On 17 September, the General Contracting Sector Group Committee and the Specialist Contractors Sector Group Committee jointly met at the Master Builders’ Building Leadership Simulation Centre (BLSC) as part of their regular Sector Committee meetings for 2018. The purpose of such committee meetings is to consider policy matters in the building industry and give guidance on formulating policy positions at Master Builders. Consulting with committees enables direct member input into our lobbying and advocacy programme with government, regulators and other key stakeholders.

The meeting was chaired by Geoff Purcell, the Chair for the General Contracting Sector Group Committee, and co-chaired by Ian Hawkey, Chair of the Specialist Contractors Sector Group Committee.

Topics discussed in the meeting were extensive in its scope, with guest speaker Tim Power – Partner from the law firm White & Case – providing a presentation to the Sector Committees on the new Environmental Protection Amendment Act 2018 (EPA Act 2018). Tim’s presentation on the new EPA Act was clear and comprehensive as he explained important details of the Act and what this may mean for members involved in the commercial construction space. Needless to say, Tim’s presentation led to many questions from Committee members.

In addition, updates on industrial relations issues, as well as insight into safety trends as they relate to the commercial sector, were covered. On the policy front, issues such as cladding, mandatory trades registration and Master Builders’ strategy for the 2018 state election were discussed at the close.