FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK by Mark Relf AM
President of the Association of Consultants in Access Australia
ABCB NATIONAL REGISTRATION FRAMEWORK FOR BUILDING PRACTITIONERS Overview & ACAA Members Survey The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) Discussion Paper on the draft National Registration Framework for Building Practitioners (NRF) has developed a best practice model for adoption by state and territory governments that includes a wide range of professions that are involved in design, construction, compliance and coordination roles for the design and construction of buildings. The draft NRF includes Disability Access Designers. The Discussion Paper is the first step in the process of developing a suitable model framework for parallel adoption by state and territory governments. The draft National Registration Framework for Building Practitioners (NRF) has been developed in response to recommendations 1 and 2 of Building Confidence Report (BCR), authored by Sheargold & Weir which was endorsed by the Building Ministers Forum (BMF) in 2017. Initially, the BCR focussed on the standard of construction of buildings and plumbing work. However, the scope of practitioners has expanded to include Disability Access Designers and Energy Efficiency following feedback from the Subject Matter Experts group.
Recommendation 1: That each jurisdiction requires the registration of the following categories of building practitioners involved in the design, construction and maintenance of buildings: • Builder • Site or Project Manager • Building Surveyor • Building Inspector
• Architect • Engineer • Designer/Draftsperson • Plumber • Fire Safety Practitioner
Recommendation 2: That each jurisdiction prescribes consistent requirements for the registration of building practitioners including: • certificated training which includes compulsory training on the operation and use of the NCC as it applies to each category of registration; • additional competency and experience requirements; • where it is available, compulsory insurance in the form of professional indemnity and/or warranty insurance together with financial viability requirements where appropriate; and • evidence of practitioner integrity, based on an assessment of fit-and-proper person requirements. The Discussion Paper covers a range of topics: • Qualifications as described within the Australian Qualification Framework • Experience of work history beyond initial attainment of a qualification • Accreditation of suitable courses • Qualified registration by categories for individual discipline and level • Endorsements for specialist training and work experience • Grandfathering – while grandfathering is outside the scope of the NRF it is envisaged that mutual recognition principles will cover this issue including Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).
June / July 2020
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