Contents Legal
NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS REGISTER
NATSPEC’s National Construction Products Register THE NATIONAL SPECIFICATION ORGANISATION HAS LAUNCHED A NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS REGISTER IN RESPONSE TO CONCERNS REGARDING NON-CONFORMING PRODUCTS IN AUSTRALIA
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s a, if not the most, important player in the building product supply chain, builders need to reduce their risks if they wish to remain viable in our turbulent industry. Recently the issue of noncompliant building cladding has claimed the scalp of a builder which was placed into voluntary administration. They are not the first and are unlikely to be the last.
they should be satisfied with its suitability.’
According to the Senior Officers’ Group of Australian Governments, ‘builders and other specialist tradespersons do the work of installing and building with products and materials. They are not the only people responsible for ensuring that conforming and complying products and materials are used, but much of the risk and responsibility falls to them because they are the ones that ultimately do the building work.
Testing laboratories and conformity assessment bodies (CABs) have advised that they have witnessed many false and doctored certifications in the marketplace. An unintended consequence of digital technology and good photocopiers. Builders now have to take appropriate preliminary steps to show that they have checked the certificates they have received for authenticity and exclusion clauses. Good construction specifications assist the builder as they will state which standards the products need to conform to.
They are also the ones most likely to have to do the work rectifying or remedying problems that arise from using products badly, or using bad products. Before a product or material is used,
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Ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of the law. The industry, as a whole, is now fully aware there are issues regarding non-conforming and non-complying building products. Builders are obligated to use products in compliance with the building regulations and the construction specification. This is both legislated and contracted.
The NATSPEC NCPR provides an economy of scale so that builders do not have to contact all
MBA NSW | Issue Five | October/November 2018
the CABs. NATSPEC was started by the MBA (with the AIA, Consult Australia, and AIQS) as a not-for-profit organisation to As a, if not the most, important player in the building product supply chain, builders need to reduce their risks if they wish to remain viable in our turbulent industry. Recently the issue of non-compliant building cladding has claimed the scalp of a builder which was placed into voluntary administration. They are not the first and are unlikely to be the last. According to the Senior Officers’ Group of Australian Governments, ‘builders and other specialist tradespersons do the work of installing and building with products and materials. They are not the only people responsible for ensuring that conforming and complying products and materials are used, but much of the risk and responsibility falls to them because they are the ones that ultimately do the building work. They are also the ones most likely to have to do the work rectifying or remedying problems that
