IBQC Board Members
Inaugural Board Chair | Royal Medal of the Lion (RML) | Order of the Star of Honor of Ethiopia (MSE)
Senior construction lawyer, Lovegrove and Cotton Lawyers | Senior law reform consultant, World Bank
Adjunct Professor University of Canberra
Past Chair, Building Professionals Board Victoria
Past President of the Australian Institute of Building (Vic Chapter) and the New Zealand Institute of Building (Northern Chapter)
Past Deputy Director of the Australian Building Codes Board (Mid-90s)
Past Deputy Director of the Department of Building Control (VIC) (Early 90s) – Predecessor of the VBA
Headed up the team that had carriage of the National Model Building Act that became the blueprint for regulatory law reform in the nineties.
Past Ethiopian Honorary Consul to Victoria
Kim, in his capacity as a Senior Consultant to the World Bank, assists the World Bank with the provision of international best practice law reform advice on building regulations.
He has been deployed in law reform advisory capacities in Mumbai, Shanghai, Beijing and Tokyo. Kim is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Canberra and a past Conjoint Professor of Building Regulation and Certification at the University of Newcastle (New South Wales).
Inaugural Board Deputy Chair |
Professor of Engineering and Discipline Chair of Engineering and Information Technology, Southern Cross University, Australia | Fellow of Institute of Engineers Australia (FIEAust) | Adjunct Professor, University of Canberra
Professional Affiliations with:
Asia Oceania Geosciences Society, Australian Association for Engineering Education, Australian Water Association, Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation – Including Life member and Member of the Board of Trustees, Australian Collaborative Education Network, American Geophysical Union, International Association of Online Engineering International Water Association, Institute of Engineers Australia, Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales
Admitted as a Member of the Order of Australia for his ‘…significant contribution to the building and construction industry as a leader and educator’ – promulgated by HE the Governor-General in the Commonwealth Government Gazette, QB 2014.
Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales (Est 1821, Royal Assent 1866, Act of Parliament 1881) – promulgated by HE the Governor of NSW in the NSW Government Gazette, 6 Feb 2018.
Awarded a Doctor of Construction Management Honoris Causa by Central Queensland University (CQUniversity), announced 2020.
A building and construction management graduate of UTS (1988) from where he also acquired post graduate qualifications in education, Robert remains actively Licensed as a Class A Builder in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT, No.: 2015713) where he also holds a dormant license as a Principal Building Surveyor. He is also an accredited Quantity Surveyor and Building Economist – being also accredited in all these disciplines at Level 1 on the National Building Professionals Register (NBPR).
He served seven years on the Discipline Committee of the New South Wales’ Building Professionals Board – that State’s regulator of Building Surveyors and Certifying Engineers. Robert has also been extensively involved in the formulation of legislation and regulation affecting the construction industry in that State (including the 205 Building Professionals Board Act and most recently both the Strata Defects Inspection regime and the regulations for the Building Designers and Practitioners Act), needless to say he is registered to carry out Strata Defects Inspections in that State.
Director of Research and Education Foundation Trust (REFT, 2012-) and the College of Building (2012-) of the Australian Institute of Building (AIB, Incorporated by Royal Charter).
Current Director and Past Chair of the National Building Professionals Register (NBPR, 2014-).
Past Director and Past Deputy Chair (2014-19) of the Centre for Best Practice of Building Construction – the forerunner of the IBQC.
Past National President (2012-14) of the Australian Institute of Building. Past Chapter President: ACT/NSW (2002-04); and then NSW (2016-17), of the same. Robert has served as a Member and Chair of various national and State committees and judging panels of that Institute.
A Fellow of: the Australian Institute of Building (FAIB, 1999); the New Zealand Institute of Building (FNZIOB, 2020); and the Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (FAIQS, 2016). A Companion of Engineers Australia (CompIEAust, 2016); and a Member of the Australian Institute of Building Surveyors (MAIBS, 2016).
Professor of Practice (Const.Man.) – University of Newcastle (2016-).
Adjunct Professor (Const.Man.) – University of Canberra (2013-).
Adjunct Professor (Const.Man., Bld Surv., Qty Surv.) – Western Sydney University where formerly he served as an adjunct Associate Professor and Adjunct Fellow (originally from 2013-).
He is a member of the industry advisory committees for construction and project management, quantity surveying and building surveying (inc. fire engineering) at all of the above (where applicable) and at CQUniversity – and has provided formal advice to Massey University.
Robert is recipient of the Australian Institute of Building New South Wales’ Chapter Honour Award (2010), which was presented by the then Minister, the Honourable Virginia Judge MP FRSN, New South Wales Minister for Fair Trading (the Department responsible for regulating the construction industry in that State) at Parliament House Sydney 2011.
Director at Weir Legal and Consulting Pty Ltd
Bronwyn is the co-author of the Building Confidence Report. Her appointment with Professor Shergold to undertake this work reflects her reputation as a legal advisor on building regulations for more than 20 years.
Bronwyn has been advising the NSW and WA governments on their implementation of the Building Confidence Report and she is also part of the Expert Advisory Group appointed to advise the ABCB on its work to develop a national framework for the implementation of the report.
