The man brought in to bring down NSW’s most dodgy construction companies left so many in terror and on the spur of the moment found out that some had already bought champagne to celebrate his imminent layoff.
Outgoing NSW Construction Commissioner David Chandler was hand-selected in 2019 by then Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian to be the state’s construction agent tasked with punishing unreliable developers.
And while the building commissioner had big plans to hang up his helmet at the end of the year, he decided he might stay a little longer—at least until April 2023—when he learned developers were gearing up to celebrate his departure.
‘I was really planning to go fishing on September 30,’ Mr Chandler told a Property Council NSW event in Sydney’s west in April, according to the property website. Urban Developer.
“And then I heard that a whole bunch of these guys, right here in this corner, had already ordered champagne for a party on October 1.
“And I thought, wouldn’t it be nice to give them a reason to put the champagne back in the cupboard.”
But Mr Chandler’s brutal torture was not to be.
Bold NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler addresses state parliament shortly after being appointed to the role in 2019
The extension would have kept Mr Chandler employed until September 2023, but on Monday he announced he would be retiring in November.
Chandler was recently cleared of any wrongdoing by a departmental inquiry, which looked into allegations that he had misled parliament.
He told parliament he was not recommending any specific certifiers, but an outdated video later surfaced in which Mr Chandler appeared to say he had presented the banks with an informal list of certifiers he “wouldn’t fucking have a job.”
Mr. Chandler expected some developers to welcome him as a construction watchdog with champagne, but decided to deny them that pleasure for an extra year
The investigation found allegations that Mr Chandler misled parliament were unfounded, but the full findings will be published next week.
After the shocking news of his departure, Mr. Chandler issued a statement.
“I believe the time is right for a reset and I am committed to working with the secretary, the team and the industry until the end of my tenure,” he said.
“I don’t want my resignation to distract people from what has been accomplished so far and the work that still needs to be done.”
NSW Fair Trading Minister Eleni Petinos, who denies the recent allegations of bullying by Newscorp against her, did not readily answer questions put to her about why Mr Chandler resigned.
She expressed a brief appreciation for his work.
“Mr Chandler has been helping the NSW government implement important reforms in the housing sector since 2019,” said Ms Petinos.
“He helped develop and implement Project Remediate, which gave NSW residential apartment buildings a safe, non-combustible cladding.”
Mascot Towers in south Sydney had to be urgently evacuated in June 2019 when alarming cracks in the ceiling were found
The NSW Building Commissioner was formed to enforce police building standards after two Sydney apartment buildings, Opal Tower and Mascot Towers, had to be hastily evacuated when alarming cracks appeared.
Opal Tower, in Sydney’s west, had to be vacated on Christmas Eve 2018 after a wall in the new building burst.
And tenants at Mascot Towers, in Sydney’s inner south, were given just four hours to evacuate amid fears the building could collapse after cracks were found in the basement on June 16, 2019.
There were also concerns that NSW’s apartment buildings were encased in the same flammable cladding that caused the Grenfell Tower inferno in London, and its removal has been a major focus of Mr Chandler’s work.
Considered a tough, no-nonsense construction industry veteran, Mr. Chandler told builders and developers on his first day of work, “Expect to see me in your construction site soon.”
Residents of Opal Tower in Sydney’s west were forced to flee the building when a crack appeared in a wall on Christmas Eve 2018
Mr Chandler was given extensive powers to enter construction sites and deny occupation certificates if he found defects in the work.
He also oversaw the development of a developer quality assessment program and helped create new laws that strengthened developers’ accountability and required them to be insured.
“The development industry understands that this legislation is serious. It has teeth and it will flip the switch,” Chandler said.
Construction workers repair damage at Mascot Towers, raising fears about poor developer standards in NSW
“Our data assets are the second largest outside the Ministry of Defence, in New South Wales. If you think we can’t find you, if you’re a bad player, we know.’
“We now know who takes care of each job. We know if it’s good or dirty money. We probably have the answer to almost anything you can think of as a question.’
Mr. Chandler has received high praise for his efforts in clearing the building after the high profile disasters at the Opal and Mascot towers.
Strata Community Association NSW president Stephen Brell told the Sydney Morning Herald Chandler had been vital in restoring confidence among apartment buyers.
“The commissioner has been very effective, especially in involving Fair Trading in inspecting construction defects and holding builders accountable for work they have done,” Brell said.
“I think in a very short lead time, their risk of buying a dud is greatly reduced.”
The NSW government says it will announce who will be the next building commissioner before Mr Chandler leaves in November.