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The state government has revealed it has eyes on new residential developments on the NSW North Coast.
A new statement from Better Regulation and Innovation Minister Kevin Anderson has revealed that the NSW Building Commissioner will be inspecting a number of newly constructed dwellings across lifestyle locations such as Tweed Heads, Byron Bay and Coffs Harbour.
It’s in an effort to better protect regional apartment buyers and comes as “the building and construction sector continues to flourish and grow in regional NSW”.
Mr Anderson has acknowledged that higher-density developments “are increasingly being built in regional areas as people look to relocate from the major cities for a better quality of life”.
“That is why we are inspecting these developments in Tweed Heads, Byron Bay and Coffs Harbour to ensure they are up to scratch,” he commented.
“NSW government inspectors will carry out work to detect serious defects, including problems relating to structure, waterproofing, flammable cladding, fire safety systems, building enclosures and key services to ensure consumers are protected when entering the property market.”
It has been reported that the state government will be responsible for leading the audits, with NSW Building commissioner David Chandler OAM set to attend around 20 per cent of the audits to observe where improvements can be made.
At this stage, the NSW government is targeting 10 developments per month as it looks to up its surveillance and stamps out serious defects.
“In the past year, more than 100 developments have been audited by the NSW government, and this work we are doing will ensure that developments in regional NSW are built to the highest standards in the country,” Mr Anderson said.
Weighing in on the latest announcement, Mr Chandler said it’s now a priority of the NSW government to get onsite at regional developments to conduct the compliance audits.
“Depending on findings from the inspections, developers will either be given the go ahead to continue work or we will have the option to issue a range of orders, such as Stop Work or Building Work Rectification Orders, so serious defects are addressed before unknowing consumers make the largest investment of their lives,” he highlighted.
“Our priority is to engage with industry to raise standards by mentoring developers, builders, designers and certifiers rather than just being a cop on the beat.”
Developments selected for inspection – whether metropolitan or regional – are being chosen through newly developed risk rating tools. REB has previously reported on the development of such tools here.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grace Ormsby
Grace is a journalist across Momentum property and investment brands. Grace joined Momentum Media in 2018, bringing with her a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) from the University of Newcastle. She’s passionate about delivering easy to digest information and content relevant to her key audiences and stakeholders.
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