Page 16 - Climate Control News magazine April 2023

Residential Air Conditioning
New NCC code accompanies drop in building approvals
THE NEW ENERGY efficiency requirements under the National Construction Code (NCC) will come into effect from May, 2023.
It means new residential dwellings must achieve a higher level of performance on the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS).
From next month homes built in Australia will now be required to achieve the equivalent of seven stars. The new rating recognises the key to achieving an energy-efficient home is a well- insulated building envelope.
In addition, there is a new whole-of-home maximum allowable energy use for new homes. The standard is being introduced at a time when Australia’s housing market has hit new lows. Figures for new home building approvals from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) have dropped to their lowest level in more than
a decade.
Master Builders Australia CEO, Denita
Wawn, said rising interest rates are hitting hard. The ABS’s January building approvals figures show that new home building approvals dropped by 27.6 per cent, down 8.4 per cent from
a year earlier.
Detached house approvals have seen a sub-
stantial reduction and they are now about 12 per cent lower than a year ago.
Wawn said detached house approval volumes have fallen well below pre-Covid levels.
She said the figures suggest the increasing pace of a slowdown is a direct consequence of the sharp hike in interest rates and inflation over the past year.
“Insufficient supply of titled residential land, high developer charges and inflexible planning laws are preventing new home building projects from getting off the starting blocks,” she said.
“Builders are seeing evidence of declining sales, and we anticipate this slowdown will con- tinue over the course of 2023.
“The pain of higher interest rates and high inflation is real and if we do not get it under control we could be in for a lengthy period of pain and depressed construction activity.”
The tough climate has renewed calls for national security of payment reform laws that protect workers, subcontractors and small busi- ness when a major building company is on the brink of collapse.
The Construction, Forestry, Maritime,
Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) said the Labor government has to act on its election promise to introduce these laws.
Incoming CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith said too many subcontractors and workers simply don't get paid when companies collapse.
"It is unacceptable people are not getting paid for their hard work. Subbies and workers being ripped off when businesses are liquidated is one of the biggest problems in our industry,” he said.
"We need an effective national security of payments regime that stops workers being ripped off.
"What's the point of a body like the Fair Work Ombudsman if it doesn't recover money owed to workers and subcontractors when construction companies go under?"
LEFT: Homes built in Australia will now be required to achieve the equivalent of seven stars.
FIRST PROSECUTION UNDER BUILDINGS ACT
SSC Group Holdings is the first developer in NSW to be prosecuted under the state’s Residential Apartment Buildings Act.
Executive director at Fair Trading NSW Matt Press said SSC Group Holdings was convicted and fined $11,000 in the Sutherland Local Court for failing to give an expected completion notice to NSW Fair Trading in an acceptable amount of time.
“Expected completion notices are designed to give NSW Fair Trading a heads up when an apartment is near completion and ready for people to move into,” Press said.
“The notice must be submitted six to 12 months before the development is finished so it can be checked for serious defects and repairs carried out before the building is occupied.
“SSC Group Holdings did not stick to the required timeframes and have been prosecuted.”
SSC Group Holdings has the right to appeal.
“The RAB Act was introduced in 2020 to stop apartments with serious defects being sold and occupied and gives NSW Fair Trading powers to order repairs and keep people out until the faults are fixed,” he said.
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