Better to Prevent Than to Treat
Bolje sprečiti nego lečiti. – Serbian proverb
A rough translation of the above proverb is the title of this article. The system that our construction industry is based on relies heavily on insurance and legal remedies, a cure for whatever mistakes happen during design and construction.
The latest debacle is yet another residential block whose residents had to be evacuated in a rush, and whose apartment owners will now suffer plummeting property values, Mascot Towers:
Mascot Towers: Peak industry bodies call for building sector crackdown
It’s not hard to understand that the cost of treatment is far higher than the cost of prevention, doing the job properly in the first place.
What would prevent these outcomes?
Buildings must be:
designed properly
constructed properly
certified properly
Simple!
Or is it?
What has been the Australian experience with residential flat buildings?
Until the end of the last century, apartments were built mostly for people who had no other choice but to live in them, social housing and low-end investment stock. These were relatively simple designs, mostly walk-ups, built with minimum amenity standards as prescribed by the Building Code, using basic structures and services. Constructed, equally simply, with basic building methods.
But around two decades ago, things began to change.
This change was led by a new wave of immigrants from Europe and Asia, who chose apartment living. They brought a different culture of living, and with it, different expectations for design, amenity, aesthetics, and location.
Demand for apartments skyrocketed in a short period of time.
But the industry didn’t have the expertise or capacity to meet that demand.
It takes time to educate architects, engineers, project managers, certifiers, foremen, plumbers, electricians, air-conditioning specialists, and others on the finer points and challenges of delivering increasingly complex apartment buildings.
But there was no time.
The pressure was on to grab market share quickly.
High demand dictates speed of design and delivery. This, combined with lack of expertise, typically results in lower quality. And with a poor system of prevention in place, we now must rely on insurance and legal systems to deliver remedies after things go wrong.
The exception?
Perhaps those few companies with a longer history in the apartment market, those with integrated design and delivery procedures. Their expertise might prove invaluable in implementing real preventative systems within our construction industry.
That means: good design, solid documentation, experienced builders
And care. Beyond duty.