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Building Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 is before Parliament

There is legislation now before Victorian Parliament that is a major step on the Victorian Government’s path to initiate reform measures for the building industry.

The Building Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 is an outcome of a three-year process to identify and fix issues relating to building regulation.

The Government’s building reform agenda is being led by an Expert Panel on Building Reform.

The Bill addresses several broad reform objectives.

Fundamentally the bill is around greater consumer protection within the building industry.

A significant change will be to strengthen and formalise the role of the State Building Surveyor (SBS) through recognising it in legislation with statutory objectives and functions. The SBS will have the power to issue binding determinations relating to technical interpretation of building and plumbing standards and requirements.

Another significant change includes establishing a Building Monitor to represent consumer interests and requiring builders and building surveyors to provide more information about their work to their customers.

Other measures include:

  • widening the range of building industry participants who will need to be registered
  • strengthening oversight of building surveyors
  • updating governance arrangements for the Architects Registration Board
  • making changes to the distribution of the Cladding Rectification Levy
  • enhancing monitoring of building standards by expanding information sharing between government agencies