James Thomson Senior Adviser - Standards & Regulation Standards and Regulatory Services

REPORT: The quest for a level playing field: The non-conforming building products dilemma

Non – conforming product Definition Products that: do not meet regulatory, Australian or industry standards; are not fit for their intended purpose; are defectively made or not of acceptable quality; contain false and misleading claims; do not meet performance claims (whether intentionally or unintentionally) or are intentionally counterfeit.

Scale of the problem 92% of the 222 respondents reported non-conforming product in their market sector 45% of respondents reported NCP had adversely impacted on revenue, margins and employment numbers 43% of respondents had not lodged a complaint when encountering NCP

Weaknesses and failure points Inadequate: surveillance, audit, testing, first party certification and enforcement Building certifiers bear a disproportionate share of burden for product conformance – too much emphasis on identifying conformance post installation Confusion among stakeholders on who has regulatory responsibility and what recourse there is when NCP is found

Electrical sector $8 B market 46% of respondents were manufacturers / fabricators and the balance distributors 100% reported NCP in their market 71% had been adversely impacted Failure points: lack of harmonisation of electrical laws, lack of surveillance and enforcement

Steel sector $20 B market 65% of respondents were manufacturers and fabricators 95% reported NCP in their market 40% had been adversely impacted Failure points: (with fabricators) reliance on first party certification, building certifier resp. unclear and lack of complaints mechanism

Aluminum and glass sector $4 B market 91% of respondents were manufacturers and fabricators 81% reported NCP in their market 65% had been adversely impacted Failure points: lack of a visible regulator, reliance on first party certification, building certifier role unclear and fraudulent certificates

$2 B market EWPAA market surveillance :70% of structural ply samples failed EWPAA “There is a total lack of enforcement. The system is there however regulators are not resourced and lack the will to act. The situation of NCP is not taken seriously and regulators do not act on complaints nor impose penalties. Engineered wood products

$2.7 B market No evidence of non-conforming product! Success factors: –high brand loyalty, –product characteristics that local production, –aggressive competition and –a widely embraced third party certification scheme Paint sector

$2 B market Non-conforming product - lead based stabilisers Weaknesses: - who is responsible, - no complaints mechanism, - no surveillance at point of sale, - variation in consistency of certification, - enforcement is post installation Plastic pipes and fittings

WORKSHOP - The quest for a level playing field: The non-conforming building products dilemma

Education and communication Advocacy Research on international / national conformance frameworks Third party certification schemes Surveillance schemes Workshop 26 March

Forming a steering committee Low hanging fruit Resource availability Chipping away at the NCP problem Current situation

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