Report 12

Regulation of Builders and Building Surveyors

Audit conclusion

The Commission was slow in making use of powers provided in 2011 to undertake proactive audits of builders and building surveyors. It only started these audits in 2014 but has since conducted 451 inspections as part of occupational and general audits of builders and building surveyors. As the Commission did not have baseline information about the quality of building, it is too soon to determine whether these audits have improved building quality.

Licensing processes for new WA builders and building surveyors are sufficient to ensure that approved applicants meet all criteria but character checks for licence renewals and for interstate applicants are weak. The time to process applications is also slow.

The Commission resolves complaints against builders in a reasonable manner. It has also significantly improved its timeliness though 40% of complaints still take longer than the Commission’s target of 150 days to resolve.

The Commission’s 11-step reform program has progressed slowly. Four steps are complete but another 5 are underway and the remaining 2 will start in 2016. The Commission is committed to completing the program by 2018 but this may hinder the legislative review due in 2017.

 

Page last updated: June 22, 2016

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