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Building Activity Management System (BAMS)

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Cladding rectification levy exemption for some social housing projects

New regulations have been introduced to exempt building work relating to social housing from the cladding rectification levy.

A refund of cladding rectification levy already paid for social housing projects may also apply for building permit applications accepted on or after 1 January 2020.

Which social housing projects are exempt?

Certain building work is exempt from the cladding rectification component of the building permit levy.

An applicant for a building permit is exempt from the requirement to pay cladding rectification levy where the building work includes the construction of social housing, and:

  • On completion of the building work, the social housing will be owned, controlled or managed by the Director of Housing, or
  • The social housing is funded under an approved program and on completion of the building work, the social housing will be owned, controlled or managed by a participating registered agency.

The list of current social housing programs can be found on the website.

Further information on how to apply for a permit with this exemption can be found under the ‘Applying for a building permit number’ section on the BAMS Building Surveyor User Guide (PDF, 6423.52 KB).

Building works on Commonwealth Crown land retain the current exemption from any building permit levy, including the new cladding rectification levy.

What if the cladding rectification levy has already been paid on a social housing project?

A refund of the cladding rectification levy may apply to a building permit number application accepted by a building surveyor on or after 1 January 2020.

It will apply where the building work subject of the permit includes the construction of social housing and:

  • On completion of the building work, the social housing will be owned, controlled or managed by the Director of Housing; or
  • On completion of the building work, the social housing will be owned, controlled or managed by a participating registered agency and the social housing is fully or partially funded under a program approved by the Director of Housing.

A request for a refund can be raised by the property owner/applicant directly with VBA. Alternatively, the Relevant Building Surveyor can lodge this request on behalf of the property owner/applicant.

To make the request, the owner/applicant must email bams@vba.vic.gov.au with the subject line ‘Cladding Rectification Levy Refund Request for Social Housing’ and include the following information:

  • Building Permit Number
  • Cladding Rectification Levy amount paid to VBA
  • Name of the Relevant Social Housing Program associated with the building work

Building permit number, levy and reporting changes

Important changes to Victoria’s building permit and levy laws commenced on 1 July 2019, amending the Building Act 1993 (the Act) and the Building Regulations 2018 (the Regulations). Further changes to the Act will introduce a cladding rectification levy on 1 January 2020.

As of 1 July 2019:

  • the Victorian Building Authority (VBA) must issue a building permit number before a relevant building surveyor can issue a building permit
  • owners have a duty to notify the VBA of revised final costs of work
  • the VBA has new powers to re-assess a levy after issuance of a building permit; and
  • revised mandatory monthly reporting duties apply under regulation 47 of the Regulations and repeal of regulation 46 (monthly levy reporting) of the Regulations.

To assist in the implementation of these reforms, the VBA developed an online platform, known as the Building Activity Management System (BAMS).

This platform:

  • accepts applications for building permit numbers (BPNs)
  • processes levy payments
  • issues BPNs
  • accepts mandatory monthly reports from relevant building surveyors; and
  • accepts amendments to BPN records and building permit details.

From 1 January 2020:

  • an additional building permit levy component to fund cladding rectification work will apply to building work in metropolitan areas with a cost of works of at least $800,000 and a classification of 2 to 8 under the National Construction Code
  • the VBA will be responsible for calculating the total building permit levy payable; and
  • owners will no longer be required to notify the VBA of revised final costs of work for staged permits.

Requesting a building permit number

Under section 18AA of the Act, an RBS must give the VBA the information needed to start the BPN application process. Once the VBA has received all information and payment of the levy, the VBA has five days to issue or refuse to issue a BPN.

Building surveyors will need all required information before applying for a BPN. There are a number of required fields and, depending on your answers to the required fields, you may need to provide information for several ‘conditionally required’ fields. For example, if you have advised us that someone else will pay the levy, details about the nominated payer are considered ‘conditionally required’.

Individual BPN applications will be submitted through BAMS via a single online portal, while multiple applications will be made in bulk through a CSV file upload. After the levy payment has been made (via credit card, debit card or BPAY), the RBS will be notified of all issued BPNs via email. The RBS can then issue the building permit to the applicant.

Management of staged building permits within BAMS

For staged building permits, you must apply for a BPN for each stage. BAMS allows building surveyors to input their own Project ID/ Name during the BPN application process. This Project ID/Name field will be used for all stages for the one project and acts as the identifier to group the staged permits.

Updating information after the building permit has been issued

Building surveyors are required to ensure the building permit is up to date by providing the VBA with information following the issuance of the building permit. This information has been categorised into prescribed events and amendments.

Updating the building permit number record and notification of amendments to a building permit’s details

Building surveyors are required to ensure the BPN record is up to date by providing the VBA with information following the issuance of a building permit.

The BPN record should be updated whenever there are new details that relate to a BPN application, corrections to existing data are supplied, or when there have been amendments to a building permit's details.

Updates can be done at any time and should be completed through the online portal or by uploading a CSV file. An example of this is where there has been a change of builder or owner.

