Building Industry Newsflash - Parliamentary Inquiry recommends disbanding of the BSA
On Friday 30th November 2012 the Queensland Parliament's Transport, Housing and Local Government Committee tabled it's report resulting from the Inquiry into the Operation and Performance of the Queensland Building Services Authority 2012. The committee made a total of 41 recommendations and there are quite a few recommendations which could affect the way we do business in the QLD building Industry and they may well have implications on a national level when the National Occupational Licensing System comes into force over the next few years.
Probably the most important and far reaching recommendations are Recommendation 1 & 2:
- Recommendation 1 - The Committee recommends that in the interests of improved confidence and transparency, the “one stop shop” model for the provision of Queensland government building services be discontinued and that the Queensland Building Services Authority be disbanded as soon as alternative mechanisms for delivering its functions can be established.
- Recommendation 2 - The Committee recommends that the Minister for Housing and Public Works restructure the building services currently provided by the QBSA so that there is a clear and transparent divide between the roles of licensing; management of directions to rectify and complete work; and management of the limited home warranty scheme. We do not know as yet which form the new Authority will take, however, we have a unique opportunity as an Association representing the tiling and waterproofing industries, to influence the creation of this Authority in a positive way. The final report by the committee quotes extracts from our submission into the inquiry a total of 5 times and it would appear that industry Associations such as ours are likely to be consulted in the process. The Committee made the following additional recommendations:
- Recommendation 8 - The Committee recommends that the Minister for Housing and Public Works take the views of stakeholders into account when examining the appropriate structure for the reformed building authority and Board.
- Recommendation 32 - The Committee recommends that the Minister for Housing and Public Works use evidence provided to this inquiry on the current licensing regime to undertake an independent review of all existing licenses to test for fitness for purpose, eligibility requirements, costs and benefits.
- Recommendation 40 -The Committee recommends that the Minister for Housing and Public Works use the evidence provided to the inquiry to examine ways in which the industry groups can take a greater role within the newly formed building authority in terms of licensing standards and procedures for their members. We have a golden opportunity to influence and help shape this new Authority to deliver better outcomes for consumers and contractors, by making it more difficult for cowboys, educating the public and delivering a better job.
If you are reading this and you aren't a member as yet, now would be a good time to consider membership. The greater our numbers the greater our chance of getting real results.
The full parliamentary report can be viewed here: http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/doc.../5412T1818.pdf
The report also made a recommendation for National Licensing:
- Recommendation 41 - The Committee recommends that the Minister for Housing and Public Works take the recommendations contained in this report into consideration before agreeing to any time frames for the introduction of the draft Regulations stemming from the National Occupational Licensing System. As the National Licensing reforms affecting tilers and waterproofers are unlikely to come into effect before 2014 at the earliest, there is not a lot of information available as yet. We'll have to see what is proposed and then provide our input.
We have received (unconfirmed) information that Premier Campbell Newman has pulled on the reigns somewhat. He is looking for more information and more consultation before any changes are made, mainly it seems because of the costs involved in setting up a new Authority.
At this early stage it is unclear exactly what will happen and we hope that we will be involved in the consultation process no matter what the outcome is.
We are looking for feedback from the tiling and waterproofing industries and a discussion thread has been started in our forums which can be accessed here: http://forum.mastertilers.org/showthread.php/1842-Say-quot-Goodbye-quot-to-the-BSA?p=1895#post1895