There is a tragic story in this scene of Cyclone Tracy devastation at Nightcliff. A family with young children lived in the ground level house in the foreground , its roof missing . Just before Christmas 1974 , the family were delighted to move into a brand new government house in the northern suburbs , which , like so many new dwellings , blew apart as if made of straw, they being blown out into the maelstrom . A daughter was killed, the mother scalped and developed gangrene after being hit in the armpit by flying roofing iron ; the husband was severely traumatised. Had the family remained in the older ground level house they would not have endured such a terrible ordeal.
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Following the initial disastrous Christchurch earthquake in which many lives were lost , more than half in the collapse of the comparatively modern six-storey Canterbury TV (CTV) building , constructed to the NZ earthquake building code , there has been a call for the construction industry to be overhauled , its workforce retrained. There is a message here for the NT , where it is blithely stated that in Darwin buildings are constructed to the cyclone code.
A fact finding investigation carried out by a special committee for the Department of Housing and Construction into the way Cyclone Tracy impacted on government buildings , published March 1975 , reported :
* Notable examples of bad construction practices which left serious misgivings that they were widespread .
* Timber studs cut through entirely to allow them to be straightened .
* Cyclone bolts in many walls were wrongly positioned , some only anchored into nogging pieces which were end-nailed onto floor joists.
* Top cyclone bolt connection details changed without approval of the structural designers.
* The investigators were told “detailed supervision”of construction was not practicable in Darwin –reliance on contractors and their tradesmen being the normal practice, making quality control difficult.
* Suburban public buildings performed particularly well , except with one notable exception, the Darwin Community College, which collapsed due to the main reinforcement splices not being properly attached.
While much of Darwin’s population had been evacuated or departed overland , when word got out that the confidential report had found evidence of shonky building practices in the construction of government housing , there was anger and talk of Jerry builders , people with blood on their hands.
In dealing with the obvious need for a revamped cyclone code , the report said this would have immediate and far reaching ramifications for the building industry –particularly in the residential design and construction sectors.The level of trade competence and understanding of the cyclone provisions and the supervision of building work would be critical to the success of the code.
While new construction techniques were being evolved ,there would be an immediate and continuing need in the “ education and reattituding” of all concerned in the building industry.
Today , anybody with knowledge of the building industry nation-wide knows of pressure on contractors and tradesmen to get things done fast , on the cheap , completed ahead of time to earn a bonus, to get on with another pressing job. Terms such as rough as guts, banged up in a hurry without proper regard for the workmanship and integrity of the buildings , have been used to describe the situation in some instances . So- called project managers who fail to pay attention to work as it progresses , which endangers tradesmen on the job and , eventually, occupants have also been mentioned. Little Darwin knows of instances where tradesmen employed on “choice developments” have advised friends not to buy into the projects because of the poor workmanship.
A supervisor on a much boomed , expensive, seaside project was heard shout at his workers that they had 20"fucking minutes" to get something in place before knock off time. This was obviously a fine example of quality control. People standing nearby then heard what sounded like sledge hammers beating against metal .
Darwin buildings are said to be built to “Cyclone code ”, which sounds reassuring , but it is suggested could be misleading as self certification plays a big part- signing bits of paper that job and overall components of the construction and fitting out are up to standard . In other words , a situation similar to that which existed before Cyclone Tracy . Certification papers have been sighted by this writer on which it is hard to decipher the name of the person making the declaration and the company concerned , in one case the firm not listed in the phone book.
Self regulation has been shown not to work in many commercial enterprises. Little Darwin spoke to a tradesman whose job it was to correct numerous interior shortcomings in project homes for a southern firm which operated in several states , riding a boom , eventually the subject of media reports about extremely bad work . It appalled him that the company , contractors and inspectors all appeared to have turned a blind eye to what was going on , just going with the flow for the quick buck .
Evidence that the NT’s building industry certification system was not working properly surfaced in March 9 2009. The then Minister for Planning and Lands , Delia Lawrie, announced a 24 month building certification moratorium across regional towns ,including Tennant Creek and Katherine. Mention was made of the "problem of attracting and retaining qualified staff " and the “ grave difficulty” in attaining qualified building practitioners .
On the subject of self certification , a panel report on the NT government’s own website contains the statement that the self certification process appeared to need urgent review . Proposals to broaden the range of building work which could be self assessable or exempt were not supported by some of those interviewed by the panel .
NEXT : What exactly did Chief Minister ,Paul Henderson , mean when he told the media that we are ready for "the big one." Is he being ill-advised? Are vital papers revealing the true situation being hidden, disregarded ? These and further matters will be raised in this ongoing series which covers issues of vital importance to the Darwin community and cannot be swept under the carpet .
