Building Commission NSW opens to ensure compliant new housing

Homebuyers have a new reason to be confident about building quality in NSW with the official opening of Building Commission NSW this week, the state’s first ever dedicated building regulator.

From today Building Commission NSW, led by Commissioner David Chandler, will open its doors.

The newly established agency will lift the existing Office of the Building Commissioner out of NSW Fair Trading to give staff dedicated resources and a clear focus on the building sector.

Delivering a standalone regulator was a key election promise of the Minns Labor government, ensuring builders and the homes they construct in NSW are compliant, safe and durable.

The change means NSW will go from just 40 staff dedicated to enforcing quality and standards in the building industry to more than 400.

Funded by a $24 million down payment in the NSW Budget, Building Commission NSW will be a one stop shop for regulation, licensing and oversight of the sector.

While the NSW Government is committed to tackling the NSW housing supply crisis after over a decade of inaction, the government will not allow quantity of homes to come at the expense of quality.

This is another milestone in the work the NSW Government has already completed to lift standards across the industry, including:

• new laws to dramatically expand the Building Commissioner’s powers over freestanding residential homes.
• elevating the sector to cabinet level with the first ever Minister for Building.
• boosting the capacity of smaller builders to deliver quality medium-density housing through initiatives like BuiltIt NSW.

The recent completion of Parq Bexley marks the first building in Australia to be covered by Decennial Liability Insurance (DLI), a decade-long guarantee against serious defects.

Parq’s builder Urban Property has also announced that DLI will be rolled out across all future projects.

Owners in buildings covered by DLI can make a claim to get defects repaired for up to a decade after completion, whether their builder is still operating or not.

NSW is the first state in the nation to offer decennial liability insurance and the NSW Government recently passed laws to encourage more builders to sign up and protect buyers.

“In recent years we’ve heard horror stories about defects in apartment buildings but we’re turning the tide with Building Commission NSW," NSW Premier Chris Minns said:

“The Building Commissioner has made a start restoring integrity, now we’ve given him the powers and resources he needs to get on with the job.”

Minister for Building Anoulack Chanthivong said the Building Commission NSW will turbocharge our work to restore trust and integrity in the building sector, while Building Commissioner David Chandler OAM says the Commission's team comprises amazing, talented and committed people.

“It will be my privilege to lead this next phase of delivering the trusted housing that the state's community desperately needs.

“When I started this work everyone was driving towards the bottom of quality, now we are all working towards the top and Urban Property is a great example.”