Proposed WA building law reforms to enforce mandatory inspections of apartment construction projects
The State Government is planning its biggest overhaul of construction regulations in more than a decade with shoddy apartment builders targeted first. The reforms have been largely welcomed across the property sector but the construction union and apartment owners advocates say the timeline is frustrating, with the first changes to be introduced in 2026.
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00:00 Last decade, combustible cladding and cracks thrust dodgy apartments into the national
00:07 spotlight, prompting the 2018 Building Confidence Report.
00:12 Now, with 2023 drawing to a close, the WA Government has responded.
00:17 We're announcing the most significant reforms in the building regulatory area in the last
00:23 couple of decades.
00:25 Over 355 pages, WA's Better Building Report sets out a comprehensive overhaul.
00:32 Stronger powers for the building commissioner, doubled penalties for dodgy developers, and
00:37 there'll be mandatory inspections for new apartment buildings at critical construction stages.
00:43 It would have helped us because earlier on in the construction process, if the defects,
00:47 the reported defects had been noticed.
00:50 Bethany Evans bought into the Shenton Quarter development, which has stalled after defects
00:55 were found, with the project 95% complete.
00:59 The CFMEU says the government's reforms have been a long time coming, but questions their
01:05 delayed delivery.
01:07 The timeline, we will be lobbying the government to try and shorten that timeframe.
01:12 Inspections will begin for apartment buildings four storeys and above from 2026, under three
01:18 storeys from 2027, and if the system is working, residential houses will come later.
01:25 And we don't want to pass on a significant cost impost to industry and therefore to consumers
01:31 in one hit and potentially cause stops, if you like, in the industry.
01:36 The reforms and staged approach has been welcomed by industry.
01:41 If we use the adage of prevention being better than cure, that certainly does stand up.
01:45 Australian apartment advocacy is pleased there's reform, but warns against buying an apartment
01:51 off the plan until inspections begin in 2026.
01:55 Now is not a time to be buying an apartment.
01:58 Industry and government have rejected that message, saying WA hasn't seen catastrophic
02:03 defects like those on the east coast.
02:06 .
02:07 [BLANK_AUDIO]