A registration scheme for engineers in the ACT is now expected to begin late next year, after the government introduced legislation a decade after it agreed to a register.
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Sustainable Building and Construction Minister Rebecca Vassarotti said the laws, introduced to the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, would bring the ACT into line with other states and territories.
"It is vital that everyone involved in significant construction works are suitably qualified and that the community has confidence that such large works meet safety and building quality standards," Ms Vassarotti said.
"Initially, the scheme will only apply to five areas of engineering but may later be expanded. The areas proposed in the current scheme are civil, structural, mechanical, electrical and fire safety engineering."
The union representing engineers, Professionals Australia, said it welcomed the laws which are expected to be passed in the Assembly next year.
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Professionals Australia acting ACT director Daniel Griffin said the registration scheme would provide recognition of the experience and expertise of Canberra's engineers.
"Engineering registration is something our members have advocated for some time now in the ACT, we welcome the major step the ACT government has taken today toward legislating this reform," Mr Griffin said.
"The ACT has joined Queensland and Victoria at the forefront of building a national professional registration framework for engineers and we hope will act as a guide for other jurisdictions who are contemplating their own schemes."
Then-ACT workplace safety minister Simon Corbell agreed in December 2012 to introduce a register of engineers, a recommendation from an independent inquiry into construction safety.
The government at the time set a deadline of 2014 to introduce the scheme.
The government has faced repeated calls from industry bodies to introduce the scheme in the years since, most recently in 2020 after NSW introduced its own regime.
The 2012 inquiry into construction industry safety found engineering failures had contributed to numerous serious accidents across construction sites in the ACT over recent years.
Incidents included the 2010 Barton Highway bridge collapse, the 2008 Belconnen Cameron Offices wall collapse and the 2008 Marcus Clarke Street slab collapse and the inquiry report said "each of which could easily have led to a number of fatalities".
Meanwhile, Labor backbencher Michael Pettersson in November said he would introduce his own bill to enact a property developer licensing scheme if Ms Vassarotti did not "get their act together".
Ms Vassarotti is expected to release a discussion paper for that scheme before the end of the year.
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Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
