Building (Single Dwellings) Act 2001 (Vic)

Building (Single Dwellings) Act 2001

Act No. 30/2001

TABLE OF PROVISIONS

Section Page

1.	Purpose	1
2.	Commencement	1
3.	New section 188A inserted	2

188A.	Decision guidelines on design and siting of single
dwellings 2

4.	Rights of appeal	3
5.	General regulation-making powers	4
6.	Additional regulation-making powers	4
7.	Procedures for building permits	5
8.	Failure to report not to be deemed to be consent	6

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ENDNOTES 7

i

Victoria

No. 30 of 2001

Building (Single Dwellings) Act 2001†

[Assented to 19 June 2001]

The Parliament of Victoria enacts as follows:

1. Purpose

The main purpose of this Act is to amend the design of dwellings.

2. Commencement

This Act comes into operation on the day after the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.

Building (Single Dwellings) Act 2001

s. 3 Act No. 30/2001

3. New section 188A inserted

See:

Act No.	After section 188 of the Building Act 1993
126/1993.	insert—
Reprint No. 3
as at	'188A. Decision guidelines on design and siting of
1 January
1999 and	single dwellings
amending
Act Nos	(1) The Minister may from time to time issue
99/1997,	guidelines relating to the design and siting of
18/1998,
75/1998	single dwellings.
(as amended
by Act No.	(2) Without limiting sub-section (1), these
74/2000),
91/1998,	matters may include—
17/1999,
28/2000,	(a) matters relating to the consideration of
35/2000,	neighbourhood character and amenity
85/2000 and
91/2000.	and the acceptability of the design and
LawToday:	siting of the proposed dwelling in the
	dpc.vic.	neighbourhood;

gov.au	(b)	matters relating to the availability of light to, and the overshadowing of, nearby buildings and allotments;
(c)
matters relating to privacy and buildings and allotments;
(d)	matters relating to the height of a building, and the distances from buildings to the boundaries of an allotment or to nearby buildings;
(e)	matters relating to how much of an allotment may be used for buildings, how much of an allotment may be covered by impermeable surfaces and the provision of open spaces on an allotment;
(f)	matters relating to the preservation of trees, and of architectural or heritage features;

Building (Single Dwellings) Act 2001

Act No. 30/2001 s. 4

(g)	matters relating to the provision of car parking in relation to an allotment;
(h)	impermeable surface materials on an

matters relating to the use of and runoff;

(i)  matters relating to the energy efficiency of buildings;

(j) matters relating to fences and boundary walls on an allotment.

(3) The guidelines must be published in the

Government Gazette.

(4) In this section "single dwelling" means a

building, or buildings, of a class specified by
the regulations for the purposes of this
section that is, or are, intended to be used as
a dwelling.'.

Note: Clause 4A of Schedule 2 requires the reporting authority, if required by the regulations, to give effect to the guidelines made under this section in considering an application for a building permit for a single dwelling that it is required to report on, or to consent to.

4. Rights of appeal

After section 149(3) of the Building Act 1993 insert—

"(3A) For the purposes of this Part, if an appeal is made to the Building Appeals Board against the refusal of a building permit or the

imposition of a condition on a building
permit, the decision under appeal is to be
taken to include the decision or report of the

relevant reporting authority if—

(a)

the building permit was refused consent or the condition was imposed

Building (Single Dwellings) Act 2001

s. 5	Act No. 30/2001
as a result of a recommendation in a report of the reporting authority; and

(b) the refusal of consent, or the making of the recommendation, was based on a decision made by the reporting authority in relation to the guidelines made under section 188A.".

5. General regulation-making powers

After section 261(a) of the Building Act 1993
insert—

"(aa) the matters which a reporting authority is

required or permitted to take into account in
reporting on, or considering whether to
consent to, an application for a building
permit;

(ab) applying section 188A to specified classes of applications for building permits;".

6. Additional regulation-making powers

In item 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Building

Act 1993, after "buildings" insert—

"including—

(a)	matters relating to the availability of light to, and the overshadowing of, nearby buildings and allotments;
(b)	matters relating to privacy and overlooking, in relation to nearby buildings and allotments;
(c)	matters relating to the height of a building, and the distances from buildings to the boundaries of an allotment or to nearby buildings;
(d)	matters relating to how much of an allotment may be used for buildings, how much of an allotment may be covered by impermeable surfaces and the provision of open spaces on an allotment;
(e)	matters relating to the preservation of trees, and of architectural or heritage features;

Building (Single Dwellings) Act 2001

Act No. 30/2001 s. 7

(f)	matters relating to the provision of car parking in relation to an allotment;
(g)	matters relating to the use of impermeable surface materials on an allotment and their effect on drainage and runoff;
(h)	matters relating to the amenity of nearby buildings and allotments;

(i) matters relating to the energy efficiency of buildings;

(j) matters relating to associated fences and boundary walls.".

7. Procedures for building permits

In Schedule 2 to the Building Act 1993, after clause 4 insert—

"4A. Reporting authority must have regard to section 188A

guidelines in some cases

(1) This clause applies if—

(a)	a reporting authority is required by this or any other Act or by the regulations to report on, or to consent to, an application for a building
permit for a single dwelling, within the meaning of section 188A(4); and
(b)	the regulations provide that section 188A applies to applications of that kind.

(2) In reporting on, or considering whether to consent to, the application, the reporting authority—

(a)	must have regard to the guidelines for the time being in force under section 188A; and
(b)	in having regard to those guidelines, if in the opinion of the reporting authority the application may result in a nearby allotment suffering detriment, must give the owner of the allotment an opportunity to make a submission in respect of the possible detriment; and
(c)	must consider any submission made under paragraph (b); and
(d)	must refuse to give its consent to the application if the application does not comply with any matter set out in those guidelines.".

Building (Single Dwellings) Act 2001

s. 8 Act No. 30/2001

8. Failure to report not to be deemed to be consent

In Schedule 2 to the Building Act 1993, after clause 6(5) insert—

"(6) A reference in this clause to a council, with respect to
an application, is to be read as including a reference
to any reporting authority that has to comply with
clause 4A(2) in reporting on, or considering whether
to consent to, the application.".

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Building (Single Dwellings) Act 2001

Act No. 30/2001 Endnotes

ENDNOTES

†

Minister's second reading speech—

Legislative Assembly: 3 May 2001

Legislative Council: 5 June 2001

The long title for the Bill for this Act was "to amend the Building Act
1993 in relation to the siting and design of single dwellings and for other
purposes."