National approach on building products safety

Protecting consumers and the building industry against defective and non-compliant building products were the focus of Housing and Public Works Minister Leeanne Enoch at the Building Ministers’ Forum in Melbourne today.

“I used today’s forum to push for a national approach to this issue,” Ms Enoch said.

“Queensland’s already taking action in this area. The Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) is working with other agencies to establish a framework to protect against potentially dangerous products.

“We recently formed the Queensland Building and Construction Product Committee, which aims to protect home owners and industry members from non-compliant and non-conforming products.

“The committee is currently comprised of the QBCC, the Queensland Office of Fair Trading and the Electrical Safety Office, and there’s been strong support from members of the construction industry.”

“I was pleased that there was widespread agreement from the other Minister’s today. We’ve agreed to set up a Senior Officers Working Group with officials from around the country to maintain momentum on the issue, and I’ve committed Queensland to provide the secretariat support for this important work.

“The Working Group will develop options for the best possible safeguards for building and construction industry members and the public.”

Ms Enoch said that the Building Ministers’ Forum had also agreed unanimously to retain and strengthen the Watermark certification.

“Defective products can have a big impact on unsuspecting consumers. This is an issue that many members of the industry have raised with me, so it was great to get this agreement today.”

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