Untitled document
Building Amendment Act 2008
No. 36 of 2008
table of provisions
Section Page
1Purpose
2Commencement
3Owner-builder insurance
4Effect of decisions under appeal
5Application for registration
6New section 172A inserted
172AChange to prescribed information
7Offences
8Inquiry into conduct of registered building practitioner
9Disciplinary action—building practitioners
10New section 179B inserted
179BConduct of company or partnership to be conduct of building practitioner director or partner
11Notice of decision
12New section 213 inserted
213Appointment of municipal building surveyor
13Delegation by municipal building surveyor
14New section 216C inserted
216CRole of municipal building surveyor outside municipal district
15References to plumbers and plumbing work
16Supervision of plumbing work
17Use of title of plumbing practitioner
18Licences and registrations
19Use of photographs
20Period of registration
21Compliance certificate
22Details that must appear on a compliance certificate
23Lifting suspension—period of insurance
24Disciplinary action—plumbers
25Regulations
26New section 269 inserted
269Transitional—owner-builders
27New section 270 inserted
270Transitional—building surveyors
28Repeal of Amending Act
═══════════════
Endnotes
Building Amendment Act 2008
No. 36 of 2008
[Assented to 26 August 2008]
The Parliament of Victoria enacts:
1Purpose
The main purpose of this Act is to amend the Building Act 1993—
(a)in relation to the sale of buildings built by owner-builders;
(b)in relation to the registration of building practitioners and disciplinary actions relating to them;
(c)to create 2 classes of building surveyors;
(d)to clarify the powers of municipal building surveyors to act outside their municipal districts;
(e)in relation to the registration and licensing of plumbers and disciplinary actions relating to them;
(f)in relation to compliance certificates for plumbing work;
(g)to otherwise improve the operation of that Act.
2Commencement
(1)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 1 September 2009, it comes into operation on that day.
3Owner-builder insurance
(1)After section 137B(5) of the Building Act 1993 insert—
"(5AA)A reference in subsection (2) to a person who constructs a building includes a reference to—
(a)a mortgagee in possession of the land on which the building is situated; and
(b)an executor or administrator of the estate of the person who constructed the building.
(5AAB)A mortgagee, executor or administrator referred to in subsection (5AA) may rely on anything which was done by the person who constructed the building under subsection (2)(a) in the 6 months before a contract of sale is entered into by the mortgagee, executor or administrator as if it had been done by the mortgagee, executor or administrator.".
(2)In section 137B(7) of the Building Act 1993 insert the following definition—
"certified date of commencement, in relation to a building, means the date certified by the owner of the building by statutory declaration as the date of commencement of the building work for the construction of the building;".
(3)In section 137B(7) of the Building Act 1993, in the definition of prescribed period, for paragraph (a)(ii) substitute—
"(ii)if neither an occupancy permit nor a certificate of final inspection is issued or required to be issued in respect of the construction of the building—
(A)7 years after the date of the issue of the building permit in respect of the construction of the building; or
(B)if a building permit is not issued or required to be issued in respect of the construction of the building, 6 years and 6 months after the certified date of commencement for the building; and".
4Effect of decisions under appeal
In section 146(2) of the Building Act 1993 for "or 174A" substitute ", 174A or 178".
5Application for registration
(1)After section 169(2)(c) of the Building Act 1993 insert—
"(ca)be accompanied by the prescribed information relating to the character of the applicant; and".
(2)After section 169(2) of the Building Act 1993 insert—
"(2A)An application for registration as a building surveyor must specify one of the following classes of registration—
(a)building surveyor (unlimited);
(b)building surveyor (limited).".
6New section 172A inserted
After section 172 of the Building Act 1993 insert—
"172A Change to prescribed information
A registered building practitioner must
notify the Board of any change to the prescribed information about the practitioner provided to the Board under section 169(2)(ca) without delay after the change occurs.
Penalty:10 penalty units.".
7Offences
(1)In section 176(1)(a)(ii) of the Building Act 1993, after "building surveyor" insert ", building surveyor (unlimited) or building surveyor (limited)".
(2)In section 176(2) of the Building Act 1993 after "building surveyor" (where secondly occurring) insert "(unlimited) or building surveyor (limited)".
(3)After section 176(2) of the Building Act 1993 insert—
"(2AA)A person who is registered as a building surveyor (limited) must not practise as a building surveyor except in respect of buildings up to 3 storeys in height with a maximum floor area of 2000 square metres.
