Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) officers undertook inspections of 1,375 active building projects during 2021-2022, to identify potential issues as quickly as possible.
During the inspections, officers identified 161 defects, of which 126 were remedied promptly through education, advice or information, while 35 required further rectification action from the builders and contractors responsible for the work.
QBCC Commissioner, Anissa Levy, says the 35 defects represent only 2.5 per cent of the 1,375 inspections of active work, which indicates that the majority of work being done and materials being used comply with all appropriate standards.
“These inspections help to ensure that work is done safely and to standard and allow us towork with builders and contractors in an educative and informative manner as soon as a potential problem is detected,” Ms Levy says.
“Early detection of issues helps to prevent additional costs and delays with a building project, and can help avoid future QBCC action for non-compliant or defective work.”
QBCC officers have continued to monitor the 35 defective work issues, and have returned to sites when necessary to ensure the required rectification work has occurred.
The QBCC inspections helped identify a number of matters requiring rectification by builders and contractors, including:
- passive fire-installation (such as ensuring the correct installation of fire-separating walls)
- inadequate disability access, particularly at lobby doorways and/or ramps
- non-compliance with the timber framing code
- non-compliant waterproofing to external door openings.
The inspections also resulted in a number of potentially non-conforming building products (NCBP) being referred to the QBCC’s NCBP team for further investigation, including:
- vertical bars on a pool fencing product
- issues with a magnesium-oxide board (used in fire safety-related construction).
Further investigations of these products by the QBCC revealed either no evidence or insufficient evidence to determine the products to be non-conforming for their intended use.
“These proactive inspections are a valuable tool for providing peace of mind to the people performing the work and those who will eventually utilise or live in these constructions,” Ms Levy says.