Other related work includes advising on the Vic Government’s response to combustible cladding and on security of payment reforms for the Queensland government. In addition to building regulation, Bronwyn has also advised regulators in many other sectors including human services, education and natural resources.
Dominic Sims, CBO, is the Chief Executive Officer of the International Code Council. He was appointed to the position in 2012. As CEO, Sims is responsible for the overall activities and financial performance of the association, including its six subsidiaries.
The Code Council is a member-focused association dedicated to developing model codes and standards used in the design, build and compliance process to construct safe, affordable and resilient buildings. Every state in the U.S. and many global markets adopt the International Codes.
During his 15-year tenure, Sims has also served the Code Council as Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President. He has served on and/or chaired numerous national Committees and Task Forces across a span of topics, including code development, government affairs and resiliency.
Prior to his work with the Code Council, Sims served as the CEO of the Southern Building Code Congress International (SBCCI) and guided its consolidation between regional code organizations that formed the Code Council in 2003. Sims has served on the boards of SBCCI, the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) and several other professional associations. Before joining SBCCI, he was Executive Director of the Palm Beach County, Florida Planning, Zoning and Building Department, where he had responsibility for comprehensive development, construction, and licensing and compliance activities for a high-growth region in the United States.
Having worked in the building safety field since 1983, Sims has held numerous positions, both elected and appointed at the federal, state and local levels including the White House Panel on Seismic Safety, The Society for Standards Professionals (SES) Standards Committee and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) National Policy Committee.
His experience includes service as a Councilman/Vice Mayor for the town of Jupiter, Florida and Vice Chairman of the Governor’s Building Code Study Commission –which helped form his views on the importance of being active in public policy discussions concerning building safety.
Dame Judith Hackitt is a chemical engineer and is currently Chair of Make UK, the manufacturers’ organisation formerly known as EEF. She is also Chair of Enginuity the UK skills body for Engineering and Manufacturing formerly known as Semta and senior non-executive director of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult an organisation which exists to support and encourage innovation in Advanced Manufacturing. She is also a Board member of HS2 Ltd.
Dame Judith worked in the chemicals manufacturing industry for 23 years and then worked in an advocacy role for the sector at national and international level. Dame Judith became Chair of the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in October 2007, until March 2016.
She was made a Dame in the 2015-16 New Year Honours for services to health and safety and engineering, in particular for being a role model for young women. She had previously been awarded a CBE in 2006 for services to the chemical industries. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2010 and currently serves as a trustee of the Academy. She is also a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers and served as President of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (2013-14).
Following the tragic fire which occurred at Grenfell Tower in London in June 2017, Dame Judith conducted an independent review into Building Regulations and Fire Safety related to high rise buildings for the Government. She began her review in July 2017 and plans to implement her recommendations in full were announced in the Queen’s speech in October 2019. She now works as an adviser to Government chairing the Industry Safety Steering Group holding industry to account to deliver the culture change needed and the Transition Board which is overseeing the setting up of the new Building Safety Regulator. She speaks and writes regularly on the need for industry to step up to its responsibilities for safety and quality.
Director, Regulatory reform and Technical Standards | RESCON (Residental Construction of Ontario) | Consultant, World Bank (since 2007) | Director, Regulatory Reform and Technical Standards
Extensive international experience in streamlining planning and building regulatory regimes.
Michael is an experienced public policy professional familiar with the development and building regulatory issues in Ontario and internationally. He has worked as a project manager and adviser for many key Ontario Government initiatives related to the building regulatory system.
Lead author of a 2018 RESCON report on streamlining Ontario’s development and building approval process.
Prepared reports for the World Bank on ways to streamline planning and building regulatory systems following missions to over 15 different countries.
Contributing author to two World Bank books. Presented papers at Society for Applied Anthropology Conferences in Pittsburgh and in Vancouver, on risk and resilience in developing countries.
Past Senior Consultant World Bank Group
Bill Davis Ontario Merit Award
(Ontario Building Officials Association)
Leadership Award
Reach for Excellence, Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
Professional Land Economist
Ontario Association of Land Economists
Panel Member
Centre for Best Practice Building Control (CBPBC), Melbourne, Australia
Member
Association of Ontario Land Economists
Managing Director, ICC Oceania
Neil Savery is the Managing Director of ICC Oceania, an
arm of the US based International Code Council, which develops the model
I-Codes, promotes building safety and provides practical solutions for practitioners
who work in the building sector.
Neil is also engaged by the Insurance Council of
Australia as a specialist adviser on matters relating to the built environment,
and in particular its intersection with climate change.
Prior to this Neil was the Chief Executive of the
Australian Building Codes Board for nine years, having been a Board member for eleven.
In that role Neil championed a roadmap for an ambitious and forward-thinking policy
and regulatory reform.
As part of the Council of Australian
Government processes for twenty years, Neil has been involved in advising Ministers
on significant building and planning policy reform, including his time as Chair
of the Senior Planning Officials Group.