Penalty:50 penalty units.".
(4)In sections 176(3), 176(4) and 176(5) of the Building Act 1993 after "(2)" insert ", (2AA)".
8Inquiry into conduct of registered building practitioner
(1)For section 178(3) of the Building Act 1993 substitute—
"(3)The Board may suspend the practitioner's registration pending the holding and determination of an inquiry if the Board considers it is in the interests of the public to do so.".
(2)After section 178(5) of the Building Act 1993 insert—
"(6)A person who has had his or her registration as a registered building practitioner suspended under subsection (3) must, as soon as possible after the decision to suspend the registration is made—
(a)give notice in the prescribed form of the suspension of the registration to any person who has a contract with the person relating to, or arising out of, the carrying out of his or her work as a registered building practitioner; and
(b)give a copy of the notice to the Board.
Penalty:10 penalty units.".
9Disciplinary action—building practitioners
(1)After section 179(1)(d) of the Building Act 1993 insert—
"(da)has shown in the information provided to the Board under section 172A that he or she is not a fit and proper person to practise as a building practitioner; or".
(2)After section 179(1)(fb) of the Building Act 1993 insert—
"(fc)has failed to comply with the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995; or".
(3)After section 179(2)(c) of the Building Act 1993 insert—
"(ca)to require the person to complete a specified course of training;".
(4)For section 179(2)(d) of the Building Act 1993 substitute—
"(d)to impose a fine of not more than 100 penalty units unless—
(i)a charge has been filed in the Magistrates' Court in respect of the matter; or
(ii)the matter has been dealt with by a court exercising its criminal jurisdiction; or
(iii)the matter has been dealt with by the issue of an infringement notice;".
(5)In section 179(2)(f) of the Building Act 1993 for "registration." substitute "registration;".
(6)After section 179(2)(f) of the Building Act 1993 insert—
"(g)to disqualify the person from being registered for a specified period of up to 3 years.".
10New section 179B inserted
After section 179A of the Building Act 1993 insert—
"179B Conduct of company or partnership to be conduct of building practitioner director or partner
If a company or partnership of which a registered building practitioner is a director or partner fails to comply with this Act or the regulations in carrying out building work, that failure is taken to have been the conduct of the registered building practitioner and a failure by the registered building practitioner to comply with this Act and the regulations for the purposes of sections 178, 179 and 179A.".
11Notice of decision
After section 182(3) of the Building Act 1993 insert—
"(4)A person who has had his or her registration as a building practitioner cancelled or suspended under section 179 or 180 must, as soon as possible after the decision to cancel or suspend the registration takes effect or is confirmed on appeal—
(a)give notice in the prescribed form of the cancellation or suspension of the registration to any person who has a contract with the person relating to, or arising out of the carrying out of his or her work as a registered building practitioner; and
(b)give a copy of the notice to the Board.
Penalty:10 penalty units.".
12New section 213 inserted
After section 212 of the Building Act 1993 insert—
"213 Appointment of municipal building surveyor
A municipal council must not appoint, employ or nominate a person as its municipal building surveyor unless the person is registered as a building surveyor (unlimited).".
13Delegation by municipal building surveyor
(1)In section 216B of the Building Act 1993 after "building surveyor" (where secondly occurring) insert "(unlimited)".
(2)At the end of section 216B of the Building Act 1993 insert—
"(2)The municipal building surveyor of a council may, by instrument, delegate any of his or her functions under this Act or the regulations to the extent that they relate to buildings up to 3 storeys in height with a maximum floor area of 2000 square metres, except this power of delegation, to any person employed or engaged by the council who is registered as a building surveyor (limited) under Part 11.".
14New section 216C inserted
After section 216B of the Building Act 1993 insert—
"216C Role of municipal building surveyor outside municipal district
(1)A municipal building surveyor of a council, with the consent of that council, may be appointed to carry out all or any of the following functions under this Act in respect of land outside the municipal district of that council—
(a)the issuing of building permits;
(b)the carrying out of inspections of buildings and building work under Part 4;
(c)the issuing of occupancy permits and temporary approvals under Part 5.
(2)In addition to subsection (1), a municipal building surveyor of a council who is appointed pursuant to subsection (1) may carry out outside the municipal district of that council any other functions conferred on a private building surveyor by this Act or the regulations.
(3)A municipal building surveyor may use the title of municipal building surveyor in carrying out functions referred to in this section.
