State Government simplifies Sustainability Declaration

Just a month and a half after it was introduced, the Queensland State Government has revised the Sustainability Declaration that must be completed by property vendors in the state. The original intention of the declaration was to allow prospective buyers to “make informed choices about the sustainability performance of residential buildings”, but the Government has now bowed to pressure from vendors and has simplified the document.

The new document only requires answers to 20 questions (down from the original 32), removing questions about access and safety and some detailed questions about electricity usage which asked homeowners to estimate annual greenhouse gas emissions from their electricity bills.

Giving the reasons why the declaration had been simplified, Infrastructure and Planning Minister Stirling Hinchcliffe said the Government was responding to feedback from industry groups.

“The sustainability declaration form was simplified to address feedback from industry about its complexity. Homeowners want a form that can be filled out without assistance and without expert knowledge.”

The new form can be downloaded from the Queensland Government Department of Infrastructure and Planning website:

http://www.dip.qld.gov.au/sustainable-housing/sustainability-declaration.html

You can read our previous article about the introduction of the Sustainability Declaration here.

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