Building consultants for residential building work

HIA’s Position statement

1. HIA supports the licensing or registration of building consultant.
2. A building consultant is a person engaged directly by a client, or through an agent acting on behalf of a client to review building work completed.
3. A building consultant provides the services of a building, pre-purchase and/or handover inspection including:
• carrying out residential building inspections,
• preparing inspection, pre-completion, defect or similar reports, and
• providing advice on remedial/rectification work/costs.
4. A building consultant should:
• have experience appropriate to the type of work they are inspecting,
• hold qualifications and competency appropriate to the type of work they are inspecting,
• hold appropriate PI insurance,
• be able to be held accountable for the observations, conclusions and recommendations outlined in their reports,
• be required to maintain knowledge of current building codes and standards, and
• comply with all regulatory safety standards.



Inspection reports

5. When defects are identified by a building consultant during an inspection on behalf of a consumer they must be substantiated by reference to supporting documentation and evidence.
6. Supporting documentation and evidence includes, but is not limited to, details on the relevant requirements from:
• The National Construction Code and referenced Australian Standards.
• Manufacturer’s instructions or specifications.
• Government or industry guides to standards and tolerances.



Background

• Building consultants are now common place in the residential building industry, providing a range of services to purchasers of new and established homes, and contracting directly with consumers.
• While building consultants provide pre-purchase property inspection reports for existing homes, a large portion of their work relates to the provision of pre-purchase inspections and reports for partly constructed or recently completed homes.
• Building consultants are regularly engaged by clients during the building process, to act as the client’s representative in inspecting stage completions, to provide a defects/inspection report at practical completion, and/or to prepare a report prior to the expiration of the cooling off period.
• Their influence on both the payment claim process and a client’s confidence (state of mind) can be substantial, despite many not having appropriate qualifications or experience in a relevant building, construction or engineering trade or profession.
• There is currently no requirement in any jurisdiction that a building consultant be licensed or hold any formal qualifications, meaning there is limited regulatory control in relation to quality of advice, service standards, business conduct and discipline.