4 February 2020: The Governor-General, His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd), has officially launched the International Building Quality Centre (IBQC) at the University of Canberra.
With jurisdictions across Australia and the world continually facing challenges with building regulations that have not delivered to the level of safety and security expected by the public, the Faculty of Arts and Design at UC has developed the IBQC where experts from around the world can work together to look at best practices and how they can be implemented, to create an industry with better quality outcomes.
“This centre has come out of the need to look at legislation, regulations and requirements of the building industry to make sure we have the right standards and quality of buildings going up, into the future,” said Professor Charles Lemckert, Head of School of Design and Built Environment at UC.
“We will look at all aspects of building quality, including fire safety and health related matters.”
“It is very timely given the Grenfell Tower incident, which is a cladding design issue. There have been building quality issues with the Opal Tower in Sydney and the Melbourne Cricket Ground,” said Professor Lemckert. “We now have the opportunity to step back, have a look at the industry, and make it better.”
There will be an opportunity for UC students to use the resources of the IBQC, with the centre to generate an online library that will compile best practice research publications and papers for students, law reformers, policymakers, practitioners and academics to use.
The IBQC aims to eventually become a sounding board providing opinion on the viability of regulatory initiatives in terms of their benchmarking with best-practice research.