0:00

the government giving reputable builders, plumbers, drain

0:02

layers the power to basically mark

0:04

their own homework and spec their own

0:06

work. The goal is to cut

0:08

down inspection wait times. Ankit Sharma master

0:10

builders with us this morning. Ankit,

0:12

good morning. Good morning, Matt.

0:14

Good to have you on the show. How

0:16

do you define a reputable builder plumber

0:18

drain layer? The

0:21

definition I think the

0:23

government was indicating yesterday

0:25

for self -certification as

0:27

reputed builders. who are

0:29

building at scale, building simple,

0:31

low -risk homes, and are

0:33

using repeatable designs. How

0:36

do you, because I guess this is the

0:38

problem, right? You want it to be

0:40

speed up, you want it to be easier,

0:42

but you also want to stop some

0:44

dodgy builder or plumber from cutting corners, doing

0:46

a shoddy job, and then marking their own

0:48

homework. How do you do that? That's

0:51

a very good point. So I

0:54

think what we have been saying

0:56

is we need a very smart

0:58

and targeted reform to reduce the

1:00

compliance burden on simple loris homes

1:02

without compromising on quality or consumer

1:04

protections. So there are a lot

1:07

of things we can do to

1:09

enable that. So one is to

1:11

restrict this to only simple loris

1:13

bills. Second to have

1:15

a very strict criteria on building

1:17

professionals who can self -certify and

1:19

continue some monitoring regime around

1:21

that. Third, to have

1:24

some mandatory insurance requirements. Fourth,

1:27

you can incorporate random

1:29

inspections to ensure quality management.

1:32

There's quite a big piece we have

1:34

been talking about, which is to

1:36

use technology solutions like virtual remote inspections

1:38

to ensure that photographic evidence of

1:41

self -certification is submitted. So

1:43

then risk assessment can be performed and we

1:45

can do some spot checks. And

1:47

the final is to strengthen the LBP

1:49

scheme. So we obviously need

1:51

to see more details around all

1:53

these areas, but if they are

1:55

implemented well, they will enable productivity

1:57

gains without compromising on quality or

1:59

consumer protection. Because I guess

2:01

the thing is, the reality is, you will know

2:03

who the dodgy builders are, or you will at

2:05

least know who the good builders are, right? So

2:08

can you, will you have some say, or

2:10

who will decide who the good ones are

2:12

and who the bad ones are? I

2:15

think there's a consultation happening where

2:17

we are providing an input on what

2:19

that criteria should be, and I

2:22

think others in the industry will provide

2:24

that input too. The government

2:26

has a view too. So I have a

2:28

feeling that after they've announced this, they will

2:30

now go through a consultation process where we

2:32

and others will provide input on to, how

2:34

do you do this? Because what we

2:36

are trying to do is we're trying to

2:38

kind of improve, we're trying to look

2:41

at the low -hanging food we have within

2:43

our industry. to improve some productivity. And

2:45

the low hanging food is to

2:47

reduce the compliance button on simple low

2:49

risk homes. And if

2:51

you do this well, will bring more

2:53

lower cost homes in the market cheaper.

2:55

It will address housing affordability. It

2:57

will free up council to

2:59

focus more on high risk projects

3:01

and reduce inspection times. And

3:04

also, I think, increase adoption of

3:06

technology, like which will promote

3:08

inspection. a lot of positives. It

3:10

sounds good. No, it sounds good, Ankit. And I want

3:12

you to get in there and I want you

3:14

to tell them who are the goodies and who are

3:16

the baddies. Because that really is when it comes

3:18

down to it, what is going to make or break

3:20

this new policy. Ankit Sharma, master

3:22

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4:03

Thanks.