A new survey of Canberrans has found most support the introduction of a licensing scheme for property developers in the ACT, as Canberra's peak union calls on the government to hurry up.
ACT Sustainable Building and Construction Minister Rebecca Vassarotti last year said the government aimed to introduce new laws on licensing in 2022.
Ms Vassarotti said at the time the government was working through some key issues around what actually constituted a property developer, proper accountability measures and whether new laws needed to be introduced alongside the scheme.
An automated phone survey conducted by Redbridge from July 14 to 18, which surveyed 985 people, found 76.6 per cent supported the scheme.
Just over half of the participants also strongly agreed property developers had too much unrestricted power in Canberra.
The ACT branch of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union has since 2019 called on the government to adopt the licensing.
They have called for licenses which would ensure property developers can demonstrate financial and operational capacity to complete proposed developments and address any building defects that arise.
The scheme should also ensure developers demonstrate a commitment to ethical behaviour, not engaging in "phoenix" activity and not impose unreasonable timeframes on construction workers which could lead to unsafe work practices or poor building quality outcomes.
The CFMEU has called for the implementation of the scheme to mirror the same level of scrutiny which construction workers are subject to.
"Currently, property developers are at the top of the construction process hierarchy, yet are not subjected to the same degree of regulatory scrutiny as the builders and subcontractors working under them," a report from the union on the topic states.
"This lack of regulation is fundamentally at odds with the duties they owe, both as an employer and as a corporate citizen."
The Redbridge polling also found the majority of those surveyed disagreed that property developers already faced sufficient oversight and should not be subjected to more red tape.
More than 30 per cent (32.1) of respondents strongly disagreed with that sentiment, while 39 per cent agreed.
When asked whether respondents thought property developers in Canberra were allowed to shift blame for building defects onto builders and contractors too easily, 43.1 per cent strongly agreed, while 23.7 per cent agreed.
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