MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

The Building Issues team acknowledges responsibility for all aspects of the company operations including the selection of competent staff to ensure the team at Building Issues is capable of providing timely building code and regulatory advice to the principal consultant or project design team as the case may be. Key focus areas paramount for a successful management strategy include:

•   To ensure sufficient recourses are allocated to achieve a successful outcome
•   Ensuring responses are comprehensive and produced in a timely manner
•   Ensuring advice from the team during the design process is technically reliable and accurate
•   Maintaining compliance with statutory requirements is imperative throughout the duration of the project
•   Ensuring for effective communication between Building Issues and the Principal, design consultants and contractors
•   Ensuring that building code advice considers alternative options and sufficiently flexible to facilitate cost effective solutions

Building Issues Pty Ltd was first established as a company after an initial partnership during five years of development. The firm has served as regulatory consultants for over 18 years offering design certification to a diverse and varied clientele who are attracted to the stability and professionalism of the organisation.

The company has experienced unprecedented growth over the last eight years to bring together a professional consultancy team. The retention of key personnel is paramount to the success of Building Issues, providing independent consulting services to a rapidly developing building industry. The leadership group underpin the stability of the organisation committed to providing pro-active consultancy services across Victoria.

PROJECT EXPERIENCE

Building Issues has provided regulation advice, Building Permit, certification and consultancy services to numerous major projects in all sectors of the building industry including institutional, commercial, industrial and residential construction. More recently these have included:

•   Numero Complex, Carnegie – Multi-Storey Residential Development
•   20 Bridge Street, Bendigo – Multi-Storey Office Development
•   96-98 Pall Mall, Bendigo – Multi-storey Office/Retail Redevelopment
•   Bendigo Library – Redevelopment of Assembly Building
•   Port of Echuca Redevelopment – New Interpretation & Discovery Centre
•   Heathcote Hospital – Aged Care Redevelopment & Fire Safety Upgrade
•   Kerang Hospital – Hospital Redevelopment
•   Numurkah Health – Hospital Redevelopment
•   Boort Health – Hospital Redevelopment
•   Langi Kal Kal Prison – Construction of New Industrial & Education Buildings
•   Beechworth Prison – Expansion & Refurbishment of Existing Prison Buildings
•   Dhurringle Prison – Expansion and Refurbishment of Existing Prison Buildings
•   Lara SESG Training Facility – Construction of New Specialised Training and Education Building
•   Mollison Street, Bendigo – Multi-Storey Medical Centre Development
•   Tertiary/Trade Training Centres (Charlton, Nathalia and Kyabram) – Expansion & Refurbishment of Education Buildings
•   Webb & Co Building – Redevelopment of Multi-Unit Apartment Building
•   Victory College – Development of School and Auditorium

The firm draws on a wealth of experience and complementary skills primarily from its managing director and senior building surveyors. Key personnel at Building Issues have held senior positions in building surveying consultancy firms or as officers of local government municipalities. Refer to key personnel for details of previous experience.

Building regulations need not unduly restrict the design and construction parameters as desired by the client or project design team. Our company is able to advise on and apply job specific innovative design solutions (alternative solutions / performance based assessments), whilst maintaining a responsible approach to building regulation and control. Building Issues emphasises a team approach on all projects, and commit to have resources available for allocation throughout a project to achieve the necessary outcomes.

SERVICES

Building Surveying

The firm draws on a wealth of experience and complementary skills primarily from its managing director and senior building surveyors. Key personnel at Building Issues have held senior positions in other private building surveying consultancy firms or as senior officers of local government municipalities, along with some great hands on experience in the building industry.

Building regulations need not unduly restrict the design and construction parameters as desired by the client or project design team. Our company is able to advise on and apply job specific innovative design solutions, whilst maintaining a responsible approach to building regulation and control. Building Issues emphasises a team approach on all projects, and commit to have resources available for allocation throughout a project to achieve the necessary outcomes.

Our project experience extends from small scale domestic projects all the way to large scale commercial, residential, institutional and industrial projects.

Design Consultancy

Builders, architects, designers, owner-builders … anyone can strike regulatory problems, and Building Issues can help. Be it early design advice – which is often the best – or advice near the project’s completion, we delight in giving you alternative, cost-effective ways to get your results.

For many commercial, industrial or institutional projects, early regulatory advice in the design stage saves you expensive and time-consuming redesigns. And it allows the permits to be processed quickly on completion of the documentation.

With a qualified building surveyor to answer all queries, hands-on experts and responsive staff, a Building Issues solution guarantees our special attention to every job that comes our way.

Access Consultants

At Building Issues we have numerous staff comprising a diverse and comprehensive background in access consulting. To reduce the risk of a compliant under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), whilst also maintaining an efficient and effective design, we believe it’s advantageous for a design team to engage the services of an access consultant during the early stages of design to help identify specific areas of importance and also provide various options or alternatives to the proposal. Our expertise in access consulting specifically relates to the built environment in the following context:

• Liaison, advice and assessment during the relevant design phases;
• Appraisals and audits of existing buildings;
• Formulating alternative solutions.

Town Planning

We bring to your job qualified advice on planning matters, independent of your local council, and create the best opportunities for approval of your project. We are experts in site analysis and planning for the future, for equality, and for economic effectiveness. We know what the development controls and reforms are, and we know our architectural history and cultural heritage. We help you plan to integrate the past with new developments, or we can plan for totally new sites.

At Building Isssues, one thing we never lose sight of is the people we plan for … with real needs now and in the future.

DHS Accreditation & CSR (VIC Government Construction Supplier Register)

Building Issues is accredited as a Building Surveyor Unlimited and Auditor for the purposes of the Capital Development Guidelines Series 7 – Fire Risk Management. The purpose of this accreditation is to provide appropriately qualified professionals, such as registered Fire Safety Engineers, Building Surveyors and Building Inspectors, to audit and assess fire risk, to recommend steps to minimise fire risk and to assess and report on acceptable standards of fire safety, on specific settings in accordance with the Capital Development Guidelines – Series 7 Fire Risk Management Unit. This includes being listed on the CSR (Victorian Government Construction Supplier Register) under the pre-qualification category of Building Surveying.

Essential Safety Measures (ESM’S)

Many owners are not aware of the statutory obligation for ongoing maintenance and annual certification of the essential safety measures in a new commercial building once it is complete. ESM’s are incorporated into a building to make it safe for its occupants and to protect the contents and structure of the building in the event of a fire. These include fire sprinklers, smoke alarms, warning systems, suppression equipment, emergency lighting, safe exits and much more. Our team can identify which ESM’S apply to your building.

It is important for regular maintenance of fire and other safety equipment to be carried out throughout the life of the building. This ensures that the services are reliable and operational at all times. Our technical staff can advise on your responsibility and assist with setting up your customised maintenance manual. In this way you are assured of an efficient risk management system which satisfies the regulations and facilitates contractual inspections, testing and record-keeping requirements.

ACCREDITATIONS

DHS Accreditation – Fire Risk Management (Victorian Government Construction Supplier Register / FPA)

Building Issues is accredited with the Fire Risk Management Unit of the Department of Health & Human Services for the purposes of the Capital Development Guidelines Series 7 – Fire Risk Management (Guidelines). This allows Building Issues to undertake fire safety audit reports and building surveying services including issue of building permits for government owned, operated or funded buildings in particular, for purpose of accommodation of people under statutory care or supervision by the Department. In addition, Building Issues has pre-qualified as a consultant for inclusion on the Victorian Government Construction Supplier Register (CSR) in the category of Building Surveying.