BDAV’s Year in Review 2017

In February, the BDAV Committee of Management met and undertook a review of 2017 including a look at who the Membership is and all the activities/services that BDAV offers.

With in excess of 1,600 Members the BDAV member base is strong. The infographic below outlines some key information about the Association you align yourself with.
What did BDAV offer you and the entire membership in 2017?

In 2017, BDAV provided over 1,400 hours of advice to Members, not including basic queries or the TPA Help Desk. We assist members with copyright issues; disputes over or non-payment of client fees; termination of agreements; use and release of CAD files; employment issues – recruitment, dismissal, wages, leave etc; problems with clients; use of various BDAV merchandise – engagement agreements, building contracts; specific technical matters e.g. planning questions; VBA registration process.

BDAV has negotiated and/or continue to offer complimentary and/or discounts for:

• Industry & Business Tools: Ecospecifier; Efficient Glazing; SpecPack; NatSpec; Engagement Agreements; Building Contracts; SAI Global BCA and Reference Standards Package; Officeworks;
• Building advice: Insurance; Planning; Debt Collection; Legal Services; Accounting Services; Electricity;
• Lifestyle options: Fleet Discount; Magazine Subscriptions; NGV membership; and other.

Members should avail themselves of these offers as not only will they save you money, they can only be maintained if they are used. Review the offers in the Members only area of the website; alternatively give the office a call.

• BDAV websites had over 415,000 views, with our Find a Designer page connecting over 4,000 customers with a building design professional.
• 11 editions of BDAV News (monthly magazine) with a total circulation of 19,865.
• 47 editions of eNews (weekly newsletter) with a total circulation of 83, 219.
• Social media: 1,758 likes on Facebook; 622 followers on Instagram (commenced July 2017)

The 2017 program saw the following deliverables:

• 68 separate events, totally 244.5 CPD points
• 8 delivery methods: AGM; Seminars; Webinars; Workshops; Regional Meetings; Metropolitan Meetings; Site Tour; International Study Tour
• 2,913 attendees: 52% extremely satisfied; 44% satisfied; 3% unsatisfied.

The Committee of Management continues with the position that CPD is a member benefit, not a revenue stream and therefore all activities are provided on a breakeven basis.

• 32 Awards appointed
• 330 dinner attendees
• Awarded Magazine achieved 15,000 page views and 8,000 hardcopy circulation via newsagencies
• 15 pieces of media exposure on the People’s Choice Awards; and an additional 44 for the Awards Winners

The advocacy work undertaken by the BDAV is your insurance policy. The BDAV Committee of Management continues to commit resources to ensure that building designers are not disadvantaged in the market place and also attempt to ensure decisions made do not have undue impact.

This advocacy comes in many forms, including serving on ongoing Committees or Working Parties formed for a specific issue, attending meetings and providing submissions/feedback whether formally or informally.

As well as continuing foster of relationships with all stakeholders involved in building, planning and sustainability arena, we provided feedback as part of 58 different issues in 2017, including but not limited to the following projects/consultation:

• Building: VBA – Code of Conduct Protocol, CPD Framework, Box Gutters, 5 year renewals; Building Regulations Review; Victorian Cladding Taskforce; Building Amendment (Enforcement & Other Measures) Bill; NCC 2016 Amendment 1 proposal; Universal Design.
• Planning: Better Apartments Design Standards; DELWP Smart Planning Program; VicSmart Amendments; Plan Melbourne Refresh; Residential Zones Reforms; Reforms to facilitate public housing, community care application and improving rules for room houses; Public Housing Inquiry and position statement; Council Fees; Victorian Fire Management Strategy; and BESS.
• Education: Advanced Diploma of Building Design (Architectural) reaccreditation; VET Student Loan review.
• Other: Construction Supplier Register; Intellectual Property Review; Domestic Building Design Resolution Victoria; Federal Review of Australia’s Security of Payment laws; Worksafe OHS regulation changes; Victorian Residential Efficiency Scorecard; Your Home Strategic Review
• TPA issues:
  – Verification method using a reference building and appropriate changes to NCC 2019.
• NatHERS Reviews
  – Qualifications; Universal Certificate; Software Protocol; NatHERS engagement
  – Industry Workshop; NatHERS Technical Advisory Committee; Stakeholder Reference Group; AAO Meetings; Artibus Review of Sustainability Qualification.

In 2017 the BDAV also had representation on the Building Advisory Council; Victorian Building Authority Stakeholder Reference Group (Building); Better Apartments Ministerial Advisory Committee; DELWP Smart Planning Advisory Group; Residential Zones Industry Working Group; Victorian Skills Commissioner Business Industry Advisory Group; Victorian Advanced Building Studies Network; Advanced Diploma of Building Design (Architectural) Project Steering Committee.

All of the above was delivered by a team of amazing volunteer Members and the four BDAV staff at East Melbourne.

Thank you to the following Members who contributed feedback to one or more of the above –

Tim Adams; John Armsby; Greg Blanch; Antonio Calabro; David Cooke; Alex Cornall; Mark Ennio; Matthew Graham; Ashleigh Gray; Fiona Gregory; Geoff Hoare; Andrew Hooper; Li Huan; Tony Isaacs; Danielle King; Matthew Mallia; Mike Mettes; Jon Morgan; Allen Roberts; Mike Sargeant; Adam Selvay; Garry Sharp; Stuart Swann; Ashley Thompson; Mile Trpkovski; Elizabeth Wheeler; Jim Woolcock; Christina Zigouras; and the members of the Committee of Management. Thanks also to the 172 Members (space constraints do not enable me to name you all) who provided feedback to BDAV on various planning issues throughout the year.

We look forward to delivering all of the above and some new initiatives in 2018.