Damning report on NCC building red tape

A damning report has highlighted exactly what the Tasmanian Government and building industry have said: the National Construction Code is adding huge costs, red tape, complexity and delays to building.

Federal Treasury released the National Construction Code Modernisation Project Interim Report today.

Minister for Small Business, Trade and Consumer Affairs, Guy Barnett, said despite Federal Treasury highlighting the many failures of the national code, yet another round of changes comes into effect on May1, adding more “layers of complex regulation” and cost, as identified in the report.

“That’s exactly why our Government, backed by Tasmania’s building industry, is seeking to legislate a freeze on the national code,” Minister Barnett said.

“Shamefully, Tasmanian Labor sought to block the Bill when it was debated in the House of Assembly.

“The Willie-Winter opposition wants to add more cost, delays and red tape to Tasmania’s construction industry and those wanting to build their own home.

“Tasmania supports a national modernisation project to strip complexity, cost and red-tape from the national code but the reality is this project will take years to deliver and the results are uncertain.

“Federal Labor has acknowledged changes to the national code add cost and delays to building homes. I call on Tasmanian Labor to support cutting red tape and making homes cheaper to build by backing our legislation in the Legislative Council.”

The Federal report highlighted:

• “Housing and construction productivity is declining due to a range of factors, such as the many layers of complex regulation, and this constrains supply and makes housing less affordable for Australians”.
• “Compliance costs have increased steadily and structurally, driven by growing complexity, documentation requirements and risk management practices. While many individual requirements are defensible, their cumulative effect has become significant”.
• “The NCC is being used to pursue policy aspirations without considering non-regulatory options”.
• “Feedback indicated the NCC can be difficult to navigate, overly complex in some areas and poorly aligned with how it is used in practice, particularly on site”.
• There is strong evidence emerging that designers have become reliant on “NCC consultants” and other “experts” to ensure that their designs are compliant”.

“Our Government is delivering for Tasmania, ensuring our construction industry can continue to build the State’s future, Labor is blocking it,” Minister Barnett said.