Building Legislation Amendment (Domestic Building Insurance New Offences) Act 2024 (Vic)

Building Legislation Amendment (Domestic Building Insurance New Offences) Act 2024

No. 4 of 2024

TABLE OF PROVISIONS

Section  Page

Part 1—Preliminary

1Purposes

2Commencement

Part 2—Amendment of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995

3Definitions

4Building work to which this Act applies

5New Part 3A inserted

Part 3—Amendment of the Building Act 1993

6Purposes

7Offence to work as building practitioner or engineer without required insurance

8Insurance for domestic building work to be provided by designated insurers

9Insurance for domestic building work

10Grounds for immediate suspension

11Power to obtain information or documents

12Meaning of authorised person in this Subdivision

13New section 234DA inserted

14Proceedings for offences

15Ineligibility for registration

16Offences by partners

17Offences by bodies corporate

18Statute law revision

Part 4—Repeal of this Act

19Repeal of this Act

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Endnotes

1      General information

Building Legislation Amendment (Domestic Building Insurance New Offences) Act 2024

No. 4 of 2024

[Assented to 27 February 2024]

The Parliament of Victoria enacts:

PART 1—PRELIMINARY

1Purposes

The purposes of this Act are—

(a)to amend the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995—

(i)to insert offences for a builder to demand or receive money under a major domestic building contract if the builder has not ensured that the domestic building work to be carried out under the contract is covered by insurance; and

(ii)to make other miscellaneous and consequential amendments; and

(b)to amend the Building Act 1993—

(i)to amend the purposes of that Act to include regulating builders, and enforcing offences under the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995, in relation to demanding or receiving money under a major domestic building contract if the builder has not ensured that the domestic building work to be carried out under the contract is covered by insurance; and

(ii)to provide that investigation and enforcement powers may be exercised, and proceedings may be commenced, in relation to the contravention of certain provisions of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995; and

(iii)to provide that builders who are found guilty of certain offences against the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 may become ineligible for registration for a period of time; and

(iv)to make other miscellaneous and consequential amendments.

2Commencement

(1)Subject to subsection (2), this Act comes into operation on a day or days to be proclaimed.

(2)If a provision of this Act does not come into operation before 28 November 2024, it comes into operation on that day.

PART 2—AMENDMENT OF THE DOMESTIC BUILDING CONTRACTS ACT 1995

3Definitions

(1)In section 3(1) of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995, for the definition of builder substitute—

"builder means a person who, or a partnership which, carries out or intends to carry out domestic building work;".

(2)In section 3(1) of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995, for the definition of major domestic building contract substitute—

"major domestic building contract means a domestic building contract under which the amount of money that a builder will receive for the carrying out of domestic building work is more than the amount fixed by the regulations;".

4Building work to which this Act applies

After section 5(1)(g) of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 insert—

"(ga)the managing or arranging of the carrying out of work referred to in paragraphs (a) to (g);".

5New Part 3A inserted

After Part 3 of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 insert—

"PART 3A—OFFENCES RELATED TO MAJOR DOMESTIC BUILDING CONTRACTS AND DOMESTIC BUILDING INSURANCE

43ADefinition

In this Part—

domestic building insurance, that covers domestic building work, means insurance that—

(a)relates to the carrying out of the domestic building work; and

(b)a builder is required, by an order under section 135 of the Building Act 1993, to be covered by within the meaning of section 135(6) of that Act; and

(c)complies with section 137AA of that Act.

43BOffence for builder to demand or receive money under major domestic building contract without ensuring that work is covered by domestic building insurance

(1)A builder who has entered into a major domestic building contract for the carrying out of domestic building work for which the builder is required to be covered by insurance by an order under section 135 of the Building Act 1993 must not demand or receive money from the building owner under the contract, or from a person acting on behalf of the building owner, if the builder—

(a)knows that the builder has not ensured that the domestic building work is covered by domestic building insurance; or

(b)is reckless as to whether the builder has ensured that the domestic building work is covered by domestic building insurance.

Penalty:500 penalty units, in the case of a natural person;

2500 penalty units, in the case of a body corporate.

(2)A builder who has entered into a major domestic building contract for the carrying out of domestic building work for which the builder is required to be covered by insurance by an order under section 135 of the Building Act 1993 must not demand or receive money from the building owner under the contract, or from a person acting on behalf of the building owner, if the builder has not ensured that the domestic building work is covered by domestic building insurance.

