Constructing a Consumer-Focused Industry: Cracks, Cladding and Crisis in the Residential Construction Sector

184 Pages·2022·9.319 MB·English

by  David Oswald, Trivess Moore

Constructing a Consumer-Focused
Industry
The old saying ‘safe as houses’ is being challenged around the world like never
before. Over recent decades homeowners have experienced the devastating effects
of defects like asbestos, leaky buildings, structural failings, and more recently the
combustible cladding crisis. The provision of safe and secure housing is a criti-
cal starting point to ensure that social value can be delivered in the built envi-
ronment. However, some of these dangerous defects have resulted in a lack of
security, safety, health, well-being, and social value for households and the wider
community. The problems homeowners experience go beyond the substantial
financial costs for defect rectification.
Too often there has been a lack of government and industry support to help
the housing consumer through these issues or to prevent them from occurring to
begin with. It is time for a rethink and restructure of government policy, support,
and industry practices to better protect housing consumers and deliver high-
quality and sustainable housing that creates social value.
Through evidence-based research and international case studies, this book
focuses on the effects that dangerous defects have on the housing consumer. The
ongoing construction cladding crisis is used as a primary case study throughout
to highlight these implications, with other previous large-scale defect examples,
such as leaky buildings and asbestos. Based upon the range of emerging evidence,
we propose ideas for policy makers, construction and built environment profes-
sionals, owners corporations, and households on how to move forward towards a
higher-quality, sustainable, and socially valuable way of residential living.
Government policy has long focused on ‘making industry work’ through build-
ing regulations and standards. It is now time for greater government and industry
focus on the consumer to make ‘consumer protection work’ in the built environ-
ment. There is a need to prevent dangerous defects like combustible cladding,
better support consumers when defects emerge, and to create buildings for social
value rather than minimum standards. Now is the time to build a better future
for the end-user.
Dr. David Oswald is a Senior Lecturer and Deputy Program Manager in the
School of Property, Construction and Project Management at RMIT University
in Australia. He is a journal editor, reviewer, and PhD examiner and has written
multiple award-winning academic publications within construction and the built
environment. His recent combustible cladding research with Dr. Moore was
used in Victorian parliament (Australia) to demonstrate the need for improving
homeowner consumer protection.
Dr. Trivess Moore is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Property, Construction
and Project Management at RMIT University in Australia. His research relates
to housing quality and performance and focuses on the intersection between
technical performance, liveability, social impact, and policy. In addition to
recent work with Dr. Oswald on combustible cladding, he has been undertaking
research looking at retrofit and the circular economy in Australia.
Social Value in the Built Environment
Series Editors: Ani Raiden and Martin Loosemore
Social Value in Construction
Ani Raiden, Martin Loosemore, Christopher Gorse and Andrew King
Social Value in Practice
Ani Raiden and Andrew King
Constructing a Consumer-Focused Industry
Cracks, Cladding, and Crisis in the Residential Construction Sector
David Oswald and Trivess Moore

Constructing a
Consumer-Focused Industry
Cracks, Cladding, and Crisis in the
Residential Construction Sector
David Oswald and Trivess Moore
Cover credit: @ Getty Images
First published 2022
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 David Oswald and Trivess Moore
The right of David Oswald and Trivess Moore to be identified as authors
of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Oswald, David, author. | Moore, Trivess, author.
Title: Constructing a consumer-focused industry : cracks, cladding and
crisis in the residential construction sector / David Oswald and Trivess
Moore.
Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge,
2022. | Series: Social value in the built environment | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021059886 (print) | LCCN 2021059887 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781032009094 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032007311 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781003176336 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Construction industry. | House construction. |
House buying
Classification: LCC HD9715.8.A2 O89 2022 (print) | LCC
HD9715.8.A2 (ebook) | DDC 338.4/7624—dc23/eng/20211230
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021059886
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021059887
ISBN: 978-1-032-00909-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-00731-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-17633-6 (ebk)
DOI: 10.1201/9781003176336
Typeset in Goudy
by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd.
Contents
List of Illustrations x
List of Sidebars xi
Acknowledgements xii
Series Editor Preface xiii
1 Cracks, cladding, and crisis in the residential sector 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Cracks, cladding, and crisis 4
1.3 Summary 11
2 Building defects 17
2.1 An introduction to defects 18
2.2 Building defects: The case for greater consumer-focus 21
2.3 Next steps: Further consumer-focused building defect research 24
2.4 Conclusions 26
3 Homeowner vulnerability 31
3.1 Household vulnerability in the built environment 32
3.2 Vulnerabilities revealed from defects: The case of
combustible cladding 35
3.3 Next steps: Acknowledging and reducing vulnerabilities 40
3.4 Conclusions 42
4 The real cost? 46
4.1 An introduction to well-being in the built environment 47
4.2 Dealing with defects: Implications for well-being 50
4.3 A contemporary dangerous defect: Combustible cladding 52
4.4 Next steps: A shift in policy focus? 55
4.5 Conclusions 57
viii Contents
5 Corporate social responsibility for the consumer 62
5.1 An introduction to corporate social responsibility 63
5.2 CSR in the built environment 64
5.3 CSR considerations for the consumer 70
5.4 Next steps: Greater consumer protection required as a CSR
expectation 73
5.5 Conclusions 75
6 Dealing with dangerous defects in multiple occupancy
developments 79
6.1 An introduction to multiple occupancy developments 80
6.2 The management of multiple occupancy developments 81
6.3 Experiences of owners corporations during a defect crisis 86
6.4 Next steps: Considerations for owners corporations and
strata professionals 91
6.5 Conclusions 94
7 Navigating landlord-tenant conflicts 99
7.1 An introduction to private rental housing 100
7.2 Rental housing challenges: Landlord-tenant relationships,
building quality, and creating social value 103
7.3 Fixing defects during a crisis 107
7.4 Next steps: Resolving landlord-tenant tensions 112
7.5 Conclusions 115
8 Government support during times of crisis 121
8.1 An introduction to government response in the
built environment 122
8.2 Considerations for how to help the consumer in crisis 128
8.3 Next steps: Complementing with a consumer-focus 132
8.4 Conclusions 135
9 Designing and building better for the housing consumer 139
9.1 Introduction to delivering improved social value 140
9.2 Delivering enhanced social value in the Australian
residential context 147
9.2.1 Improved neighbourhood connection and relationships 148
9.2.2 Sustainable, comfortable, and affordable living 149
9.2.3 Climate-resilient, improved health 150
Contents ix
9.3 Next steps: A policy push 152
9.4 Conclusions 154
10 Conclusions 161
10.1 The need for change 161
10.2 Key takeaways 162
10.3 Next steps 164
Index 167