Shoddy building firms may face heftier fines

Building firms could face fines of up to $1.5 million for serious breaches of the law under proposed changes to the Building Act.

The Government is consulting on changes – the most significant since the act was introduced in 2004 – it wants to make.

‘‘These proposed reforms will deliver safer and more durable buildings, a high performing building sector, and better efficiency in our regulatory system,’’ Building and Construction Minister Jenny Salesa said.

It also delivered on the Government’s commitments under the Construction Sector Accord, she said.

The proposed changes would include requiring product manufacturers and suppliers to give publicly accessible information about their products, including the scope and limitation of use and maintenance requirements.

They would would also create an explicit responsibility on manufacturers and suppliers to ensure products were fit for purpose.

The proposals also broaden the definition of restricted building work to include more complex non-residential work and impose higher competence requirements ‘‘to increase confidence in the licensed building practitioner (LBP) scheme’’.

That would mean more people would need to become an LBP or be supervised by one.

The proposals would also increase the maximum financial penalties for breaches of the Building Act.

At the moment offenders can be fined up to $200,000 for very serious breaches of the act that can cause serious risk or death or have serious consequences – but the proposals would increase that to $300,000 for individuals and $1.5m for organisations.

‘‘Clear and robust building laws are critical to enabling the building sector to reach its full potential,’’ Salesa said.