Own motion investigation into the governance and administration of the Victorian Building Commission

This report identifies problems in the governance and administration of the Victorian Building Commission and the manner in which it expends monies generated from its regulation. In March 2012 the Ombudsman\u27s Office received information from several sources in relation to concerns about the Victorian Building Commission (the Commission). These concerns included that the Commission: paid contractors significant amounts for investigative services contracted external investigators who were former Commission staff made significant payments to external investigators based upon invoices which lacked detail about the amounts charged employed former police officers as investigators with little or no building experience poorly managed an information technology project which was several million dollars over budget operated at a significant deficit. This resulted in Ombudsman conducted an own motion investigation into the governance and administration of the Commission. During the investigation additional issues were identified. These included significant expenditure by Commission staff on hospitality and entertainment and concerns about the administration and integrity of the registration system for building practitioners