We believe there has always been a compelling business case for implementing the ACCEDE construction defect management system. There is an excellent return on investment plus intangible benefits such as improved quality and improved customer satisfaction – not so easily measured in financial terms.
Recent policy changes by the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) provide additional commercial and risk management support for making ACCEDE a key component of every principal contractor’s project management policy and procedure.
From 1 June 2015, all subcontractors will be held accountable for any defective building work they perform. This change reduces the obligation of principal contractors to provide comfort that all project work complies with applicable Australian standards, codes and manufacturer specifications. Whilst Queensland is leading the way with these changes its likely other states will adopt similar policies in due course.
Critical to this change is being able to prove that all work completed by subcontractors has been properly supervised. If a principal contractor hasn’t or cannot demonstrate they have adequately supervised the work they may still be subject to action.
The ACCEDE construction defect management system records invaluable data which can be easily retrieved in any dispute process. ACCEDE captures all data necessary to establish the principal contractor’s position in a construction dispute.
ACCEDE enables accurate and complete project data to be recorded on a real-time basis that can be easily recalled and produced at any time, avoiding the all-too-common practice of reinventing project chronology (either by memory or trawling through emails, diary notes, smartphone photos etc), which is inefficient and can be very costly.
Even though solid commercial relationships with subcontractors are key to avoiding disputes, sometimes these fail. If they do, and commercial negotiation fails to bring satisfactory resolution, the ACCEDE construction defect management system is the principal contractor’s best friend – supporting your legal position and protecting your bottom line.
For further information refer to the Accountability for Subcontractor Defects Policy published on the QBCC website or consult your legal advisor.
We hope this provides information useful to your business case for implementing a construction defect management system. For more information please contact us and request demonstration or free trial.
