Welcome to the third edition of Foundations!

Many thanks to everyone who responded to our last poll where we asked if you would take up the option of renewing your home building licence or certificate online. We received more that 630 responses and over 90% of you said you would use the online renewal system, which is a great sign that the new service will be well used. This sort of feedback helps us to keep improving our services.

In this edition, our poll has expanded into a simple 3 question survey. We’re interested in knowing how we can make our current free information sessions (on Compliance) more available to you, for example, by way of online audio/video presentations. Are these viable alternatives if you are unable to attend in person? We are also interested in finding out if you'd like sessions run on any other topics. Go to our Foundations survey and give us your input.

We’re continuing to receive some very positive feedback about Foundations, including an email from Keith W, who has been working in the electrical trades business for 45 years. When he began in the 1960’s, Keith says it was a lot harder to get up-to-date information from the regulator. Thankfully says Keith, we’ve moved on from those days and we can keep in touch with the press of a button.

If you have any questions or comments about this issue of Foundations, contact us at
foundations@oft.commerce.nsw.gov.au

Amendments to the Building Code of Australia

The Building Code of Australia is amended annually, with changes coming into effect on 1 May each year.

To find out about the 2008 changes read the
BCA Planning Circular on the Department of Planning website.

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Lead paint creates hazards

For several years now, the Master Painters Association has dealt with a large number of cases where contractors have not effectively managed the risks associated with exposing people to lead contaminants. And it’s not just painting and decorating contractors who have been involved. The issue has led to some serious problems for both building contractors and home owners.

Lead paint contamination levels at a site are often increased by various tradespeople through their lack of knowledge.

The Master Painters Association regularly hears of examples of contractors on a site who, for example, have been chasing a cable or putting in a pipe and have disturbed the substrate and created lead contaminated dust that then settles throughout the property. The problems that follow can be complex and costly.

A recent case of a property on the Central Coast of NSW saw a clean up bill of some $80,000 after a contractor, unaware of his obligations when dealing with lead paint, took an angle grinder to the side of a weatherboard home with disastrous results. The owners were forced to move into hotel accommodation for around 6 weeks whilst the property was correctly cleaned and returned to a safe environment to live in. A similar case involved the painting of a three bedroom home and ended up with remediation work of over $250,000. These examples and other similar cases show the need for further education as a matter of urgency.

The Master Painters Association regularly runs courses on Lead Paint Hazard Management to teach contractors and supervisors how to test for the presence of lead, how to deal with lead paint, how to work safely and follow their obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

For further information on Lead Management Training, please contact the Master Painters Association on 9758 8877 or by email at
info@masterpainters.com.au

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Workcover electrical compliance campaign

The visits will be focusing on low-rise residential and small to medium commercial construction sites and aim to raise awareness of the:
  • Revised Code of Practice ‘Electrical Practices for Construction Work 2007’
  • Code of Practice ‘Working Near Overhead Power Lines 2006’
  • 'WorkCover guide ‘Working Near Underground Assets 2007’
While the visits are advisory, Inspectors will take appropriate action if there are serious safety breaches and/or a lack of compliance with Occupational Health and Safety and Workers Compensation legislation.

To find out more about these issues or how to improve safety at your workplace, visit the
WorkCover website or call 13 10 50.

You can also book a “Managing Safety Workshop” – these are free half day seminars run for small businesses and tailored to your industry

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Sparkies under the spotlight

Electrical contractors face harsh fines if they have completed work that has not been tested and certified as per the 2007 requirements. For more information, go to the
media release about this campaign on the Fair Trading website.

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Progress on re-write of the Home Building Act

The latest news is that Fair Trading has held consultation meetings with a range of stakeholders including industry, consumer groups, insurers and relevant Government agencies.

The aim of these consultations was to gather input on the issues that will need to be addressed as part of the re-write of the Act. Analysis of these issues is now underway and a draft exposure bill will be prepared and released for public consultation in the second half of 2008.

If you would like to be kept informed about the timing of the consultation and how you can have your say on these important reforms go to the Register to have your say page on the Fair Trading website.

At this stage we expect that changes to the law will be considered by Parliament in 2009.

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Collapse of Beechwood Homes

Fair Trading’s Home Building Service took immediate action and began work with the Voluntary Administrator (Armstrong Wily), and the Receiver/Manager (Deloitte Corporate Reorganisation Group), to determine the best ways to assist consumers caught up in the collapse.

The Receiver’s first steps included identifying the homes that were close to completion and making arrangements for short-term work to recommence as swiftly as possible. They are now in the process of negotiating with companies interested in buying some or all of Beechwood’s assets.

