Australian Competition and Consumer Commission boss Rod Sims is demanding new laws to protect homeowners, including independent checks on buildings and materials.
Mr Sims said it was not a crime to sell dangerous goods in Australia — and declared it was only “common sense’’ to change the law.
“What about a law to say it’s illegal to sell unsafe goods — isn’t that a good idea?’’ he told The Daily Telegraph.
The Australian Institute of Architects warned a Senate inquiry into substandard building products that “fraudulent documents abound’’ in the construction sector and demanded third-party certification of products from independent testing laboratories.
Australian Competition Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims.
“Product substitution during construction is common practice,’’ it stated in a submission to the inquiry.
“It is difficult for anyone in the building process, including architects who are specifying products, to be absolutely certain that they comply with the various standards.’’
The Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union has told the inquiry that some Chinese manufacturers have forged compliance certificates.
The union dobbed those manufacturers in to the ACCC, which can prosecute suppliers for misleading and deceptive conduct. But Mr Sims said the ACCC did not have the resources to do the work of state building regulators.
