Rick Drew – Principle

I have been in the building industry for almost of 45 years with 11 of those years as a building certifier. In that time I have gained an unprecedented amount of experience and knowledge in a wide variety of aspects of the industry. This has been highly advantageous in achieving the degree of success I have in the building certification profession. I commenced my career in Quantity Surveying profession followed by but not limited to –

• various positions with national and international building companies;
• a director of a building company that still exists after 35 years;
• a partner in a building supplies and hardware;
• developer and proprietor of a brickworks;
• Operations Manager for a national building company; a building contractor and Director of a construction company specializing in structural steel fabrication and construction of transportable school buildings for the State Government and industrial buildings for the private sector; 
• General Manager for a national home building company, which ultimately led to the ownership of a franchise;
• 4½ years experience in local government as a building certifier.

In 2000, I chose to leave the main stream building industry to study law. Instead, I was convinced to study Building Surveying based on the premise that the years of building industry experience would be of untold value in this field.  The interpretation and application of legislation is a major function of the profession so I assumed there would be similarities between being a building surveyor and a lawyer. In relation to building surveying, my professional profile now includes the following –

• Building Certifier – accredited and licensed in Queensland as a Level 1 Private Building Surveyor

The following tertiary qualifications-

• Master of Building Surveying
• Bachelor of Building Surveying (with Distinction)
• Advanced Diploma in Building Inspection

Achievement Awards –

• Awarded CQ University/Australian Institute of Building Surveyors prize for highest Grade Point Average on the first attempt for graduating student for both undergraduate degrees

Membership of professional associations

• Senior Professional with the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS)
• Member of the Australian Institute of Building Surveyors (MAIBS).

In addition to operating my own private building certification practice, I was a member of the Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Health as a casual lecturer in the area of the Built Environment at CQ University Australia from December 2006 to February 2011. The areas I lectured in included building legislation, performance based legislation and building infrastructure auditing.

I have not restricted myself to issuing building approvals. I have been consulting in town planning for almost as long as I have been a private building surveyor and regularly obtain planning approvals prior to issuing a building approval on the same projects. Having issued thousands of building approvals and obtained numerous planning approvals over the last 11 years I have become aware of the numerous aspects of the building regulatory system that qualify me to comment on what could be done to improve the private certification process.