Building watchdog's powers to be bolstered in bid to clean up industry

Building watchdog's powers to be bolstered in bid to clean up industry

The building commissioner will gain strong powers to stop builders from forcing sales of off-the-plan apartments with defects to buyers.

  • byMatt O'Sullivan

Latest

Mascot Towers owners flag interest in sale of entire building

Mascot Towers owners flag interest in sale of entire building

Some owners who lost their jobs during the coronavirus lockdown face major financial difficulties.

  • byMatt O'Sullivan andLaura Chung
'Stimulus without safety net':Call for building reform bill to be put on table

'Stimulus without safety net':Call for building reform bill to be put on table

The opposition claims the government risks a repeat of the Opal and Mascot towers debacles if proposed reforms are not put back before the upper house.

  • byMatt O'Sullivan
Secret list of Melbourne's dangerous buildings shows cladding far from only problem
Exclusive
Melbourne

Secret list of Melbourne's dangerous buildings shows cladding far from only problem

A confidential list of Melbourne properties with faulty cladding indicates the buildings are riddled with other construction problems.

  • byClay Lucas
'Glacial progress':Minister under fire over flammable cladding crisis

'Glacial progress':Minister under fire over flammable cladding crisis

Cabinet is still considering how it should handle the flammable cladding crisis more than six months after recommendations from the building commissioner.

  • byMatt O'Sullivan
Firefighters'taken off trucks'to plug gaps in fire safety unit

Firefighters'taken off trucks'to plug gaps in fire safety unit

Fire and Rescue NSW is so understaffed and"overwhelmed"that it can't do fire safety audits of most new apartments or advise councils on flammable cladding.

  • byNigel Gladstone
Advertisement
Cladding crisis leaves $5m apartment block in limbo for almost a year

Cladding crisis leaves $5m apartment block in limbo for almost a year

It's considered safe by many in the industry but quagmire caused by flammable cladding crisis means Port Melbourne apartment block has sat vacant for months.

  • byClay Lucas
'Hotter and faster':owners fear replacement cladding materials will be unsafe

'Hotter and faster':owners fear replacement cladding materials will be unsafe

Sydney apartment owners have told an inquiry that they are"in a quandary over what to do"about replacing flammable cladding.

  • byMatt O'Sullivan
Britain's Grenfell tragedy expert gets in on Victoria's Building Act
Exclusive
Victoria

Britain's Grenfell tragedy expert gets in on Victoria's Building Act

Dame Judith Hackitt,the British engineer who led the inquiry into the Grenfell Tower tragedy,has been hired for a review of the state's building laws.

  • byNoel Towell
Victorian builders call for cladding amnesty as danger list grows to 1200
Exclusive
Victoria

Victorian builders call for cladding amnesty as danger list grows to 1200

State government's tough talk is scaring-off builders from reporting dangerous buildings

  • byNoel Towell
Eight things the government knows but won't tell you

Eight things the government knows but won't tell you

Surgery in the wrong place,elderly Australians assaulted in their homes,high-rise buildings wrapped in flammable cladding. All happening,all in secret.

  • byNick Bonyhady