Tasmania And Building Accreditation

Well there is a ‘Legislative Council Select Committee’ looking into builder’s accreditation and it is holding public hearings. (Launceston Examiner last Wednesday) While the evidence of architects, engineers and building surveyors is relevant one has to wonder when a builder’s ethics and viability might come under scrutiny.

At some time soon this needs to become an issue!

We can sideline a ‘sex offender’ in the community but builders who behave shabbily seem to be immune from like treatment. It can be argued that they can reek as much havoc as any sex offender. There is even evidence for it!

So Committee chairman Paul Harris might consider taking evidence from the finance sector (bankers, accountants, insurers, et al) and the legal fraternity while it is examining (developing?) an accreditation model and looking at how the government is managing this issue.

A WAY FORWARD FOR BUILDING INDUSTRY CONSUMER PROTECTION

The Builders Collective Australia Inc has made a comparison between the Suncorp-Vero/HIA consumer protection scheme and Queensland’s BSA scheme.

It makes for salutary reading and if government ever gets to be serious about protecting consumers Queensland’s BSA scheme offers a model that is almost impossible to fault.

Click here to read the report

ALP gains profits from Warranty Insurance insurer

ZEBRA looks and listens Review: August 4th, 2008

ZEBRAaustralia thinks that if Labor is serious about looking after consumers it could at the very least work behind the scenes to clean up this mess and ensure that the insurance scheme was of value! Would that be a bridge too far?

In any event the Property Review is providing consumers with a good service by bringing this information to consumers attention. This story is a salutary tale!

The Property Review Story

"EXCLUSIVE: THE Australian Labor Party has been linked to the major supplier of Builders Warranty Insurance, Vero, through its multimillion dollar investment in the insurer’s parent company Suncorp.

Currently, there is a Labor party dominated Senate Economics Committee Inquiry into Builders Warranty Insurance, which has been described ‘useless’ by consumer advocates. The ALP holds around 1.8 million shares in Suncorp valued last Friday at around $21 million.

The ALP has collected around $8 million in dividends from its investment in Suncorp. (Source: AFR) Vero Insurance is the main provider of builders warranty insurance through its connection with the Housing Industry Association. Vero is controlled by Promina, which is owned by Suncorp.

Sources close to the Inquiry told PropertyReview.com.au late last week that the Senators sitting on the Inquiry and keen to ‘pass the buck and refer the problem of ‘joke insurance’, as described in The Melbourne Age last weekend, back to the State governments Regrettably, for those opposing builders warranty insurance, the State governments were builders warranty insurance reigns – New South Wales and Victoria – are Labor controlled governments.

“As if they are going to scrap warranty insurance through their shares in Suncorp Metway the Labor has profited indirectly from the misery of thousands of consumers and builders around Australia ,” one consumer advocate told PropertyReview.com.au.

“It is not in the best interests of the ALP to scrap warranty insurance despite evidence that it has let consumers and builders down,” she added. “There should be a Royal Commission into Builders Warranty Insurance and the ALP’s connections with the major provider of the insurance, Vero.

” PropertyReview.com.au has been told that in recent times the Senate Inquiry committee has met secretly with Vero and it meeting today behind closed doors with HIA Insurance Services. Both the NSW and Victorian Opposition have declared they will scrap warranty insurance if they are elected.

Meanwhile, the HIA, one of the major beneficiaries of warranty insurance kickbacks, have damned submissions by opponents of warranty insurance.

The submissions can be found at the Senate website at: http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/economics_ctte/home_warranty_08/submissions/sublist.htm The HIA also complained bitterly about PropertyReview.com.au’s story last week entitled “Senate inquiry into warranty insurance a whitewash?”.

We have given the HIA a right of reply, however, must point out that the HIA’s claim in its letter to the editor last week that we had broken parliamentary privilege was blatantly false and misleading. We stand by the story and once again offer the HIA a right to reply, but point out the last time we tried to interview the HIA on the subject they literally hung up on our reporter."

PropertyReview.com.au

Launceston Home Show Survey

Zebras at work work in the carpark

The weekend of August 2/3 marked the presentation of yet another Building & Renovation Expo sponsored by HIA & GUNNS. ZEBRAaustralia applied for space at the event to provide visitors with information but we were informed that all the stalls were taken. When we received that advice we decided to commission a survey in the carpark instead and here are some of the early results.

100 groups (families and other) were surveyed over the weekend at various times of the day and there were some surprising and not so surprising results.

Early figures suggest that;
• 62% of those surveyed were considering some form of home renovation or building project before visiting the event
• 84% of those surveyed had undertaken some form of home renovation in the last 12 months
• 71% of those surveyed were DIY builders or renovators
• 43% of those surveyed were involved in the building industry in some way or had a family member involved in the building industry in some way.