If you submit updates via the bulk upload process, you will use the same CSV file template as the BPN application.

Reporting prescribed events relating to building work (regulation 47)

Over the course of construction, an RBS is required to report to the VBA ‘prescribed events’ under regulation 47 of the Building Regulations 2018.

An RBS will need to report up to 22 prescribed events, depending on the type of building work. Examples of a prescribed event include:

  • issuance of a building permit
  • final inspection; and
  • mandatory notifications, such as completion of framework.

Prescribed events must be reported to the VBA within seven days after the end of each month when the event occurred. If you submit prescribed events via the bulk upload process, this is done using a different CSV file template to BPN applications/updates.

The first prescribed event that is reportable to the VBA is the issuance of a building permit. At this stage of the process, the RBS is expected to complete two activities:

  1. Notify the VBA of the issuance of a building permit.
  2. Update the BPN record by providing any outstanding optional and/or conditional fields that were not provided with the BPN application. This information will be provided using the update/amend process.

Advising the VBA of the final cost of work (205KA)

Variations to building work during the life of a permit are likely to result in the cost of work increasing or decreasing from the amount initially estimated, which may increase the amount of levy the VBA is entitled to collect.

  • Once a building permit is issued, the owner must monitor the cost of work and maintain records of the cost of work.
  • This duty falls to the owner or, if the variation is related to an amendment of the building permit, the applicant for the amendment of the building permit. From 1 January 2020, owners are only required to report on increased costs of work for non-staged permits.
  • Notification is required within 28 days of becoming aware of the revised final cost of work.
  • Where the owner or applicant fails to notify the VBA of a variation to building work, or where false or misleading information relating to the cost of building works has been provided, a penalty levy may apply.
  • For staged permits, the VBA may contact the owner at the end of the building work and request information about the final cost of work and supporting documents.

For information for owners, see At the end of your building project.

Things to consider when using BAMS

  • BAMS works best in Chrome or Firefox. Please consider installing either of these browsers.
  • Consider which application method suits your business – single portal or bulk uploads.
  • If you decide to use the bulk upload method, determine how frequently your team needs to upload the BPN application CSV file (e.g. daily, twice a day, once a week).
  • Consider whether you will request the applicant to pay the levy and whether any internal processes need updating.
  • If you will pay the levy on behalf of the applicant, ensure you have one of the payment methods available – BPAY or credit card.

How BAMS impacts you

Industry group High-level impacts relating to BAMS
 
  • Relevant building surveyors (RBS) no longer determine building permit numbers (BPN) or send through levy payments in a monthly levy return.
  • There are two options for supplying information to the VBA via the BAMS portal – an individual application or bulk upload of applications. The method chosen depends on the volume of transactions and software used.
  • The RBS will need to ensure that the applicant or agent acting on their behalf is aware that they will receive an email notification requesting them to pay the building permit levy via a secure payment gateway, and that their building permit will not be issued until the BPN has been received by the RBS from the VBA.
  • Payment can be made via BPAY or credit card. Cheques are not accepted due to processing times delaying the issuance of a BPN.
  • The RBS will need to notify the VBA of prescribed events relating to the building permit through the BAMS portal.
  • The RBS will be required to notify the Commissioner of State Revenue in certain circumstances where the estimated cost of building work carried out under a building permit increases.
 
  • Builders need to provide the applicant with all information required to ensure the correct information is provided to the RBS.
  • Builders need to be aware that the RBS is not allowed to issue a building permit until payment of the building permit levy has been made to the VBA and the RBS has received the BPN from the VBA.
  • The RBS will inform the applicant or their agent that they need to pay the building permit levy directly to the VBA before the BPN and subsequent building permit can be issued.
  • The speed at which a building permit is issued (and work can begin) depends on whether the applicant or agent pays the permit levy in a timely manner.
 
  • An RBS may ask the applicant for a building permit (or their nominated agent) to make payments directly to the VBA instead of to the building surveyor.
  • The applicant will need to understand the importance of paying promptly, so there is no unnecessary delay in the VBA issuing a BPN and, in turn, no unnecessary delay in the building surveyor issuing a building permit.
  • The property owner is required to notify the VBA of any variation to the building work following the issue of a non-stage building permit, if that variation has resulted in an increase to the estimated cost of works of $15,625 or more.
  • The VBA may require the owner to pay an additional building permit levy amount when it has been notified or become aware of an increase in the cost of building work.

Working with the industry

BAMS enables building surveyors to apply, amend and report on building permit information using two methods:

  1. CSV file upload – BAMS will only import CSV files with the correct formatting prescribed. Using this method, you can apply for one or more building permit numbers.
  2. Online Portal Application – BAMS enables online applications to apply for one building permit number at a time.

For building surveyors uploading CSV files, it is suggested that you either have a third-party software provider or an in-house provider who can ensure the CSV file is correctly formatted, so that it validates with BAMS.

More information

Please refer to our Frequently Asked Questions for general information about the Building Activity Management System.

  • For general BAMS enquiries, you can email.
  • BPN Industry Support Line – 1300 241 104

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