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“A transition period for home building contracts signed before the engineered stone ban announcement was part of the position agreed at a recent meeting of State WHS Minister’s, to allow builders to finish off those contracts,” said Michael Roberts, Housing Industry Association Queensland Executive Director.
“Now, after Minister Grace Grace’s announcement over the weekend, Queensland won’t get a transition period, leaving builders and tradespeople to pick up the pieces and scramble to find solutions for homeowners who could face delays to completion, contract changes and extra costs,” Mr Roberts said.
“It’s not uncommon for home building contracts to be signed at least 12 months prior to construction commencement, and then there’s time taken to complete the build. It’s likely that confusion and supply of replacement bench top product will see new homes sitting waiting for bench top installation so that homeowners can move in. All involved will take a hit.
“The agreed transition would have allowed a period of six months after the ban takes place on 1 July 2024 for pre-existing contracts to be fulfilled. Builders in NSW and some other states will benefit from the transition, so there will also be cross-border issues and discrepancies.
“The Minister has seriously underestimated the impost this decision will put on the community and industry, and we will see this play out in the second half of the year.
“Thousands of building and sales contracts will need to be varied, and the consequence will be more cost for consumers, and significant administration time and burden for small business.
“HIA supports strong measures to manage the risks of respirable crystalline silica, but we believe that a safe and fair transition could have been achieved.
"Queensland was the last State to make it clear on the rules moving forward, but if the Minister always supported a complete ban as claimed, why did she wait until a long weekend to make the announcement when the announcement could have been made months ago?” Mr Roberts said.
“Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth are seeing residential land values grow at a rapid rate, while Sydney and Melbourne’s values remain relatively stable,” stated HIA Senior Economist Matt King.
Plumbing and drainage inspections in the Huntlee and North Rothbury areas are moving from Cessnock City Council to Building Commission NSW.
The BASIX Transition period for eligible signed building contracts will end on 30 September 2024. BASIX Certificates must be generated by this date to apply the pre-1 October 2023 BASIX standards.
“As the number of new homes under construction continues to decline builders are reporting fewer difficulties scheduling skilled trades workers on their jobs, although availability of skilled workers remains worse than prior to the pandemic,” stated Geordan Murray, HIA Executive Director – Future Workforce.