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INSIGHT
Marking a further step in the NSW Government’s ‘Construct NSW’ building and construction industry reforms, the Independent Construction Industry Ratings Tool (iCIRT) – which assesses construction professionals against a series of criteria1 – has released the first 19 developers and builders to have a public rating.
In this Insight, we explain iCIRT’s potential impact and what action construction professionals and businesses can be taking now.
First announced by NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler in 2020, ratings are intended to ‘assist in building improved transparency for consumers and to restore confidence in construction’2, and assist consumers and construction industry stakeholders to identify building practitioners and project teams with a proven track record, supported by objective evidence.3 iCIRT is the first product to reach the market as a result of this call to action.
iCIRT allocates a star rating to a construction professional. Ratings range from 0 to 5 stars, with:
Ratings are based on the following six assessment criteria (which are set out in detail at paragraph 6.1 of the iCIRT methodology):
Gold, silver or bronze indicators will be given in addition to the overall star rating. These indicators concern the degree of information (and consent to use the information) provided by the construction professional. Bronze applies to limited consent and gold applies to full consent.
Only those professionals with an iCIRT rating of three gold stars or higher are included on the public iCIRT register.
It is presently open to the Government, and separately to developers, builders and certifiers, to obtain a star rating of their own business via the iCIRT. However:
While the precise impacts of iCIRT remain to be seen, it is worth considering:
Given the potential scope of iCIRT, construction professionals to whom the iCIRT applies may wish to consider the above assessment criteria and what action they can take to position themselves to achieve the best possible scores.
The action that businesses can take now is varied. It may include ensuring insurance policies, licences and payments to employees and subcontractors are up to date, as well as resolving any outstanding issues with regulators (such as NSW Fair Trading) that may be a source of data for an iCIRT rating.
Equifax consults with the construction professional during the process of obtaining a rating. This includes meeting with the professional to discuss a draft version of the iCIRT report, to address any queries, enable additional disclosure of information, and/ or to correct any errors of fact. We have been informed by Equifax that information disclosed during the rating process will remain confidential. The final iCIRT rating will also remain confidential (a construction professional that has been rated may choose not to disclose their rating, or may choose to have it published).
The iCIRT FAQ page includes an option to request a re-assessment of an iCIRT rating. That said, no judicial review mechanism is presently available to challenge a rating. There is unlikely to be need for that in circumstances where the rating system is currently voluntary.
However if the rating system becomes mandatory, it would seem a formal judicial review mechanism may need to be introduced, given the prospect for disputes to arise about ratings that recipients perceive to be incorrect, and the impact this may have on their business.
iCIRT from Equifax, Learn More – Frequently Asked Questions about iCIRT <https://www.buildrating.com/faq.html> (iCIRT FAQ)
Equifax Australasia Credit Ratings Pty Limited, Independent Construction Industry Ratings Tool (iCIRT) – Single- Party and Multi-Party Ratings Methodology (v1.0, 2021) (May 2021)<https://www.buildrating.com/pdf/iCIRT-Methodology-Issue1-May-2021.pdf> (iCIRT Methodology), paragraph 4.
iCIRT from Equifax, Find trusted construction experts <https://www.buildrating.com/index.html>
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