance team. Acting CEO Ziad Zakout said that the organisation had long campaigned for the ACT Government to improve building quality through changes to the building regulatory system.

“MBA ACT supports any initiative to improve the standards and building quality in the ACT,” Mr Zakout said.

The Real Estate Institute of the ACT (REIACT) also “supports any measure that will improve the quality of new buildings in the ACT, especially in high rise complexes where young home buyers often purchase as their first property”, CEO Maria Edwards said.

However, both REIACT and the MBA called for further detail.

“If this program is to be rolled out, the Government needs to be transparent around the size of the team, what time frames will be imposed for Access Canberra to complete inspections, and any costs involved, which will most likely be passed onto consumers eventually,” Ms Edwards said.

“Initial feedback from members is that further information will need to be made available as to how this scheme will operate,” Mr Zakout said. “Members are concerned about the potential for additional costs and time delays that could result from this process where it is not efficient. We call for the ACT Government to ensure that this team is well resourced, and that those carrying out these functions are suitably qualified and experienced. The scheme must also be properly funded to ensure that the costs of building work are not further increased.”

Ms Vassarotti’s office said that four new team members would be added to the Access Canberra building team with the funding secured in the 2024-25 ACT budget. These new hires will be dedicated to establishing the new certification system. The staff team will cost $3.077 million over the next four years. As this new team is still yet to be hired, details are yet to be finalised.

Ms Vassarotti said the team will protect the community and improve building quality standards, reducing building defects and improving accountability in the building and construction industry.

“When Canberrans buy or rent a home, they should be able to demand the best from those who built them,” the minister said.

“Over recent years, high profile cases of poor development have undermined the trust of Canberrans in the home building industry. Dodgy development choices are estimated to have cost Canberrans more than $50 million each year.”

Many defects, however, are due to poor finishing rather than to poor design, according to REIACT.

“Often the defects agents come across at the sales stage are the result of poor workmanship in the finishing of properties such as tiling, door installations, and balcony issues, which would not likely be picked up at the design phase,” Ms Edwards said. “The largest and most expensive defects tend to be in water-proofing, which are also not immediately obvious.”

Likewise, the MBA argued that the government must make sure all aspects of building works are reviewed, not just certification, to ensure quality.

“In an ideal situation, defects should be identified and dealt with as they arise,” Mr Zakout said. “This is the rôle of all stakeholders in the building process, including but not limited to the certification process.”

Nor should the proposed scheme replace private certifiers, the MBA says.

In June, the Legislative Assembly established Australia’s first licencing and regulation scheme for property developers. Ms Vassarotti said this scheme “removed any incentive for cosy deals between developers and certifiers because they will now be held personally liable for dodgy construction work”. However, the MBA has raised concerns this scheme would deter investment and affect housing targets.

The ACT Government has also changed the planning system and funded more positions in Access Canberra to check compliance with planning rules, including for single dwellings and audits of exempt developments.