Championing the consumer

City Futures Director Professor Bill Randolph, has written a blog discussing the recent series of revelations about the building industry and how this has propelled the government into some action.

The blog post “Those left to pick up the bill shut out of building crisis debate”, points out that:

“The lowly position of the consumer in the process was graphically exposed last week. In the list of the government ministers and industry heavyweights who attended the Building Ministers Forum, there was no one representing the most important stakeholder of all – apartment owners. Neither were strata managers nor strata solicitors at the table. It is indicative of the whole shambles that those who are left to pick up the bill and deal with the consequences are not included as part of the solution.”

Professor Randolph says that “What’s needed is a wholesale revamp of the culture of the apartment development industry that puts the needs of the consumer first, not a distant last.”

Consumers to have a champion. SCA (NSW) continues to advocate on behalf of apartment owners and residents in various ways including as sponsor of important research by the City Futures academic team.

The Defects in Strata: Research Overview, outlines a program of important data collection on defective apartment buildings in NSW. Without this it’s difficult to understand the depth of the problem to even begin to know how to address it as there are so many various issues that need to be considered.

The research is currently underway and we will continue to support it and provide updates as things progress.