Questions Day 2 - Wednesday 27 November 1996
Parliamentary Record 29
Questions for 7th Assembly 1994 - 1997; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 7th Assembly 1994 - 1997
1996-11-27
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Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
Darwin
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QUESTIONS - Wednesday 27 November 1996 Contractor Accreditation Scheme and Quality Assurance Mr BALDWIN to MINISTER for ASIAN RELATIONS, TRADE and INDUSTRY I understand that Cabinet recently approved changes to the contractor accreditation scheme, and also the requirements for quality assurance. Could the minister explain the details of the changes that have been approved? ANSWER Mr Speaker, Cabinet approved changes to the operation of the contractor accreditation scheme in response to feedback that the government received from the private sector, and also from an information review that has been undertaken of the first years operation of the scheme in order to ease the burden on small contractors operating in the Northern Territory. For those members who are not familiar with the scheme, I will outline it quickly. Contractor Accreditation Ltd (CAL) is a private sector company sponsored by the Territory Constmction Association, the Northern Territory Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Northern Territory Small Business Association. It is administered by a board of directors which includes equal representation of the sponsoring entities and an independent chairman, at this time Mr George Cridland. Daily operations of CAL are managed by a full-time registrar who is appointed by the board. CAL was formed by the private sector to provide a system of accreditation of contractors in the building construction, project management, civil works and service industries. It is unique in Australia and it provides the basis for industry self-assessment with a view to engendering the confidence of local civil construction and service industries. For its part, the Northern Territory government, when inviting tenders for public works and services, now deals only with contractors who are accredited and rated by CAL at least to the level specified in the tender. A code of practice to which accredited contractors must adhere, to obtain or retain accreditation, further protects subcontractors. The code requires full and timely payment to subcontractors and suppliers by principal contractors. This has been a source of concern previously to government and industry generally. Contractors who do not wish to work for the Northern Territory government are not required to ... Mr COULTER: A point of order, Mr Speaker! The honourable minister was clearly asked for the details of changes. Mr SPEAKER: There is no point of order, but I ask the minister to get on with answering the question. Mr POOLE: Mr Speaker, CAL expects that individual private sector clients are likely to take an increasing interest in the credentials of the industry as the initiatives become better known, and this is proving to be the case. CAL assesses applicants with respect to technical capacity, management capacity, financial capacity, past performance, local factors and the codc of practice. Each of these assessments is made by a panel of appropriately qualified and experienced industry members. To ensure impartiality, individual applicants are advised of the 1845