Statement from NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler.

Locking in construction industry reform momentum in NSW while measurably restoring consumer confidence is the next passage of work to be delivered under the #CONSTRUCTNSW strategy.

There are plenty of arm chair commentators who offer opinions about their ideas of a silver bullet. Our work is driven by research not opinion. The most absurd opine is that good developers are concerned about the reforms being implemented in NSW. It is understandable that the consumer jury is still out about changes now on foot. We have more work to do.

But there is no doubt amongst good developers. They want to protect their brand from future collateral damage caused by the risky players in recent years.They do not want to go back and they want their customers back.
The diagram in this post shows where the game has shifted for both trustworthy developers and those yet to decide if they want to be part of a future multi-unit residential market in NSW.

NSW Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation, #KevinAnderson announced this week, that over 50 developers have now indicated they intend to engage Equifax, a regulated ratings agency, to obtain their #iCIRT assessment. See, https://lnkd.in/gPr9ejP

We expect that number to increase to 100 by the end of 2021 and over 150 by March 2022. Those developers will voluntarily undertake to have their Special Purpose Vehicles #SPVs rated and publish that rating on the sales material they use to secure contracts for sale to purchasers. A rating of 3 stars or more will register growing trust.

The iCIRT rating will use a composition of factors such as character, capability and capital adequacy to assess ability to deliver the scale of project being offered. iCIRT will not be a means of prejudicing smaller players who are doing a trustworthy job at their normal scale.

#FairTrading (#BRD) in NSW has also built a powerful ratings capability that will enable turning most of its attention to the unrated players. This capability has been developed over the last 12 months and is now almost 100-percent accurate in identifying the most risky developers, builders, designers and certifiers. It will soon turn to material providers and installers. The BRD tool looks at risk, using identifiers such as character, motivation and opportunity to establish a rating. This enables a far better use of the regulators resources going forward. These tools also set the scene for the trustworthy players to enjoy privileges and the riskier players to be burdened with more interventions and potentially corrections orders.

Tools like iCIRT will also help #Insurers and #Financiers to price risk more effectively and reward the better players. #Equifax is now being approached by innovative service resellers who can see the potential for more consumer facing development information to be wrapped around regulated products like iCIRT.

This article was originally published on LinkedIn by NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler. Republished with permission.