VBA CEO Sue Eddy provided an overview of the activities of the regulator, including:
Of direct relevance to our registered building designers, interior designers and service designers, there will be an audit of the 4,000 registered practitioners who have professional indemnity insurance policies. The audit will consist of reviewing actual policies rather than just the certificate of currency. Design Matters has spoken to VBA personnel and Webber Insurance Services about how this process could be streamlined. Members will be updated once more information is to hand.
Professor Jose Torero, Professor of Civil Engineering and Head of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering at University College London (UCL) spoke about respect, or more the lack of respect for professionals in the built environment.
He discussed professional competency as:
State Building Surveyor Andrew Callini outlined the new role, which is to build confidence in the industry; provide technical expertise; increase stakeholder engagement; support regulatory change; and improve and facilitate compliance outcomes.
He’s take away message to the conference was:
A panel had an open discussion about the draft Building Surveyor Code of Conduct which is now up for public consultation. If the code, does as some propose, it could assist with clearly defining the role of the statutory building surveyor. With such a code eventually being introduced for registered building designers, interior designers and service designers, we could also see our roles and responsibilities clearly defined.
From the proactive audits, the VBA were able to report on the non-compliance in relation to:
The VBA have also commenced a 3 yearly audit of building surveyors which focusses on documentation audits of building and occupancy permits against Act, Regulations and NCC, it includes a review of the documentation submitted to council. Preliminary findings to date:
We will seek detailed information from the VBA in regard to providing guidance to members on how their design and documentation can be improved to ensure that it is not adding to the non-compliance from the proactive and RBS audits.
The day also included:
We thank the Victorian Building Authority for hosting such an informative event and invaluable opportunity for industry to work collaboratively.