Master Builders Victoria (MBV) respects the Victorian Government’s efforts to better protect consumers with the building reforms announced today, but says the new ‘one stop shop’ to deal with complaint resolutions ‘after’ a build, isn’t the complete answer to delivering better buildings.

MBV CEO Michaela Lihou says the government also needs to focus on additional ways to support the industry to ensure better building standards and practices, to restore consumer confidence rather than simply focusing on poor outcomes after the fact.

“We know that the current system is not working and that the government's announcement of an integrated regulator,  with new powers, is a step towards trying to fix this,” she says.

“The new system proposed is similar to the models which exist in NSW and QLD, however the devil is in the detail.  The NSW and QLD models both require trades to be registered, but as we understand it, this is something that does not exist in the proposed Victorian model.”

Ms Lihou says MBV is committed to working with the Government and the new Building and Plumbing Commission to ensure that the system protects consumers, supports the building of better buildings, and speeds up the dispute process if something goes wrong.

“However, we need also to get the basics right. We need to have better trained trades and sub-contractors on sites who are  appropriately qualified and registered to deliver the high-quality work that consumers and building companies rightly expect.”

“Logically, if we can get that right, less consumers will need to access the new integrated regulator processes,” she says.

Ms Lihou says poor waterproofing was one example where the government could easily turn its focus to ‘prevention rather than cure’.

“Poor water proofing is historically one of the biggest sources of building defects and consumer complaints,” she says.

“Effective waterproofing is an absolutely critical part of any build, but at the moment our registered builders are reliant on waterproofing contractors who inexplicably don’t currently have to be formally trained or registered in this important piece of the building process.”

“Part of getting the basics right should also be about targeting and  removing unregistered people who call themselves ‘builders’. So, we welcome the blitz on unregistered builders so that consumers can be confident that they are engaging a qualified, insured builder for their project.”

“We also look forward to more detail on how the change to a first resort insurance system will provide improved protection and a clear claim process for consumers, and make it easier and quicker for a builder to obtain at the start of a project.” 

“We know consumers must be protected, but so too should be our registered builders.”

A review of the current Victorian Domestic Building Contracts Act is also currently underway and Ms Lihou says a new contract regime could be critical in providing much needed protections to both consumers and builders.

“We are really looking forward to the outcomes of this review, hoping we will see significant progress and that it will also potentially facilitate the uptake of new methods of construction.”

“We’re are committed to working with government to get the system right to deliver better builds, and mitigate the potentially avoidable costly errors that are then the subject of complaints from consumers.” 

“We need to fix this problem from both ends. Better complaint resolution is one thing, but making sure we build better buildings in the first place also needs to be a focus.”

Media enquiries – Leigh McClusky 0411 711 780