Authority to Cancel a Practitioners' Licence

Proposed changes to the Act currently in Parliament will permit both the VBA and VCAT to cancel a building practitioners’ registration, either in a specific category and/or class, should the practitioner be found to ‘not be a fit and proper person’.

Currently, VCAT and the Supreme Court are only permitted to suspend a licence, rather than cancel, even when a person has been found not to be a ‘fit and proper person’ to be registered.

When suspended, a person can resume practising as a registered building practitioner upon the completion of suspension without having to reapply for re-registration. However, if their registration is cancelled the person must reapply for registration, which means the person would have to satisfy the VBA that they are now a fit and proper person for registration.

The intention is to ensure the ongoing requirement for a building practitioner to be a ‘fit and proper person’. Note that the definition of ‘fit and proper’ is yet to be defined.

In addition, there is also suggestion to allow a building practitioners’ licence to be suspended where they repeatedly show a disregard for public health and safety or a lack of concern for potential damage to neighbouring properties.