The magnitude of the crisis facing Australia’s construction industry demands

nothing short of a revolution, turning current building practice on its head to put quality and

safety back on top where they belong.

As an architect with three decades’ experience working on all manner and complexity of

projects in Australia, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, I can’t overstate how serious and

urgent the situation has become. It is a worldwide issue with construction failures such as

the "leaky condo" crises in Canada in the 90s, the "wet building syndrome" in New Zealand in

the 90s and early 2000, the Latvian supermarket roof collapse in 2013, and Grenfell fire in Britain in 2017. Australia is not alone in its concerns.

The issues are systemic and reach right around this wide brown land of ours. However, the issues have managed to unite industry, and now hopefully governments, on the need for reform and a consistent national approach to fix the mess.

Defects in a Sydney building. Credit:Ross Taylor

This week’s agreement by the nation’s building ministers is a welcome step towards implementing solutions that can both address the legacy of defective buildings and prevent history from repeating. It is good news for consumers and has also created a sense of cautious optimism among

building professionals.