
Building Commission NSW using old parking infringement notice books to fine builders and developers
Officers are required to cross out the words 'Department of Motor Transport' and write 'Building Commission NSW' on the notices, with duplicate copies made using carbon paper. In 2024-25, the commission issued 202 infringement notices.
As the Minns government seeks to accelerate construction times to meet its pledge to build 377,000 new homes by 2029 under the National Housing Accord, the organisation responsible for enforcing building standards is scrambling to equip itself with the necessary data and systems.
'That is correct,' Sherrard said when asked about the commission using old carbon paper ticket books.
'We are very close to turning those into a digital platform – it should be in place before the end of this calendar year – but for now, yes, people really understand what CC stands for, as in carbon copy.'
The ABC reported in April that the building commission did not have access to police databases, so it could not conduct criminal checks on tradies before issuing building licences.
There are concerns that the agency, established in late 2023, is struggling to create a cohesive investigative culture with modern data collection due to a lack of digital platforms.
Tim James, the opposition's fair trading spokesperson, said the building commission needed a modern system to efficiently issue and track fines.
'Dodgy builders move fast, yet the building commission is stuck scribbling fines on carbon paper,' he said. 'Enforcement is only as strong as the tools behind it and right now those tools are outdated.'
Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email
The NSW government announced in the 2025-26 state budget that it had allocated $145m over four years to fund the organisation charged with policing shoddy builders.
This was the first time the commission had been given permanent funding, which would be supplemented with revenue from fines.
Sherrard said the funding would allow the agency to do its job, provided the government did not dramatically increase its scope – or the number of projects it oversaw.
It had taken time to compile a team from disparate parts of the public service and to build its capabilities, Sherrard said.
'Our analytics team is improving daily and we are getting better quality information. So when we look at our complaints now, we can see what percentage of those relate to apartments and what [percentage] relates to dwellings,' he said.
The inaugural building commissioner, David Chandler, was appointed in 2019 after cracks appeared in Opal Tower at Olympic Park and at the Toplace development in Mascot.
Since then, the government has expanded the commission's remit beyond allegedly shoddy apartments to all residential buildings, including houses and renovations.
Sign up to Breaking News Australia
Get the most important news as it breaks
after newsletter promotion
Sherrard said class 1 buildings – residential houses – make up 'the overwhelming majority' of the building commission's work.
He said problems often arose with unlicensed builders and builders who failed to provide written contracts as required.
The Minns government's push to speed up the planning process in NSW includes streamlined approvals for compliant developments and fast-tracking state significant developments.
Sherrard said he believed standards were improving despite pressure to build homes more quickly.
He said the commission had moved from being reactive, when responding to complaints about faulty buildings, to a more predictive model.
The commission now examines development plans lodged with councils and the planning department and maintains a list of high-risk developers whose work needs more rigorous review.
'I'm very cognisant of how much noise I make about individuals because it's a very, very small element within the industry, but me making a noise about it in media or social media does a tremendous amount of damage to consumer confidence,' Sherrard said.
'It's very difficult to find people willing to buy off the plan at this point in time. So … we're paying particular attention to those individuals who we are aware of and are bad players, and we are running through effective prosecutions, and we're trying to shift them out of this industry.
'It's about balancing consumer confidence and awareness at the same time.'
The commissioner said the main way people could protect themselves against shoddy developers was to search their builder or tradesperson on the commission's website to see if they had any building offences.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mail
a minute ago
- Daily Mail
Death of schoolboy, 10, who fell 20ft down a manhole near a playpark 'could have been avoided'
The death of a young boy who fell down an open manhole at a construction site could have been avoided, a sheriff has determined. Shea Ryan, 10, was able to bypass insecure fencing at the site situated 60 metres from a children's play park in Glasgow 's Drumchapel on July 16 2020. Shea sat on the open manhole which had a drop of 6.3 metres to the ground. He was overheard saying that he wanted to 'go down.' Shea unfortunately slipped from a ladder at the entrance of the manhole to the water below. He was later found cold to the touch with severe head injuries and was not breathing. Contractors RJ McLeod were fined £860,000 in April 2023 after they pleaded guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to failing to implement safety measures. A fatal accident inquiry into Shea's death took place at the same court before Sheriff Stuart Reid. The sheriff determined that there were five reasonable precautions which could have been taken which realistically could have prevented Shea's death. The probe heard that company Amey Black & Veatch who were working at the site removed a bag of material from the manhole shortly before they transferred the site over to RJ McLeod. Sheriff Reid stated that poor co-operation between Amey Black and Veatch and RJ McLeod contributed to the death. This included communication about the general risks associated with the construction site. Another contributory reason of death was stated to be the failure of RJ McLeod to take measures to prevent unauthorised access to the manhole. The sheriff suggested a metal lid or a heavy object could have been used as well as fully enclosed fencing around the manhole. A further stated reason of death was RJ McLeod's failure to assess the risk of unauthorised people such as children gaining access to the site. There was a lack of inspection and maintenance of the parameter fencing to prevent unauthorised access to the site. Furthermore, there was failure to inspect the manhole at the end of the working day to see if it was fully closed with no access for children. Another cause of death was stated to be Shea climbing into the manhole and his intention of climbing down the ladder. The sheriff claimed another cause was the removal of the heavy bag of material from the manhole before the transfer to RJ McLeod. Sheriff Reid further stated that a contributory factor were defects in the system of work. The probe was told that there was no system for RJ McLeod employees to record, monitor, document or report incidents of damage to the construction site and its parameter fencing. The sheriff further cited the site's proximity to a children's play park to the construction site as another relevant