james thomson senior adviser - standards & regulation standards and regulatory services
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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 - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
James ThomsonSenior 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