Scrutiny had intensified in March when major home builderPorter Davis collapsed without the necessary insurance for its customers.

This masthead revealed it wasnot uncommon for builders to delay or avoid obtaining domestic building insurance,exposing customers to loss of deposits if the company went into liquidation. It opened the VBA to questions about why it had not more strongly enforced the requirement.

In May,this masthead and60 Minutes also revealedinspectors were completing virtual audits rather than physically attending construction sites,despite legal advice that by doing so the VBA might breach its requirements under the state’s Building Act.

Announcing the long-awaited housing statement last week,aiming to deliver an extra 800,000 homes over the coming decade,Kilkenny said Cronin was developing a culture to ensure the VBA was there to serve consumers and regulate operators.

“Anna Cronin,as the new CEO,is hitting the ground running to turn around the VBA,to instil that resilience,and to instil a confidence in that organisation to become a good regulator that is going to help us deliver the kind of new homes that we want to see for Victorians,” Kilkenny said last Wednesday.

“She’s working very hard to address the issues in there,and it’s forming part of the bigger building system review piece of work that we’re undertaking,which ... is going to deal with insurance,it’s going to deal with the life cycle of the build,mediation,conciliation,all of those matters.”

Kilkenny said the authority would soon release a regulatory statement “to identify the issues with the VBA”.

Wayne Liddy,Victorian board director of the Australian Institute of Building Surveyors,said the institute was working to implement reforms with Cronin.

“Anna Cronin,is working very hard to improve the internal processes and functions within the VBA itself. However,given that dysfunction appears to have been extensive and embedded across most business units of the organisation,it is understandable it will take time for Ms Cronin to work through all the issues,” Liddy said.

He said he hoped the board was supportive of Cronin’s efforts to address the “appalling culture that existed at the VBA”.

The Institute of Building Surveyors last year took the extraordinary step of stating it had“lost confidence in the ability of the Victorian Building Authority,as a regulating authority,to carry out its primary functions effectively and fairly”.

The VBA declined to comment. Kilkenny’s office was contacted on Monday.

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