Two registration classes have been renamed for building practitioners
The reforms relate to the commencement of the Building Legislation Amendment Act 2023 (BLAA).
Two registration classes have been renamed for building practitioners
The first change amends references in the Building Regulations to the titles of existing building practitioner categories to align with the renamed registration category titles (‘Building Designer’ and ‘Project Manager’) that will be in force in the Building Act 1993.
- Draftsperson will be renamed Building Designer
- Person responsible for a building project will be renamed Project Manager
These titles also align with corresponding titles used in the National Registration Framework.
The title of registration classes within each category will not change.
If you hold a registration in either of these categories, your practitioner registration number will remain the same.
A new Digital Accreditation will be issued to you reflecting your renamed registration category.
The VBA will email you in the near future with information about how to obtain a Digital Accreditation.
This will replace your physical registration card, which won’t be reissued to reflect your renamed registration class.
Reframing offences that restrict scope of works
The second change relates to the BLAA removing previous offences that restricted scope of works to categories and classes of building surveyors and building inspectors and also introduces a new offence that applies to building practitioners in general, if the regulations prescribe the work they can do for each category or class.
As a result, the Building Regulations have been amended but continue to prescribe the same scope of works for categories and classes of building surveyors and building inspectors.
The changes do not have any direct effect on the existing requirements of building practitioners, but in the future, will allow the application of the new offence to other practitioner classes via amendments to regulations.
This addresses the need for a more general offence provision for a person who carries out any type of work that is prescribed for any particular category of building practitioner, unless the person is registered.
Additional legislative changes introduced by the BLAA, such as the Building Surveyor Information Statement and Building Manual, will only take effect once the relevant regulations are made. The VBA will communicate with you about these matters in due course.