There are more extrapolations yet to be done from this raw data but these early results are very interesting.

Some other early results suggest that
• Over 90% of those surveyed expected that contracts between clients and builders should be enforceable without resorting to a court, tribunal or other formal legal procedure
• Over 36% of those surveyed either directly or indirectly knew of someone who had received an unsatisfactory level of service from a builder or builder’s subcontractor.
These are very early figures but they do seem to reveal some disturbing trends.

Further work on the data to more intensely explore the trends exposed will be dependent upon funding levels available and sponsors delivering on their pledges. Nonetheless, it is clear that there is a need for much more independent research in this area. In any event watch this space!

'Joke' insurance no comfort for claimants: THE AGE: 02/08/08

Home warranty policies seldom protect consumers, writes Natalie Craig.
"WHEN Giorgio De Nola's parents died within months of each other, he used his inheritance to build a house for his wife, Marina, and their young children. He signed a contract with a licensed builder in 2004, which included a home warranty insurance policy. Four years later, the house is so poorly built that the De Nolas do not have a certificate of occupancy. Building inspectors have told them the balcony is not safe. The shower leaks into the kitchen, the garage roof has had to be replaced and their repair quote is more than $50,000. But when the De Nolas tried to claim on their legitimate insurance policy, they were told they were on their own." Click here to go to the full story

COMMENT: The Senate Committee (Information Link) looking into all this, chaired by Senator Hurley (email: senator.hurley@aph.gov.au) seems predisposed to maintaining the status quo despite the evidence that consumers are being hurt and poorly served. We have a right to expect more!

If any of this concerns or worries you you may want to email Senator Hurley to tell her of your concerns, your experiences and your expectations of government. You may also want to place a comment on this site!

Senate Inquiry Looks Like A Whitewash

The hyenas are probably laughing! Click Here

EXCLUSIVE: SOURCES close to the Senate Economics Committee Inquiry into the rort of Builders Warranty Insurance is nothing more than a whitewash.

PropertyReview.com.au confirmed last night that the Labor Party dominated inquiry into the Housing Industry and Vero Insurance controlled Builders Warranty Insurance is likely to find that the ‘Last Resort Insurance’ schemes should survive scrutiny despite being abandoned in Tasmania .

It still reigns supreme in the Labor Party states of New South Wales and Victoria .

“State Labor governments, the Rudd government are leaning heavily on the Senate Inquiry to support the farce of Builders Warranty Insurance,” one disgruntled Victorian Labor Party figure told PropertyReview.com.au late yesterday.

“The Senate Inquiry seems to be a farce,” he added.

The source revealed to PropertyReview.com.au that the Senate Inquiry and the Rudd government may have been influenced by self interest lobby groups.

In fact, on the Senate Inquiry website the Housing Industry Association have been allowed to write a privileged - totally scurrilous and defamatory response - to the Builders Collective submission to the Inquiry without fear of court action.

Consumer advocacy Choice in its recommendation to the Inquiry stated:
“Australian Governments should take early action to provide better and uniform protection for those who have a home built or renovated. Specifically, this should entail: • Guaranteed access for consumers to alternative dispute resolution mechanisms • Provision of greater scope to de-register builders who do not meet appropriate performance standards; and • A revamping of compulsory builders’ warranty insurance to ensure that it is of genuine value to consumers and that consumers understand the product.”

In August 2004, Choice found warranty insurance basically junk insurance.

In fact, Choice stated:
“In August 2004 CHOICE Magazine investigated home warranty insurance. That investigation found that in most states mandatory insurance was unreasonably limited to circumstances where a builder dies, disappears or becomes insolvent. CHOICE also found that the privatisation of home warranty insurance coupled with changes to the insurance market had whittled away many consumer protection measures.”

The HIA in their submission even bagged Choice as being: “It appears that Choice Magazine is not interested in providing a fully informed (let alone a balanced) view on this issue”.

It’s little wonder the cynics are already stating the Inquiry could prove a whitewash manipulated by self interest groups.

SOURCE: PropertyReview.com.au
ZEBRAaustralia wonders just who it is that should be protecting consumers. The buildg industry? The insurance industry? Government? Themselves? Ideally it must be all players! However, they must be equipped do it!

THE ZEBRA HERD GROWS

There is always safety in numbers and as more Zebras team up the more dangers they can see and oh what are they seeing? There are not a lot of predators out there but there are more than enough to be worried about.

