NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler set to receive more powers to tackle defects

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Laws strengthening the powers of the New South Wales building regulator are set to pass parliament this week. The changes will force builders to fix defects in new homes before finishing construction.

Transcript

00:00 On Sydney's southwest fringe, the Premier tours a display home at Leppington.

00:11 The state needs many more and fast, but buying off the plan can be risky.

00:16 A huge leap of faith.

00:17 It's a lot of money.

00:18 I wouldn't go into a unit development because that's one of the major concerns, that there

00:23 is going to be so many problems down the track.

00:26 After countless cases of defective new buildings, Chris Minns is trying to restore public confidence.

00:32 We are not going to let quantity be the enemy of quality in NSW.

00:37 Current legislation only permits inspectors to issue a rectification order after the building

00:42 is finished and the consumer has made a complaint.

00:45 If the building company collapses, owners have little recourse.

00:49 By then the horse is already bolted, so we went to the government and said look we really

00:53 could do with these earlier powers.

00:56 This week the government expects to pass laws giving inspectors the authority to enter a

01:00 house or apartment under construction and compel builders to fix any defects before

01:05 the project's finished.

01:07 These powers are ensuring that we are proactive, we do the prevention, it's better than cure.

01:13 This is an example of construction practices the building commissioner is trying to stop.

01:17 He says a pile of rubbish on a site can be a telltale sign of defects in a building.

01:23 It indicates that it's been mayhem during the build.

01:26 Sure enough, when the commissioner examined this house, he found flaws.

01:30 400 inspectors will be on the beat in a bid to nip dodgy builds in the bud.

01:34 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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