The National Code of Practice for the Construction Industry (the Code) was developed by the Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments and expresses agreed principles that should underpin the future development of the construction industry in Australia. The Code is the standard of practice for building and construction work for projects funded by the Commonwealth Government as well as funding recipients and emphasises the highest ethical standards in all construction-related activities. The Code and Guidelines aim to establish higher standards of workplace relations behaviour and provide greater flexibility and productivity.
Activity which falls whin the scope of the Code includes building refurbishment or fit out, installing of building security systems, fire protection system, air-conditioning system, computer and communication cabling, building and constriction of landscapes. The Code also covers material suppliers where the supplied material is integral to the construction of the project. The Code and Guidelines do not cover the ongoing maintenance (such as wear and tear) of building systems, including the maintenance of fire protection and air conditioning systems, maintenance of computers and communication cabling, landscaping (such as lawn mowing, pruning and other horticultural activities), and cleaning buildings.
The Code and Australian Government Implementation Guidelines for the National Code of Practice for the Construction Industry (the Guidelines), Revised September 2005 and Reissued June 2006, set out the responsibilities of all parties on construction projects funded by the Commonwealth Government. The Guidelines outline the process for complying with the Code and were developed to assist the government and interested parties to interpret and implement the Code. The Code and Guidelines can be downloaded from
workplace.gov.au building and construction
.
Compliance with the Code and Guidelines means that schools will need to ensure that only companies and contractors (including head contractors, project managers, consultants and material suppliers) who are Code compliant can tender and be contracted to undertake building and construction activities for projects funded under the Trade Training Centres in Schools Program. Compliance with the Code and Guidelines means that:
- the workplace arrangements used by the contractor comply with the Code and Guidelines
- workplace arrangements include industrial instruments (for example, awards, collective and individual workplace agreements), unregistered agreements, common law contracts on-site practices and behaviours.
- the on-site behaviours of the contractor are consistent with the Code and Guidelines (section 8 of the Guidelines refers). Briefly, these:
- require the contractor to comply with the provisions of workplace agreements and to meet their obligations under law to Occupational Health and Safety;
- prohibit the contractor attempting to unduly influence subcontractors to have particular workplace arrangements or to make over-award payments;
- require the contractor to adopt arrangements which ensure freedom of choice and freedom of association - the choice of employees to be or not be in a union;
- require the contractor to comply with the procedures for right of entry under the Workplace Relations Act 1996; and
- prohibit the contractor from negotiating arrangements that restrict the efficient performance or work on the project.
The Scheme operates such that, subject to certain thresholds, only head contractors who are accredited under the Scheme can enter into contracts for building work that is funded directly or indirectly by the Commonwealth Government.
Projects are considered to be directly funded when the Commonwealth Government has responsibility for the project funding and development. Projects are considered to be indirectly funded when the Commonwealth Government contributes funding to a third party recipient, such as but not limited to a State/Territory Government, through mechanisms such as funding agreements, grants, or other programs.
More information is available on the Federal Safety Commissioner website.
Application of the Scheme will be a condition of funding where major capital words funded through the Trade Training Centre in Schools Program would be considered to be a project indirectly funded by the Commonwealth Government if the project met the indirectly funded project financial thresholds which are:
- the value of the Commonwealth Government contribution to the project is at least $5 million and represents at least 50 per cent of the total construction project value; or
- the Commonwealth Government contribution to a project is $10 million or more, irrespective of the proportion of the Commonwealth Government funding.
If a major capital works project meets the above financial thresholds, then the following conditions apply:
- All head contracts for building work under the project that are valued at $3 million or more must:
- be notified to the Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner at the earliest opportunity (that is, when approaching the market).
- contain a requirement that the builder:
- is accredited under the Scheme
- maintains Scheme accreditation for the life of the contract; and
- must comply with all conditions of the Scheme accreditation.
More information regarding the Scheme can be found on the Federal Safety Commissioner website.