22 January 2020
Who does this notice affect?
All industry stakeholders who request the department’s inspection appointments.
What has changed?
Following activities to better align the bookings and inspection functions across the Client Contact and Inspection Groups, the current service standard for bookings by phone/email will be amended to take effect immediately:
Our service standard: We will confirm receipt of your booking request, cancellation or amendment within 1 business day.
The following booking standards will remain the same:
Your client obligations: You must give 1 business days’ notice to cancel or modify a booked inspection or audit, not including weekends and public holidays. For example, a 1 pm booking on a Monday must be cancelled no later than 1 pm on a Friday.
Our service target: 95% of bookings to be acknowledged within our service standard.
The change to the booking service standard will mean industry will receive a confirmation of receipt of the booking request in 24 hours as opposed to confirmation of a booking.
Analysis indicates that the latter is having an undesirable outcome that we believe is contributing to significant rework and therefore the overall timeframes of getting an inspection appointment. The rework is often required due to late changes to inspection bookings advised by industry members and/or internal modifications due to such changes as officer availability, matching skillsets to jobs or better utilisation of officers for inspections to be carried out in a similar geographical areas.
The minor change to the booking standard is expected to enable a more efficient, accurate and practical booking practice. This additional time up front to allocate the request amongst the many variables that need to be considered is expected to help reduce the lengthy wait times for requested inspection appointments that some industry members have been experiencing.
Other service standards, including 95% of inspections to be provided within 3 business days of confirmation of your scheduled appointment have not changed.
Further information
The department’s service charter.
The department’s service standards.
If you require further information, please contact the department on 1800 900 090 or email.