Following a number of concerns that have been raised by members with the PSA since the release of the CBP operational review and operational changes to the Building Inspectors in respect of the issuing of rectification notices, the PSA filed a dispute in the Industrial Relations Commission.
The PSA dispute outlined two main issues which were:
- Ongoing consultation with PSA members, in particular, changes that have subsequently been implemented for Building Inspectors in respect of the issuing of rectification orders under the Disputes Resolution Part 3A of the Home Building Act 1989 (NSW) have been done without any consultation with the PSA, and
- To date despite requests, the PSA does not consider that meaningful consultation has occurred and at best the Department has simply shared information.
At a compulsory conference of the Industrial Relations Commission before Commissioner Webster on Monday 27 September 2021 the following outcomes were agreed to:
- In respect of concerns raised about operation changes for Building Inspectors the PSA is to provide the Department with our position on legal advice provided by the Department to Building Inspectors by 4 October 2021 with a further meeting between the parties on this matter to occur in the week starting on 11 October 2021 before a report back to the Commission on 22 October 2021.
- The Department did not agree to revert back to the previous protocols for rectification orders but as a compromise the Director would be happy to be a direct point of contact/escalation for any Building Inspector who had concerns with a rectification order under the new risk assessment matrix on a case by case basis.
In addition to the above, the PSA was also informed by the Department that it will extend the current consultation period for the Operational Review through to the 8 October 2021, the PSA welcomes the Departments decision and Members are invited to raise any issues that they have with the review directly by email to