Penalty:240 penalty units, in the case of a natural person;

1200 penalty units, in the case of a body corporate.".

PART 3—AMENDMENT OF THE BUILDING ACT 1993

6Purposes

After section 1(d) of the Building Act 1993 insert—

"(da)to regulate builders, and enforce offences under the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995, in relation to demanding or receiving money under a major domestic building contract if the builder has not ensured that the domestic building work to be carried out under the contract is covered by domestic building insurance within the meaning of that Act; and".

7Offence to work as building practitioner or engineer without required insurance

(1)In section 136(1) of the Building Act 1993 omit "or managing or arranging the carrying out of".

(2)In section 136(2) of the Building Act 1993 omit "or manage or arrange the carrying out of".

8Insurance for domestic building work to be provided by designated insurers

In section 137AA(1) of the Building Act 1993 omit "or managing or arranging the carrying out of domestic building work".

9Insurance for domestic building work

(1)In section 137A(1) of the Building Act 1993 omit "or managing or arranging the carrying out of domestic building work".

(2)After section 137A(2) of the Building Act 1993 insert—

"(2A)An order under section 135 may require a builder to be covered by insurance relating to the carrying out of domestic building work only in the circumstances specified in the order including if the cost of carrying out the domestic building work will exceed an amount of money specified in the order.".

10Grounds for immediate suspension

After section 180(b)(i) of the Building Act 1993 insert—

"(ia)section 43B(1) or (2) of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995; or".

11Power to obtain information or documents

(1)After section 227G(1)(a) of the Building Act 1993 insert—

"(ab)if the authorised person is the Authority, and the Authority has reasonable grounds to suspect that an offence has been committed under section 43B(1) or (2) of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995; or".

(2)After section 227G(1)(b) of the Building Act 1993 insert—

"(ba)if the authorised person is the Authority, to determine whether section 43B(1) or (2) of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 has been complied with; or".

12Meaning of authorised person in this Subdivision

(1)In the heading to section 227I of the Building Act 1993, after "in this Subdivision" insert "and interpretation".

(2)At the end of section 227I of the Building Act 1993 insert—

'(2)In this Subdivision a reference to "this Act or the regulations" is taken to be a reference to "this Act or the regulations or section 43B(1) or (2) of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995" if the relevant authorised person is a VBA inspector.'.

13New section 234DA inserted

In Subdivision 2 of Division 2A of Part 13, before section 234E of the Building Act 1993 insert—

'234DA   Interpretation

In this Subdivision—

(a)a reference to "a contravention of a provision of this Act or of the regulations" is taken to be a reference to "a contravention of a provision of this Act or of the regulations or of section 43B(1) or (2) of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995" if the Authority has applied to the court for an injunction; and

(b)a reference to "an offence under this Act or the regulations" is taken to be a reference to "an offence under this Act or the regulations or section 43B(1) or (2) of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995" if the Authority has applied to the court for an injunction.'.

14Proceedings for offences

After section 241(3) of the Building Act 1993 insert—

"(3A)A proceeding for an offence against section 43B(1) or (2) of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 may be commenced by—

(a)the Authority; or

(b)a natural person authorised by the Minister or the Authority.".

15Ineligibility for registration

In section 241A(1), (2) and (3) of the Building Act 1993, after "1995" insert "or guilty of an offence against section 11(1), 40(2) or (3) or 43B(1) or (2) of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995".

16Offences by partners

In section 242A of the Building Act 1993, for "an offence" substitute "an offence, or if a builder is found guilty of an offence against section 43B(1) or (2) of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995,".

17Offences by bodies corporate

In section 243 of the Building Act 1993, after "the regulations" insert "or section 43B(1) or (2) of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995".

18Statute law revision

Insert the following heading to section 3 of the Building Act 1993—

"Definitions and interpretation".

PART 4—REPEAL OF THIS ACT

19Repeal of this Act

This Act is repealed on 28 November 2025.

Note

The repeal of this Act does not affect the continuing operation of the amendments made by it (see section 15(1) of the Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984).

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ENDNOTES

1   General information

See for Victorian Bills, Acts and current authorised versions of legislation and up-to-date legislative information.

Minister's second reading speech—

Legislative Assembly: 29 November 2023

Legislative Council: 8 February 2024

The long title for the Bill for this Act was "A Bill for an Act to amend the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 and the Building Act 1993 and for other purposes."