(4)Sections 78 to 83 apply to a municipal building surveyor who is appointed to carry out functions pursuant to subsection (1) as if—
(a)a reference in sections 78(1), 78(3) and 78(4), 79(1), 79(2), 80, 81(1) to 81(3) and 83 to a private building surveyor were a reference to the municipal building surveyor; and
(b)a reference in sections 78(2), 79(3), 81(4), 82(1)(b) and 82(3) to a private building surveyor (where first occurring) were a reference to the municipal building surveyor; and
(c)a reference in section 82(2) to a private building surveyor (where first and thirdly occurring) were a reference to the municipal building surveyor; and
(d)a reference in sections 81(4) and 82 to a private building surveyor's functions were a reference to the municipal building surveyor's functions; and
(e)a reference to a function set out in section 76 of the Act were a reference to a function set out in subsection (1).
(5)Nothing in this section limits or affects the operation of sections 191, 192, 214, 215, 216 or 221.
(6)The enactment of this section does not affect the validity of any permit issued by a municipal building surveyor of a council outside the municipal district of that council before that enactment.".
15References to plumbers and plumbing work
In the Building Act 1993—
(a)in section 221C(1) omit "plumbing" (where secondly occurring);
(b)in section 221C(2) after "plumbing" insert "work";
(c)in section 221E(2) for "a plumber" substitute "a person";
(d)in sections 221N(1)(a) and 221OA(1)(a) after "plumber" insert "in respect of a prescribed class of plumbing work".
16Supervision of plumbing work
In sections 221D(5)(e), 221OA(5) and 221P(2) of the Building Act 1993 for "on behalf of, or at the direction of," substitute "under the supervision of".
17Use of title of plumbing practitioner
(1)Insert the following heading to section 221I of the Building Act 1993—
'Person must not use the title "plumber" or "plumbing practitioner" unless licensed or registered'.
(2)In section 221I(1) of the Building Act 1993 after ' "plumber" ' insert 'or "plumbing practitioner" '.
(3)In section 221I(2)(a) of the Building Act 1993 after ' "licensed plumber" ' insert 'or "licensed plumbing practitioner" '.
(4)In section 221I(3)(a) of the Building Act 1993 after ' "registered plumber" ' insert 'or "registered plumbing practitioner" '.
18Licences and registrations
(1)In sections 221M(4) and 221Q(2) of the Building Act 1993 omit "written".
(2)In sections 221O(4), 221X(3), 221Y and 221ZFC of the Building Act 1993 for "certificate of registration" (wherever occurring) substitute "registration document".
(3)In section 221OA(4) of the Building Act 1993 for "certificate" substitute "document".
(4)In section 221P(4) of the Building Act 1993 for "certificate of provisional registration" substitute "provisional registration document".
(5)In section 221R(2) of the Building Act 1993—
(a)for "certificate of registration" substitute "registration document";
(b)for "the certificate" (wherever occurring) substitute "the registration document".
(6)In section 221ZFA of the Building Act 1993—
(a)in the heading, for "certificate" substitute "document";
(b)for "certificate of registration" (wherever occurring) substitute "registration document";
(c)in subsection (1)(a), for "certificate" substitute "registration document".
19Use of photographs
(1)After section 221T(4) of the Building Act 1993 insert—
"(5)The Commission may use the photograph provided for the purposes of identification of the plumber and for inclusion in the plumber's licence or registration document.".
(2)After section 221ZB(4) of the Building Act 1993 insert—
"(5)The Commission may use the photograph provided for the purposes of identification of the plumber and for inclusion in the plumber's renewed licence or registration document.".
20Period of registration
In section 221Z(2) of the Building Act 1993, after "3 years" insert "(or any lesser period specified by the Commission)".
21Compliance certificate
(1)After section 221ZH(2) of the Building Act 1993 insert—
"(2A)A person for whom plumbing work to which this section applies has been carried out may, by notice served on the licensed plumber, request the licensed plumber to give the person a signed compliance certificate for the work carried out or supervised by the plumber—
(a)if the plumber has not completed the work that the plumber was engaged to carry out; and
(b)the person believes on reasonable grounds that the plumber will not complete the plumbing work.
(2B)Within 5 days of service of a notice under subsection (2A), a licensed plumber must—
(a)give the person for whom the work was carried out a signed compliance certificate in respect of the work; and
(b)notify the Commission, in the manner specified by the Commission, that the compliance certificate has been given.