In all there are approximately 360 consumers who have homes under construction and over 500 others who have paid for pre-contract work. Consumers who have signed a building contract should be covered by insurance issued by Vero and have been advised to immediately lodge a claim. Consumers can contact Vero directly on 1800 554 255 or go to
Vero’s website for further information and claim forms.

NSW has an effective consumer protection framework which delivers protection for consumers who are faced with the collapse of their builder. For consumers who entered into contracts after 1 March 2007, a maximum insurance claim of $300,000 can be made. For consumers who signed before that date a claim of $200,000 is available. These amounts will help consumers to complete their homes, rectify any defective work, or recover their deposit paid at the time of signing a building contract with Beechwood.

Fair Trading is also providing information and assistance to help guide consumers through this difficult time. An email subscription service has been set up to provide up-to-date information to anyone interested in this issue. To subscribe, go to the Beechwood email subscription page on the Fair Trading website.

The Home Building Service continues to work closely with Deloitte and Vero on behalf of customers in order to get the best possible outcome. For more information, go to the Beechwood Homes page on the Fair Trading website

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Home Building Investigators uncover illegal activities

Our recent investigative operations included a focus on compliance with home warranty insurance provisions, electrical consumer safety and owner-builder requirements. Yet again we can report that various penalty notices were issued and other actions taken as a result of these investigations.

Operation Jig Saw, in the Hunter region in February focused on whether contractors were following the home warranty insurance provisions of the Home Building Act and their obligations under the Electrical (Consumer Safety) Act. Home Building Investigators visited 284 sites in the Cessnock, Maitland and Port Stephens areas and spoke to 462 people resulting in the issue of 28 penalty notices (with a value of $22,500) for various offences. With only two of these for home warranty insurance breaches, it seems there is quite a high level of compliance with home warranty insurance in the region.

Operation White Ladder, took place in May in the Penrith, Camden, Liverpool, Blacktown and Campbelltown council areas and targeted compliance with the Home Building Act as well as the Electrical Consumer Safety Act. Investigators visited 434 sites and spoke to 644 people resulting in the issue of 29 penalty notices (with a value of $19,750) for various offences.

Owner builder practices also targeted

Operation Hardhat in March/April, was organised as a joint operation by the Home Building Service and WorkCover, targeting owner builder compliance across the Sydney metropolitan area under the Home Building Act, the Electricity (Consumer Safety) Act, the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Workers Compensation Act. Investigators visited 208 sites and spoke to 340 contractors and/or owner builders, resulting in the issue of 32 penalty notices for breaches of the Home Building Act, two penalty notices for unsafe work sites and 106 notices relating to safety and workers compensation issues. Officers also spent time with many people they visited, educating them about home building and WorkCover issues, making this a really useful operation.

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Enforcement action

A 12 month prison sentence was recently handed to Mr David Harper when he was convicted of a series of offences relating to unlicensed building work and obtaining money under false pretences.

Other recent prosecutions include Mr Benjamin Akari, an unlicensed builder, who was sentenced in March 2008 to 14 months imprisonment and ordered to pay more than $9,000 for a string of serious offences under the Home Building Act and the Crimes Act. The offences included unlicensed building work and forging home warranty insurance certificates.

Enforcement action is important – it protects consumers against shonky traders and also enhances the reputation of the industry.

For more information, including the January - March 2008 Enforcement Report, go to the
Compliance and Enforcement page on the Fair Trading website.

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Delivering information to you

The information sessions have generally drawn large crowds. Feedback from builders, tradespeople, industry groups and the community has been positive and some important issues have been raised.

A number of seminar participants had questions about home warranty insurance (HWI) particularly in relation to building contractors’ obligations to consumers. Inspectors explained the need to provide owner builders with HWI where the value of work exceeds $12,000.

Audiences were also keen to find out about Fair Trading’s compliance activities, especially the types of penalties that are issued and the most common infringements. These include unlicensed building work, use of non-compliant contracts, excessive deposits and not providing HWI certificates for contracts over $12,000.

Feedback at the end of the presentations shows that audiences had a better understanding of the role of the Building Inspectors and the work done by the Home Building Service in both mediation and compliance. People were pleased to find out that Inspectors had relevant practical industry, tertiary and contractual experience and were able to relate to both parties in dispute.

For details on seminars coming up, go to the
Free home building seminars page on the Fair Trading website.

If you can't make it to one of these seminars but would like to be able to access the content, please take a moment to do our quick survey.