factor. Furthermore, the Covid-19 lockdown which resulted in school closures also contributed. Sheriff Reid made eight recommendations at his determination. The sheriff asked for a review of The Health and Safety Executive's published guidance on construction to promote the objective of protecting children from risks at construction sites. Sheriff Reid also asked for incidents of parameter breaches to be recorded and action taken to prevent it happening again. Another recommendation is for manholes to be covered by a heavy object to prevent them from being accessed out with operational hours. The sheriff further asked there to be a duty of co-operation between contractors working on construction sites. Further to this, it was recommended that information be shared between contractors which includes unauthorised access to sites, vandalism as well as disorderly conduct by members of the public towards workers. The sheriff also recommended that information should be shared between contractors in terms of risks of injury or death and measures taken to control it. Another recommendation was for contractors to highlight the risks in terms of children's play parks. This includes risks of damage to fencing near the play parks as well as the unauthorised access from children to the sites. The sheriff has stated that contractors should consider taking enhanced precautionary measures due to the increased risks. Sheriff Reid lastly recommended that Glasgow City Council and other local authorities should review their procedures when it comes to play parks located near a construction site. This includes a risk assessment to see if there are any dangers of having a play park in the vicinity of a construction site. The council have been asked to determine if the risks can be controlled and if the park should remain open during the period of construction. This also includes temporarily dismantling or relocating a play park. Sheriff Reid said: 'I wish to acknowledge the particular courage and kindness of Mr Graeme Paterson, Mr Jamie Adams, and Constables Bryan Courtney, Holly McConnachie and Nigel McDonald, who, being among the first adults at the scene of the accident, tried so valiantly to save Shea's life. 'Lastly, may I express my sincere condolences to Shea's mother, Joanne Ferguson, and to his step-father and family, for their loss. 'Some small solace may perhaps be drawn from the outcome of this Inquiry, and the protections from which other children may hopefully benefit.'


Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Australian politician refuses to stand down despite being jailed for rape
An Australian politician has refused to stand down despite being jailed for rape, sparking an urgent court battle to expel the sex offender from a state parliament. Gareth Ward, a New South Wales state politician, was found guilty last month of sexually abusing two young men, aged 18 and 24, between 2013 and 2015. The 44-year-old former Liberal Party member has refused to stand down from state parliament, despite sitting in prison while awaiting sentencing for his crimes. Chris Minns, the state premier, said Ward had 'no shame', pledging to move a motion that would expel him from parliament, saying it's the 'first and most obvious choice'. 'Unconscionable situation' Mr Minns said: 'It's an unconscionable situation to have someone who's currently sitting in jail in Silverwater, convicted of serious sexual offences, who is demanding to remain a member of parliament and continue to be paid.' But Ward has so far stymied these efforts, obtaining a temporary injunction late on Monday that prevented the Labour government from removing him. Mark Speakman, the opposition leader, joined calls for Ward to step aside. The leader of the NSW Liberals, which Ward was formerly a part of, said: 'Every day he clings to his seat from a jail cell, taxpayers are footing the bill and the people of Kiama are left voiceless. It's not just wrong, it's offensive.' Ron Hoenig, the leader of the House, said the government would seek an urgent hearing this week to have the injunction lifted. He told reporters: 'The issue is, as you would appreciate, of considerable significance. 'The House needs to be able to make its judgment to protect itself. And we will be seeking a review of the judge's decision.' Ward said he planned to appeal his convictions, and should remain in parliament until this appeal is heard. He is due to be sentenced next month, for three counts of indecent assault and one count of rape.


BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Death of Shéa Ryan who fell down manhole was avoidable
The death of a 10-year-old boy who fell down an open manhole at a construction site could have been avoided, a sheriff has Ryan died on 16 July 2020 when he climbed through an unsecured fence on a building site in Drumchapel, Glasgow, and fell 20ft (6.1 metres) down a manhole company RJ McLeod was fined £860,000 in April 2023 for failing to secure the site, where work had also been done by Amey Black & Stuart Reid headed up a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) which found that there were five reasonable precautions that could have been taken by the two companies to prevent Shéa's death. Unlike a criminal trial, an FAI seeks to establish the facts surrounding the death and does not look to place blame. The inquiry heard that Shéa entered the construction site with his friends and told them he wanted to climb down a he slipped from a ladder at the manhole entrance to the water below, and was later found unconscious with severe head Black & Veatch had transferred the site over to RJ McLeod two weeks before the Reid said that poor cooperation and communication between the two companies contributed to the contributing factor was that Amey Black & Veatch had removed a heavy bag of material from the manhole shortly before they left the sheriff also said that RJ McLeod failed to prevent unauthorised access to the manhole and failed to assess the risk of unauthorised people accessing the was also a lack of inspection and maintenance of the parameter fencing, and a failure to inspect the manhole at the end of the working day to make sure it was closed. 'Catastrophic loss' The sheriff made eight recommendations - seven of which were for the Health and Safety Executive to review existing procedures and to consider revising included a review of guidance to protect children, record incidents of perimeter breaches and prevent unauthorised access to incomplete recommended better cooperation and information sharing between principal contractors on incidents of unauthorised access and vandalism on building site was 197ft (60m) from a children's playpark, which was considered a contributing factor in the sheriff recommended that Glasgow City Council and other local authorities should review their procedures when play parks are located near a construction fiscal Andy Shanks, who leads on fatalities investigations for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said the inquiry was launched after the circumstances of Shéa's death caused "significant public concern".He said: "Shéa Ryan's tragic death has been a catastrophic loss for his family. "They have my deepest sympathy as they continue to deal with the pain they have suffered."Digby Brown, the solicitors who represented Shéa's family, welcomed the recommendations but said the determination showed his death was an "avoidable tragedy".