Lovegrove & Cotton Lawyers Bulletin 

Robust peer review is an important element for building approvals. This article canvasses the virtues of mandatory and independent peer review of construction solutions. It also contends that, in the context of an industry where resources cannot be spared, peer review must be correlated with building risk categories. Peer review processes that are robust will ensure that building control is nuanced, targeted and optimised. A peer review system with sufficient rigour is an important safeguard for consumers of as-built product, particularly where professional indemnity cover for building practitioners is increasingly sparse.

Fire Engineers are critical actors for ensuring that as-built product meets fire safety performance requirements. In recent times, there have been new fire safety challenges which have highlighted that fire regulations must keep up to speed with modern developments such as building product innovation and a changing climate. This article posits that enlightened regulations utilise the expertise of fire engineers to ensure fire safety performance requirements are met.

The Property Council of Australia has issued a media release regarding the launch of the International Building Quality Centre ('IBQC') and their collaboration with Master Builders Australia on building policy development. For our readers' interest we have attached it to this week's bulletin.