Building Site Management
The Better Practice Building Site Management Project (the project) has been funded by the Department of Treasury and Finance to reduce the regulatory burden on the building industry resulting from inconsistency in local laws.
As councils are responsible for making local laws related to building sites, the different requirements across Victoria has created uncertainty and inconsistency for the building industry. To date, consultation in building site management has highlighted that this is a complex area, involving many entities and a multitude of local law requirements and conditions.
Why building site management?
This project seeks to address the challenges associated with building site management variations and matters raised in the Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission (VCEC) reports: Streamlining Local Government Regulation Draft Report (2010) and Housing Regulation in Victoria: Building Better Outcomes (2005). The VCEC reports identify access to local laws and inconsistency in their provisions has led to additional regulatory burden for the building industry.
Victoria’s building and construction sector is the 6th largest employer with 180,000 full-time and 32,500 part-time workers. In 2007-08 alone 105,000 building permits were issued across Victoria, totaling $20.4 billion in value. Given that the cost of administration to the Victorian building and construction sector is in the order of $404 million, of which $162 million is red tape, it is important to develop 'best practice' initiatives across the sector.
How will the project be implemented?
Local Government Victoria (LGV) has developed the LGV Building Site Discussion Paper (PDF 502 KB) or (Word 391 KB) mapping and identifying building site management local laws reform options.
The discussion paper seeks to establish the facts on the challenges highlighted above and determine effective solutions. To do this, LGV is calling on interested stakeholders to offer feedback to the discussion paper. LGV will also be actively engaging with interested parties as part of the consultation process.
Engagement and feedback will assist us to identify the appropriate options for strategic government action and reform. To discuss the project and provide feedback please contact Angelo D’Costa, Senior Project Officer at angelo.d'costa@dpcd.vic.gov.au before February 29 2012.