Building compliance is integral to constructing safe and legally sound structures, helping the construction industry ensure safety, protect the environment, and establish a reputation for quality.
Along with legal action and financial risks, non-compliant buildings can result in dangerous structural defects that pose serious health and safety risks. This can include unstable foundations leading to cracks or collapse, leaks that lead to dampness and mould issues, using materials that do not meet the specifications for their purpose, and fire damage from using materials that do not meet noncombustibility requirements.
Regulatory agencies have the authority to levy substantial fines, halt projects, or even pursue criminal charges for serious compliance violations, while it can also erode client trust and hinder a company’s business growth and profitability. Good practice building compliance begins with comprehensive planning that incorporates compliance considerations into architectural designs and project blueprints.
Key compliance milestones are identified once construction starts to ensure each stage of the development meets regulatory standards, with crucial elements including structural integrity, fire safety, accessibility, and energy efficiency.
Contractors, architects, and designers all need to stay updated with the latest industry standards, including fire safety, accessibility, electrical, plumbing, and structural requirements, and they work closely together during construction to verify the implemented solutions meet the necessary regulations.
The dynamic nature of regulations as well as their complexity can be a challenge for construction professionals, while conflicting standards may require further decision-making or design compromises. To ensure compliance, construction companies should develop and implement an effective compliance program that includes well-defined policies and procedures tailored to the relevant jurisdiction.
Furthermore, companies should provide regular training for staff, appoint a qualified compliance officer to oversee adherence, and conduct thorough documentation, recordkeeping, and periodic internal audits to identify and rectify potential compliance gaps.
Technology is playing a significant role in enhancing compliance practices, with processes like permit tracking, safety inspections, and document management automated through software solutions to reduce human error and administrative costs. Building information modelling (BIM) has for some time enabled the visualisation of compliance requirements for construction stakeholders, while mobile apps and cloud-based platforms now allow real-time data sharing and communication.
Holistic mindset key to effective collaboration
Collaboration between stakeholders is essential for the successful delivery of a project, but it may also increase project risk without effective mitigation. “While it is common for parties to work on and be individually responsible for varying aspects or components of construction, the integration of these aspects or components with others is required to be finalised prior to occupation.”
Engineers Australia said that although design engineers and building certifiers may report to the same client, there was no guarantee findings for the same client would be effectively exchanged between the engineer and the certifier. The organisation said: “Even if design engineers and building certifiers are engaged to do construction-stage inspections, their post-inspection reports may not be shared between the two parties.
“Engineers Australia encourages collaboration opportunities to be sought in these reporting processes. “This reduces the risk to the public interest and complications that may arise due to contractual arrangements of these parties.” Engineers Australia also pointed to ambiguity around scope and accountability during mandatory inspections as a potential risk during the construction phase, as well as systems testing and integration.
It said: “While it is common for parties to work on and be individually responsible for varying aspects or components of construction, the integration of these aspects or components with others is required to be finalised prior to occupation.
“The responsibility to test the integration of each individual system, produced by numerous subcontractors, is often illdefined in contracts.” To better collaborate, Engineers Australia recommended design engineers and building certifiers be encouraged to approach projects with a holistic mindset, with a focus on understanding how their decisions could impact on the other’s work.
Apartment building compliance in focus
In Victoria, the City of Melbourne has warned there are insufficient building surveyors to meet even the existing workload, potentially increasing risks to quality, safety and costs. Dr Paulo Vaz-Serra, Senior Lecturer in Construction Management at the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, noted building surveyorswere crucial to the construction process and ensured compliance with regulations.
He said: “The Victorian Building Authority’s system currently assigns primary responsibility to tradespeople, empowering them to make decisions that often diverge from original plans. “Architects and engineers are not required to be onsite and are seen as an unnecessary cost, but this leaves initial design quality control in the hands of less qualified people. “This leads to situations where tradespeople alter complex design systems, including drainage in hydraulic engineering systems, based purely on their practical experience.
“This can result in problems like leaks due to non-designed penetrations in external walls, but also aesthetically undesirable and quality-compromising outcomes, like pipes in front of façades and windows.”
Dr Vaz-Serra, along with his colleagues Steven Richardson and Dr Andrew Martel, made a submission to the Victorian government’s Inquiry into Apartment Design Standards, for which a report was tabled in Victoria’s parliament in 2022 and the government’s final response tabled in March.
Their submission proposed a solution – based on practices in other countries – of enhancing the minimum competencies of builders before they are granted licences.
Dr Vaz-Serra explained: “The responsibility for compliance with design when delivering construction must be on architects and engineers who have the qualifications and competences to sign off final works.
“This will allow a proper balance between the business owners of the company, who are focused on costs and time, and the designers, who focus on quality and the protection of users, as well as public safety during construction.
“This transition would address the current situation where a main contractor, often referred to as a ‘project manager’, delivers the project but possesses minimal responsibility and technical qualifications.”
The final Victorian government response outlined its key priorities around apartment design, including improving apartment amenity and functionality, embedding sustainability, contributing to neighbourhood liveability, ensuring design excellence, and monitoring outcomes.