Penalty:10 penalty units for a first offence;
15 penalty units for a second offence;
25 penalty units for a third or subsequent offence.".
(2)For section 221ZH(4) of the Building Act 1993 substitute—
"(4)For the purposes of this section plumbing work is completed by a licensed plumber when whichever of the following first occurs—
(a)the plumber completes the whole of the plumbing work that he or she was engaged to carry out in accordance with the relevant plumbing laws;
(b)the whole of the plumbing work that the plumber was engaged to carry out is capable of being used in accordance with the relevant plumbing laws.".
(3)In section 221ZH(5) of the Building Act 1993 after "subsection (2)" insert "or (2B)".
(4)After section 221ZH(6) of the Building Act 1993 insert—
"(6A)If a licensed plumber gives a person a signed compliance certificate, but fails to do so within 5 days after the service of a notice under subsection (2A), or fails to comply with subsection (2B)(b), the failure to comply with subsection (2B) does not affect the validity of the certificate.".
22Details that must appear on a compliance certificate
In section 221ZI(1)(b)(ii) of the Building Act 1993—
(a)before "completed work" omit "only";
(b)after "licensed plumber" insert "and in respect of which a compliance certificate has not been given to the person for whom that work was carried out".
23Lifting suspension—period of insurance
In section 221ZU(3) of the Building Act 1993 for "until the next anniversary of his or her licensing" substitute "for the remaining period of the licence".
24Disciplinary action—plumbers
(1)For section 221ZZZJ(1)(f) of the Building Act 1993 substitute—
"(f)order the person to pay the Commission a penalty of not more than 100 penalty units unless—
(i)a charge has been filed in the Magistrates' Court in respect of the matter; or
(ii)the matter has been dealt with by a court exercising its criminal jurisdiction; or
(iii)the matter has been dealt with by the issue of an infringement notice;".
(2)After section 221ZZZJ(1) of the Building Act 1993 insert—
"(1A)If the Commission determines under subsection (1) to suspend or cancel a licence or registration of a person because the person has breached a requirement of this Part, the Commission may suspend the operation of that suspension or cancellation on condition that the person complies with specified conditions.
(1B)In making a decision under subsection (1A), the Commission may take into account—
(a)whether the person has any previous conviction for breaching the requirements of this Part; and
(b)whether the conduct of the person in breaching the requirements leading to the determination to suspend or cancel the licence or registration was out of character and unlikely to reoccur; and
(c)whether there are mitigating circumstances that warrant the decision.
(1C)The Commission may revoke the suspension of the suspension or cancellation of a licence or registration and reinstate the original suspension or cancellation if the Commission is satisfied that the person has during the suspension period—
(a)breached a requirement of this Part; or
(b)breached a condition of the suspension.
(1D)If the original suspension or cancellation of a licence or registration is reinstated, the period of suspension begins, or the cancellation takes effect, on the day following the day that the decision to reinstate the suspension or cancellation is made.".
25Regulations
In section 221ZZZV(1) of the Building Act 1993—
(a)in paragraphs (b) and (f) after "examinations" insert "or assessments";
(b)for paragraph (d) substitute—
"(d)classes of plumbing work, including, where those classes differ from any classes previously specified, transitional provisions setting out how—
(i)the new classes relate to the old classes; and
(ii)licences and registrations to carry out the old classes translate into licences and registrations to carry out the new classes;".
26New section 269 inserted
After section 268 of the Building Act 1993 insert—
"269 Transitional—owner-builders
(1)Subject to subsection (2), section 137B(7) as amended by the Building Amendment Act 2008 applies in relation to a building whether the building was constructed before or after the commencement of section 3 of that Act.
(2)Section 137B(7) as in force immediately before the commencement of section 3 of the Building Amendment Act 2008 continues to apply in relation to a building if the required insurance under section 137B(2) was obtained in respect of that building before that commencement.".
27New section 270 inserted
At the end of Part 14 of the Building Act 1993 insert—
"270 Transitional—building surveyors
On the commencement of section 5(2) of the Building Amendment Act 2008, any person who was registered under this Act as a building surveyor immediately before that commencement is taken to be registered as a building surveyor (unlimited).".
28Repeal of Amending Act
This Act is repealed on 1 September 2010.
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.
═══════════════
Endnotes
Minister's second reading speech—
Legislative Assembly: 26 June 2008
Legislative Council: 31 July 2008
The long title for the Bill for this Act was "A Bill for an Act to amend the Building Act 1993 and for other purposes."
0
0
0