Creating a safer built-environment in the City of Yarra

Q&A with Maharlia Pakoti, Building Technical Officer, Building Services at Yarra City Council

Careers at Council recently caught up with Maharlia Pakoti, Building Technical Officer at Yarra City Council. Having recently completed her Bachelor of Building Surveying degree at Victoria University, Maharlia chats to us about her long-held passion for the building industry, and what she finds the most rewarding about her career.

Q. Are you able to tell us about your educational background and what led you to this role at Yarra City Council?

A. Sure! I’m actually originally from New Plymouth in the North Island of New Zealand. I moved to Melbourne with my family when I was young. When I finished school after Year 12, I ended up working in retail for a couple of years – I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do.

I’ve always had a passion for the building industry. When I was younger, I would help my parents around the house with small building projects, and that passion has continued into my adult years where on the weekends I’ll often be doing renovations to my own home!

In 2019 I commenced my studies in the Advanced Diploma of Building Surveying at Holmesglen Institute of TAFE here in Melbourne. During my studies I was able to secure a position at Baw Baw Shire Council working as a Building Technical Officer issuing report and consents for buildings.

An opportunity then came up to work at Yarra City Council as a Cadet Building Surveyor as part of the state government funded Women Building Surveyor’s Program, and one of the first of its kind. The program provided funding to gain work experience with council for two years, as well as support with professional qualifications and development opportunities.

The program opened so many doors for me. We had regular networking events with all the women that had joined the program; often coming together for professional development including events with LGPro, attending seminars with the Australian Institute of Building Surveyors and the Victorian Building Authority.

The program finished in March this year and Yarra City Council kept me on with a permanent position – so I’m now a Building Technical Officer!

Q. Congratulations! Are you still undertaking any study?

A. Yes! During the two years of the program, I completed the Bachelor of Building Surveying degree at Victoria University here in Melbourne, I completed the Victorian Pool Inspectors’ course, and I’m currently enrolled in the Graduate Certificate course for Performance-Based Building & Fire Codes at Victoria University – again, I was fortunate to have this all funded through the program.

Luckily Yarra City Council has been very supportive of me in my studies and opportunities for professional development. I’ll complete the Graduate Certificate in about two weeks and that’ll be it for my tertiary studies.

Q. What does your role as Building Technical Officer entail?

A. I work as a part of the combustible cladding team here at Yarra.

Our aim is to reduce the risks associated with the statewide cladding audit for combustible cladding affected buildings located within our municipality. We assess the building holistically and consider all fire safety risk mitigation measures, such as ensuring essential safety measures (ESM) – including fire extinguishers, fire hose reels, sprinklers etc. – are compliant and are regularly being maintained. We also work closely with the owners corporations to help them understand the level of risk.

Q. Can you explain why combustible cladding is such an issue?

A. In 2014, the Lacrosse Tower in Docklands suffered a severe fire. It was discovered that substandard cladding material had been used on the external walls of the building which directly caused the speed and intensity of the fire. This fire scenario shocked the industry and kickstarted the statewide cladding audit.

The Victorian Building Authority (VBA) who regulates the building industry here, executed the statewide cladding audit in 2017 to identify combustible cladding affected buildings across Victoria. The VBA has worked closely with many Councils as part of the audit to assess these buildings.

In 2019, the Cladding Safety Victoria (CSV) program was then set up with a $600m fund to replace the higher risk buildings across the whole state which they have nearly completed.

We regularly meet with CSV to discuss about their solutions on these and all of the other unresolved buildings within our municipality that contain this cladding.

Effectively, we are working through and rectifying the most at-risk buildings, working with owners and owners corporations, and working towards our goal of ensuring the risks are as low as possible, and the community is safe.

Q. So what are your plans once this team has achieved its goal?

A. I am aware that the combustible cladding team will not be forever – in another few years, these buildings will be made safe from fire spread caused by claddings and ultimately will phase out. Luckily, I do other jobs here which I could specialise in.

I complete ‘essential safety measure’ (ESM) audits which include ensuring safety measure items such as fire hose reels, smoke alarms and extinguishers are compliant and do not require repair other than the scheduled maintenance requirements that the occupancy permit dictates.

I also go out on inspections for ‘place of public entertainment’ (POPE) permits. That is where a public event like a festival, or a circus for example takes place in our municipality and we must go and check that event organisers are meeting the safety and wellbeing requirements of people attending these events. During a POPE inspection, I will we will often check all the structures are safe, that they have emergency management and evacuation plans, enough toilet facilities, water facilities, exit signs, extinguishers etc.

I am also doing pool safety barrier inspections, which is the first level of registration to become a building inspector with the VBA, so my goal now is to get my pool inspectors’ registration.

Theres so much variety – and that is only a tiny portion of what I could do in the building service department here. I am happy to give each thing a try before I decide which one I want to specialise in.

That is another reason why I chose this career, I did not want to be stuck in an office 9-5. I wanted to be able to try different things, go out on inspections, go out on site – just have that variety of work. I love it!

Q. What is the most important skill you think you need to succeed in this career in local government?

A. I think you need to have a willingness to learn – that is crucial. The building industry is always evolving, the legislation and technology are always updating. You’ve got to constantly keep up with change, which means you must be willing to learn continuously.

Q. What would you say to someone considering a career in Building Surveying in local government?

A. It is so rewarding! You can be a part of contributing to the community by ensuring that buildings are safe, and that owners are aware of any risks – basically making the quality of the built-environment safer for the community.

I love interacting with the owners and customers, helping them to understand what the issues are and then working to resolve the issues. I really enjoy getting an owner to the point where they understand the reason why something needs to change or does not comply.

Local Government is also very supportive – when I graduated with my bachelor’s degree, council posted my achievement in the council newsletter and on its LinkedIn page too. It was so nice to be recognised.

I work with a great team here at Yarra, everyone is always willing to help out and it makes all the difference. There are six women in our team – making up 40%, which is the most women working for Yarra building services in our history – my manager calls us the ‘Magnificent Six!’

There are so many professional development opportunities – we are invited to go to events, listen to expert speakers and lectures for different types of building compliance. There is lots of collaboration as well – you work closely with other building surveyors, engineers and planners, which provides opportunities to learn from experts in various fields.

Even the work/life balance is amazing. We have a rostered day off each month and my manager is great at encouraging us to take that day, telling us that we need to have a good balance. We also have a hybrid work from home model at Yarra which I really value.

It is just a really supportive, diverse, and dynamic environment. I would encourage anyone to give it a try!

Are you interested in meaningful work that makes a real difference to your community? Explore roles on offer now