Major building industry conferences are being cancelled, postponed or moved online following federal government advice against large gatherings.

As the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed last Friday to advise against gatherings involving 500 people or more, organisers of several major events announced plans to postpone, cancel or move events online.

These include next week’s Sydney Build event, the Transform event hosted by the Green Building Council of Australia scheduled for March 24 and 25 and The Fire Protection Association of Australia’s (FPA Australia) Fire Australia 2020.

In the case of Sydney Build, the conference will be delayed until later in the year at a date to be announced on Monday.

Transform, meanwhile, will be held as a ‘digital’ conference and will be delivered entirely online via live streaming.

Sessions will be filmed as programmed and remote speakers will be connected via videoconference where possible.

Delegates will be able to submit live questions and comments whilst content will be uploaded and made available after the event.

Finally, Fire Australia 2020 has been cancelled altogether.

The moves add to a previously announced delay of the Design Build conference and expo, which has been pushed back from April 21-23 and will now be held on October 27-29.

Sourceable understands that other industry breakfasts and lunches are in doubt.

In a statement, Sydney Build expressed disappointment but said the postponement was necessary for safety reasons.

“In the interest of public health and the developing situation regarding COVID-19 virus, we have unfortunately had to make the difficult decision to postpone Sydney Build Expo & CIVENEX,” a statement on the conference web site read.

“Over recent weeks we have been working tirelessly with ICC Sydney, the Australian Government Department of Health and relevant bodies to plan for a successful and safe event.

“We were until recently confident that we could achieve this and were working off external advice and government feedback.

“However, in the last 24 hours the situation in Australia has deteriorated rapidly and we feel that the only course of action at present is to postpone the event.”

FPA Australia likewise expressed disappointment.

“After careful consideration of the concerns around the COVID-19 virus, Fire Protection Association Australia (FPA Australia) has made the difficult decision to cancel the Fire Australia Conference and Tradeshow 2020, scheduled for 6-8 May at ICC Sydney,” FPA Australia declared in a statement.

“The Association’s primary consideration is the health and safety of everyone in our industry. We also want to ensure delegates, speakers, exhibitors and sponsors have a positive and valuable experience at Fire Australia. With the growing concerns about the dangers of COVID-19 and many companies now implementing staff travel bans, we couldn’t guarantee the high-quality event that we strive to bring you every year.”

“We are disappointed we are unable to hold Fire Australia 2020 because of this unprecedented global situation, but the Association feels it’s the best decision for the industry based on the information we have today.”

The moves follow last Friday’s COAG agreement to advise that non-essential gatherings of more than 500 people should be cancelled along with non-essential overseas travel.

This follow recommendations from chief medial officer Brendan Murphy along with state and territory chief medical offers that mass gatherings be avoided in order to contain the coronavirus spread.