Building Amendment (Emergency Accommodation) Regulations 2020 (Vic)

Building Amendment (Emergency Accommodation) Regulations 2020

S.R. No. 83/2020

TABLE OF PROVISIONS

Regulation  Page

1Objective

2Authorising provisions

3Principal Regulations

4Definitions

5Emergency accommodation

6Amendment to regulation 276—Authorised officers

7Amendment to regulation 277—Prescribed offences

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Endnotes

STATUTORY RULES 2020

S.R. No. 83/2020

Building Act 1993

Building Amendment (Emergency Accommodation) Regulations 2020

The Governor in Council makes the following Regulations:

Dated: 18 August 2020

Responsible Minister:

RICHARD WYNNE
Minister for Planning

CLAIRE CHISHOLM

Clerk of the Executive Council

1Objective

The objective of these Regulations is to amend the Building Regulations 2018 to exempt the construction on land of a building for emergency accommodation from the requirement for a building permit and from the application of most Parts of those Regulations if a Class 1a building on that land has been destroyed or rendered unfit for occupation as a result of an emergency.

2Authorising provisions

These Regulations are made under sections 7, 261 and 262 of, and Schedule 1 to, the Building Act 1993.

3Principal Regulations

In these Regulations, the Building Regulations 2018[1] are called the Principal Regulations.

4Definitions

In regulation 5(1) of the Principal Regulations insert the following definition—

"emergency accommodation building has the same meaning as in regulation 166B;".

5Emergency accommodation

After Part 11 of the Principal Regulations insert—

"Part 11A—Emergency accommodation buildings

166ADefinitions in this Part

In this Part—

emergency means a Class 1 emergency or a Class 2 emergency within the meaning of section 3 of the Emergency Management Act 2013 whether the emergency occurred before, on or after the commencement of this Part;

maximum occupation period in relation to the occupation of an emergency accommodation building means the period of 3 years commencing after the notified commencement date;

notified commencement date means the date notified to the relevant council by the owner of an emergency accommodation building under regulation 166C(1) or, if a later date is notified by the owner under regulation 166C(2), that later date;

owner in relation to an emergency accommodation building, means the owner of the land on which the building is constructed or proposed to be constructed.

166BMeaning of emergency accommodation building

For the purposes of this Part an emergency accommodation building means a building that—

(a)is constructed or proposed to be constructed on land on which—

(i)an existing Class 1a building has been destroyed or rendered unfit for occupation as a result of an emergency; and

(ii)at the time the Class 1a building was destroyed or rendered unfit for occupation it was the principal place of residence of the owner of the land; and

Note

The definition of construct in section 3 of the Act includes altering an existing building or placing or relocating a building on land so a building constructed elsewhere and placed or relocated on land would be constructed on the land.

(b)is intended for use as the principal place of residence of the owner of the land before or during—

(i)the repair of the existing Class 1a building; or

(ii)the construction of a new Class 1a building on the land; and

(c)has a floor area of—

(i)60m² or less; or

(ii)a size greater than 60m², if that greater size has been approved in writing by the relevant council for the purposes of this regulation.

166COwner must notify the relevant council of intended occupation of emergency accommodation building

(1)No later than the day on which the construction of the emergency accommodation building begins or 14 days before the owner of the building intends to occupy the building for residential purposes, whichever is the earlier, the owner must notify the relevant council in writing of—

(a)the owner's intention to commence occupying the building as the owner's principal place of residence; and

(b)the proposed commencement date of that occupation.

(2)If the owner of an emergency accommodation building has not commenced occupying the building as the owner's principal place of residence on the date notified under subregulation (1)(b), the owner may notify the relevant council in writing of a later proposed commencement date of occupation.

166DOccupation of emergency accommodation building prohibited before notified commencement date

A person must not occupy an emergency accommodation building for residential purposes before the notified commencement date in relation to the building.

Penalty:10 penalty units.

166EMunicipal building surveyor may inspect emergency accommodation building

The municipal building surveyor may inspect an emergency accommodation building for the purposes of determining whether this Part is being complied with.

166FRequirements for emergency accommodation buildings

(1)Despite anything to the contrary in the BCA Volume Two or these Regulations an emergency accommodation building—

(a)is required to comply with the following requirements—

(i)performance requirements P2.1.1, P2.1.2, P2.2.2, P2.2.3, P2.3.1, P2.3.2, P2.4.1, P2.4.3 and P2.7.3 of the BCA Volume Two;

(ii)if the emergency accommodation building forms part of, or is attached to, any other building or buildings, other than an associated Class 10 building, the emergency accommodation building must have elements which will avoid the spread of fire from another building to the emergency accommodation building;

(iii)the building must be connected to a reticulated potable water supply or to an alternative potable water supply;

(iv)the building must be connected to a reticulated electricity supply or to an alternative energy source;

(v)the building must be connected to a reticulated sewerage system or to a septic tank system approved by the relevant council under section 53MB of the Environment Protection Act 1970; and

(b)must be occupied as the principal place of residence of the owner of the building.