So as the herd grows it is a little disturbing to discover that there are far far too many predators about. If you feel at risk, or have been bitten, or you have a danger to report please use the comment section below to alert others of what you see or have seen.

The more eyes that are watching the more that’s seen and the safer each individual will ultimately be!

AND remember that there is another Zebra Australia Website. Take a look and you'll find more contact information there!

COMING SOON - A NEW ERA IN CONSUMER PROTECTION

Australian consumers are about to have a new consumer service available to them. fair-trading.com.au will be offering a conflict resolution service . The network’s motto is "turning victims into victors & predators into prey".

A FASCINATING TALE

A Zebra owner builder (lets call him ZOB_1) goes to HARDWARE X (HX) to check out an item of equipment. He finds that there is a choice of one and it seems a bit too expensive for what it has to offer.

ZOB_1 then goes to Bunnings to check what they have to offer. The situation is not a lot different except there is a choice of two. The HX item is one but it is 20% cheaper and the other is about 50% more expensive.

ZOB_1 Decides to get the HX option (but from Bunnings) at 20% less. He takes it to the site assembles it and finds that it is not up to the task – not safe enough most importantly. So ZOB_1 rings Bunnings and they say “bring it back, do not bother to dismantle it again and we’ll do a refund or a replacement upgrade – your choice, but please bring your receipt.”

ZOB_1 goes to Bunnings again, decides their option 2 was probably what he should have purchased in the first place, swaps option 1 for 2, does the reconciliation transaction – there are smiles all round – loads the replacement in the utility and is back home within the hour. The whole process was simple, stressless and satisfying despite everything!

Driving home, satisfied with the experience, even despite his mistakes, ZOB_1 begins to wonder why it is that some of his ZEBRA Network friends have not had similar experiences with their builders.

ZOB_1 can only conclude that Bunnings is in their business to satisfy their customers and by doing so, perhaps increase their market share – and they did so here! So it seems that there are quite a few builders – too many at least – for whom this is an alien concept. ZOB_1 is still trying to fathom that idea one out – as is the whole network – but there you go but big tick for Bunnings . It's all black and white really!

A CHANCE TO GET POLITICAL ONLINE PERHAPS ?

If you want to get POLITICALLY active, and online, well possibly there will be an opportunity to submit petitions to the Senated online. The Senate is now asking for submissions on being able to submit on-line petitions! (due 08/08/08)

HERE IS THE LINK
http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/petitions/epetitioning/index.htm

BAD NEWS STORIES, GOOD NEWS STORIES

First the bad news, since the ZEBRA AUSTRALIA BLOGspot has been online there have been so many sad tales that have been brought to the growing network’s attention – but hey Dodgy Bros Pty Ltd have been in business since Adam was a boy.

Now for some good news, there have been a significant number of good stories coming ZEBRA AUSTRALIA's way. The good news stories seem to have particular sets of similarities that also seem throw light on the bad ones – well to some extent. Because, ZA has had a focus on Dodgy Bros Pty Ltd it is ever likely to be the case that we’ll hear proportionally more about the disasters (major & relatively minor) that these 'operators' leave in their wake.

For instance, it is patently clear that the dysfunctionality of the current last resort insurance scheme operating throughout Australia – the mechanism that comes into play when things do go wrong – is a part of the problem. What is less clear is what it is that actually triggers the chain of events that lead to the point when it does.

On the one hand, there seems to be some consistencies in the good and bad stories. On the other, there also seems to be unique circumstances that apply in each case – case by case. The good news stories (and there are many) are starting to throw some light on some of this – that is once the passion and distress is peeled back. People in Australia have traditionally made their home their single largest investment (and they have been encouraged to) so it is no wonder that there is some passion there.

If all building stories coming to ZA were bad ones it would be obvious to all and sundry as we simply move around in Australia’s ‘built estate’. By-and-large the vast majority of Australian buildings (homes in particular) are sound, durable and safe – albeit that much of it is poorly designed, environmentally inappropriate, etc. It is no wonder that Dodgy Bros Pty Ltd victims ask, why me?

It is just the case that SOME projects fall through the cracks of the regulatory system. Why? How? When? Therefore, early on in PROJECT ZEBRA it is clear that there is a need for some INDEPENDENT research. Who can do, or will commission, this work?

• Government (Local, State or Federal)? ZA thinks that is unlikely!
  
• The Building Industry via its associations? ZA doesn’t believe that they would believe that they see it as their job – its simply not their reason for being!
• A University? Possibly, but who, or what, would trigger such a project?
  
• The community? Possibly, but who within ‘the community’ is going to initiate it or fund it – and how?

Where to from here? ZA is now looking at this set of questions and attempting to find a way forward.