Directors of construction companies in the ACT would be held personally liable for building defects under proposed new laws.
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![ACT Minister for Building Quality Improvement Gordon Ramsay, who will announce new laws to make company directors more accountable for dodgy building work on Wednesday. Picture: Jamila Toderas ACT Minister for Building Quality Improvement Gordon Ramsay, who will announce new laws to make company directors more accountable for dodgy building work on Wednesday. Picture: Jamila Toderas](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/fdcx/doc76tshx68xlxessk1e40.jpg/r0_0_5000_3333_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
ACT Minister for Building Quality Improvement Gordon Ramsay will make the announcement during evidence to the Assembly's building quality inquiry on Wednesday morning.
The proposed new laws would be the centrepiece of a suite of measures designed to make construction companies more accountable for dodgy work.
At present, the government can hit trade professionals with a range of sanctions, including ordering them to fix defects or stripping them of their licenses.
But it is limited in its powers to punish company directors, who often wield considerable control over construction projects.
Under the proposed Building and Construction Legislation Amendment Bill 2019, directors would be made personally liable for financial penalties and requirements to fix defects.
Among the other new initiatives, Access Canberra would be handed new powers to crackdown on non-compliant work.
The regulator would also be allowed to publish more detailed information when a building site is shut down.
In his opening statement to the inquiry, Mr Ramsay will say the government is also considering arming the regulator with the power to sanction peopled closely linked with "insolvent or disappeared" companies.
"We have all seen instances where building corporations have produced substandard buildings, and when legitimately called to account, have wound up leaving the cost of rectification to the owners," Mr Ramsay will tell the inquiry.
Mr Ramsay will use Wednesday's hearing to again urge the federal government to introduce tough new anti-phoenixing laws.
He will also issue another stern warning to Canberra's construction industry, saying "if you do the wrong thing, we will seek to remove you from the industry".
"We are doing all we can to eliminate dodgy players from our construction sector," he will say.
"We are doing all we can to ensure that Canberrans live and work in the highest quality buildings."
ACT Chief Planner Ben Ponton and construction occupations registrar Ben Green will be among the government officials to be grilled on Wednesday, the inquiry's ninth and final public hearing.