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Drummy floor tiles update

To recap, following the questions over drummy tiles, the Home Building Service consulted with specialists and found that there was a possible issue with adhesives. Since then, the tiling industry has been consulting with adhesives manufacturers and builders in an effort to find a long-term solution to a possible generic adhesion problem and its likely causes.

In June the Home Building Service convened a meeting with industry stakeholders and manufactures to further discuss the causes of the problems. The meeting was attended by representatives of various adhesive/primer manufacturers and key industry stakeholders as well as the Department of Planning and the Office of Fair Trading.

The meeting confirmed that based on industry knowledge, some failures occasionally occur where tiles lose their bond to the concrete slab. It appears that a lack of movement joints, the use of incorrect adhesive (or incorrectly mixed adhesive) and poor preparation contribute to the failures. Consumers need to be aware that movement joints are essential to allow the slab and tiles to move freely in changing weather conditions.

There was also concern that some tilers are not being informed about how a slab has been finished, which can impact on the choice of adhesive and/or primers, and the specific preparation that is required, especially where a curing agent has been applied to the slab.

A sub-committee has been set up from the groups attending the meeting to develop practice notes for circulation to the industry and consumers. It is hoped that these new measures will help prevent future problems.

We will keep you posted through future editions of Foundations on the progress of this work.

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Enhancements to the Home Warranty Insurance Scheme

These changes mean good news for homeowners who will be able to have any defective building work quickly rectified, thereby avoiding long delays in the completion of their new home.

Proposed amendments which are expected to take effect later in 2008 will mean that:
  • consumers can lodge a claim if their builder fails to comply with a monetary order of the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal
  • insurers will be able to pursue builders to recover any money paid out as part of the claim
  • builders who fail to comply with a monetary order of the Tribunal may have to face disciplinary action and could possibly have their licence suspended.
Other improvements that came into effect last year are:
  • an increase in the minimum cover provided by insurers under the home warranty insurance scheme from $200,000 to $300,000 (from March 2007)
  • establishment of an agreed protocol with insurers in which a letter from Fair Trading is considered evidence of a homeowner’s belief, (following extensive search and inquiry efforts) that a builder has disappeared (October 2007). This protocol means that while insurers may undertake their own search for the builder, the homeowner will not be asked to provide any additional documentation. This will reduce the time it takes to have a claim accepted.
  • Quarterly publication of information on the Fair Trading website about the scheme’s operation based on data provided by insurers. (March 2007)
These improvements will increase the effectiveness of the Home Warranty Insurance Scheme and its ability to deliver a quality product to the people of NSW.

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New Energy and Utilities Unit

The role of the Energy and Utilities unit is to certify electrical equipment that has been specified as needing to meet specific safety requirements under the Electricity (Consumer Safety) Act before they can be sold to the public. There are 56 categories of equipment that are ‘declared’ articles and electrical goods that fall under these categories must be issued with a certificate of compliance following examination by the Unit. In addition, the Unit also examines the safe operation of gas appliances. Fair Trading is responsible for issuing approximately 55% of all certificates in Australia.

The Unit also has an Investigations Team which conducts investigations in retail outlets to make sure that electrical articles are not being sold in contravention of the Act.

The unit is also responsible for administering the Scheme for Accreditation of Service Providers to Undertake Contestable Works (Accreditation Scheme). Contestable work on the electricity distribution network, such as connecting or disconnecting installations and designing network assets must be done by suitably qualified persons. There are currently 1,207 contractors accredited to work on the transmission grid. For more information on the Scheme, go to the
Electricity Network Services page on the Fair Trading Website.

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New funding for training programs

Six organisations have recently been funded under the Home Building Grants Program to assist them run training courses, develop programs to encourage industry best practice and innovation and to provide support for the training of electro-technology apprentices. For more information go to the
media release about this funding program on the Fair Trading website.

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Sydney and Wollongong Home Shows

Over 1200 attendees at the Sydney and Wollongong Home Shows visited the Fair Trading stand to pick up a publication or have a chat to customer service and home building staff.

Visitors were keen for information about how to get building work done on their homes, the ins and outs of contracts, approvals, owner builder permits and educational courses, as well as home warranty insurance, licence checks and various technical aspects of building work.

This year the Fair Trading stands were equipped with both video and internet access, making it possible for visitors to:
  • check the status of a contractor’s licence
  • view the online licence renewal system
  • register to have a say about the proposed changes to the Home Building Act
  • subscribe to Foundations
  • view the Our Story video and see a sample of the many ways Fair Trading can assist the people of New South Wales.
Our helpful staff and informative publications and services generated very positive responses to our presence at the Home Shows.

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