Neil has been the Deputy Commissioner of the
Victorian Building and Plumbing Industry Commissions and served as the inaugural
Chief Planning Executive for the ACT Planning & Land Authority for eight years.
Prior to this Neil was the Executive
Director of Planning SA and before that the Director of City Planning and
Special Projects at the City of Greater Geelong.
He is an Adjunct Professor at the
University of Canberra and holds qualifications in town planning, urban design
and ecologically sustainable development.
He is a Registered Planner, a former
National President of the Planning Institute of Australia and a Graduate of the
Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Senior Private Sector Specialist, The World Bank
Alejandro Espinosa-Wang is a private sector development specialist. Alejandro joined the World Bank Group in 2006.
He currently works with the Trade and Competitiveness global practice. Before joining Trade and Competitiveness he worked in the Doing Business team where he led the research group for the indicators on dealing with construction permits. Espinosa-Wang also worked as a research assistant at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, D.C.
Espinosa holds a degree in government and international relations from the Universidad Externado de Colombia, a certificate in economic policy from American University, and a master’s degree in applied economics from Johns Hopkins University.
Professor José L. Torero is Professor Civil Engineering and Head of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering at University College London. He works in the fields of safety, environmental remediation and sanitation where he specializes in complex environments such as developing nations, complex urban environments, novel architectures, critical infrastructure, aircraft and spacecraft. He holds a BSc for the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (1989), and an MSc (1991) and PhD (1992) from the University of California, Berkeley. He received a Doctor Honoris Causa by Ghent University (Belgium) in 2016. José is a Chartered Engineer (UK), a Registered Professional Engineer in Queensland, a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK), the Royal Society of Edinburgh (UK), the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences (Australia), the Institution of Civil Engineers (UK), the Institution of Fire Engineers (UK), the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (USA), the Combustion Institute (USA) and the Royal Society of New South Wales (Australia).
Stephanie Barwise QC is a preeminent UK-based silk. Her practice comprises construction, civil and geotechnical engineering involving landslip/subsidence and augured/bored piles, mechanical and electrical engineering and infrastructure projects including roads, bridges, mass transit railroads, on and off shore refineries and biofuels plants, ship building and refits, wind farms, IT problems in computer automated cranes and trains, and procurement including major PFI projects such as hospitals and schools. Her practice also extends to military equipment such as man-portable, automated bomb diffusing equipment, battleships and nuclear bunkers.
Amongst the first of the 1988 call to take silk, Stephanie has been consistently recognised as a leader in her field in legal directories such as Chambers and Partners UK Bar Guide and The Legal 500. Stephanie won “Construction Set of the Year” in the Chambers and Partners UK Bar Awards 2019 and was included in The Lawyer’s ‘Hot 100’ list for 2019.
Stephanie appeared for the manufacturer of both trains and the signal in the Ladbroke Grove Rail Inquiry. She is currently representing the larger of the two groups of victims (survivors, bereaved relatives and former residents of Grenfell Tower) in The Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry, a group represented by three firms of solicitors.
Stephanie has represented the UK government and foreign governments, as well as a wide variety of other clients in high-value and complex claims.
Chief Executive Officer, EcoBuild Africa
Arch. Prof. Alfred Omenya is a practicing architect and sustainable human settlements expert. He is the Principal Researcher and CEO at Eco-Build Africa, a leading consultancy on sustainable urban development for developing countries. He has been Associate Professor and Head of School of the Built Environment at the Technical University of Kenya. He previously taught at the University of the Witwatersrand (RSA) and the University of Nairobi (Kenya) where he still serves as external examiner. He has supervised numerous Masters and PhD students. He helped establish schools of the built environment in Rwanda, Malawi and South Africa. He has published over 100 academic papers and remains external examiner in various universities. He collaborates with leading universities globally in research including the Harvard Graduate School, ETH Zurich, University of Manchester (UK), University of Florida (Gainesville US) among others.
He started professional practice at Planning Systems Services (Kenya) and also worked with Sync Consult Pty (South Africa). He has designed hundreds of commercial, residential and hospitality projects in Kenya, Uganda and a few in South Africa. He was the lead consultant for the New Green Master plan for United Nations Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya and was identified by the International Union of Architects as a major opinion shaper on the future of sustainable architecture. Prof. Omenya was also lead author for the African Union Vision 2063 on Urban Development.
Omenya has consulted for international organisations including: the World Bank, African Union, UNEP, UK-Aid / DfID, Oxfam GB, Sida, etc. He was lead author of the UN-Habitat’s State of African Cities Report series for many years. He co-authored “the Definition of Housing Terms for the Republic of South Africa”, “Guidelines for County Spatial Planning for the Republic of Kenya”, and “the African Union Climate Change Strategy”. In 2018 and 2019 he published two research reports on the State of Housing in Kenya. He is currently the lead consultant in development of Building Regulations incorporating Sustainability, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management for the Republic of Malawi, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and Republic of Uganda. Locally Prof. Omenya is supporting the Kenya Urban Support Programme (KUSP), the Sustainable Urban Economic Development Programme for Kenya (SUED) and the Programme Management Office for Post-Covid 19 Recovery.
* Denotes founding member