(2)If an emergency accommodation building is not a Class 1a building, the performance requirements set out in subsection (1)(a)(i) apply to the building as if it were a Class 1a building.

Note

Despite regulation 166G, an emergency accommodation building must still comply with any other requirements under the Act or regulations made under the Act including the plumbing laws that apply to the building.

166GExemption from certain requirements for emergency accommodation buildings

(1)The construction of an emergency accommodation building is exempt from the requirement to obtain a building permit for such construction and the building work connected with that construction and the building is exempt from all Parts of these Regulations (except this Part) until the end of the maximum occupation period for that building if—

(a)the owner of the building has complied with regulation 166C; and

(b)the building complies with the requirements under regulation 166F.

(2)Despite subregulation (1), an exemption under subregulation (1) in relation to an emergency accommodation building only ceases to operate before the end of the maximum occupation period if—

(a)the municipal building surveyor has notified the owner of the building in accordance with subregulation (3) that the building does not comply with a requirement under regulation 166F(1)(a) and the building has not been brought into compliance with the requirement within the period of time specified in the notice or any extended period of time, in which case the exemption ceases to operate at the end of that period; or

(b)the owner no longer occupies the building as the owner's principal place of residence, in which case the exemption ceases to operate on the day after such occupation ceases.

(3)If the municipal building surveyor, after inspecting an emergency accommodation building, determines that the building does not comply with a requirement under regulation 166F(1)(a), the municipal building surveyor must give the owner of the building a written notice containing the following details—

(a)the requirement with which the building does not comply;

(b)the period of time within which the building must be brought into compliance with the requirement;

(c)that if the building is not brought into compliance with regulation 166F(1)(a) within the period of time referred to in paragraph (b) or any extended period of time granted under subregulation (5), the exemption under subregulation (1) ceases to operate in relation to the building at the end of that period.

(4)The owner of an emergency accommodation building may, before the end of the period of time referred to in subregulation (3)(b) or any extended period of time granted under subregulation (5), request that the municipal building surveyor extends that period of time.

(5)If the municipal building surveyor agrees to grant a request under subregulation (4), the municipal building surveyor must notify the owner in writing of the extended period of time.

166HOccupation of emergency accommodation building prohibited unless building complies with the Act and these Regulations

Despite regulation 233(2), a person must not occupy an emergency accommodation building for residential purposes if an exemption under regulation 166G has ceased to operate in relation to that building unless the building complies with the requirements of the Act and these Regulations that apply to that class of building.

Penalty:10 penalty units.

Note

If the emergency accommodation building is no longer to be used for residential purposes, regulation 229 will apply.  If building work is to be carried out in connection with the building a building permit may be required.".

6Amendment to regulation 276—Authorised officers

In regulation 276(c) of the Principal Regulations, after "147ZJ(4)," insert "166D, 166H,".

7Amendment to regulation 277—Prescribed offences

In regulation 277 of the Principal Regulations, after "147ZJ(4)," insert "166D, 166H,".

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Endnotes

[1] Reg. 3: S.R. No. 38/2018 as amended by S.R. Nos 38/2018, 75/2018, 100/2018, 180/2018, 40/2019, 116/2019, 21/2020 and 42/2020.

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Penalty Units

These Regulations provide for penalties by reference to penalty units within the meaning of section 110 of the Sentencing Act 1991. The amount of the penalty is to be calculated, in accordance with section 7 of the Monetary Units Act 2004, by multiplying the number of penalty units applicable by the value of a penalty unit.

The value of a penalty unit for the financial year commencing 1 July 2020 is $165.22.

The amount of the calculated penalty may be rounded to the nearest dollar.

The value of a penalty unit for future financial years is to be fixed by the Treasurer under section 5 of the Monetary Units Act 2004. The value of a penalty unit for a financial year must be published in the Government Gazette and a Victorian newspaper before 1 June in the preceding financial year.

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Table of Applied, Adopted or Incorporated Matter

The following table of applied, adopted or incorporated matter is included in accordance with the requirements of regulation 5 of the Subordinate Legislation Regulations 2014.

In this table—

BCA Volume Two means Volume Two of the National Construction Code 2019 including any variations or additions in the Victoria Appendix set out in Schedule 1 to that Volume;

National Construction Code 2019 means the National Construction Code 2019 published by the Australian Building Codes Board on 1 May 2019 as amended on 1 July 2020.

Statutory rule provision	Title of applied, adopted or incorporated document	Matter in applied, adopted or incorporated document
Regulation 5 of the Building Amendment (Emergency Accommodation) Regulations 2020 which inserts new regulation 166F into the Building Regulations 2018	BCA Volume Two	Performance requirements P2.1.1, P2.1.2, P2.2.2, P2.2.3, P2.3.1, P2.3.2, P2.4.1, P2.4.3 and P2.7.3