Building Law Changes

Changes to the Victorian Building Laws designed to increase compliance and transparency, came into effect on 1 July 2018 and impact all Victorian building practitioners.

The new reforms have been implemented to achieve compliance and transparency in the building industry, as well as increased consumer protection.

The wide-ranging reforms include:

• Additional limitations on the issue of building permits
• Notification of non-compliance during building work
• Notification to the RBS of a change of builder
• Notification to the VBA and Council of a change of builder
• Notification of change of name, address or ownership
• Suspension of building permits
• Inspection of building work and mandatory notification stages
• Changes to the appointment of Municipal Building Surveyors
• Unregistered or unlicensed plumbers unable to profit from contracts
• New registration requirements for building companies
• Ongoing transition to time-limited registration
• Registration renewals now due three months before expiry
• Powers to immediately suspend an individual or company registration
• Amendments to the “fit and proper person” test

Fact sheets, frequently asked questions and other resources explaining the building industry reforms are available from vba.vic.gov.au/reforms