Building more homes. Is government helping or hindering Victoria's building industry?

The need for housing in Australia is probably the single most important issue for Australians at the moment, other than the cost of living. But the two are interconnected.

In Victoria, like New South Wales and other states we are seeing a massive rollout of substantial changes to building law and regulation.

This creates more cost, time and complexity for building industry participants to understand and adapt to.

Whilst many will say the changes were needed, we know a material contributor to changes, at least in Victoria, was the very failings of a deplorable regulator in the VBA which let dodgy builders run wild.

Now, the result is all builders good or otherwise facing increased challenges when they should be supported by government.

Further, the cost of certain building materials and fuel has soared whilst the red tape around building regulation is getting more complex not less.

As a building lawyer, I get my head around the changes and I love updating builders and plumbers and other industry participants so they can focus on the most important job of building new homes.

But what is actually being done to help the very industry that can achieve the change we seek? It seems to me…nothing or very little.

Let me ask the builders and plumbers, engineers and certifiers and any other contractors and professionals:

• What do you really need from Government?

• What do you really need from your regulators?

• What would really assist you in building more homes of better quality and faster?

It seems to me that the very voices government and regulators should be listening to are not being heard.

This article is a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

Tagged as:

• building disputes