A regulator with new powers
The Minister for Planning Sonya Kilkenny has announced a new more powerful building and plumbing watchdog, Building & Plumbing Commission, to oversee the industries across the state.
Bringing together the Victorian Building Authority (VBA), Domestic Building Disputes Resolution Victoria (DBDRV) and the Domestic Building Insurance (DBI) function of the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority (VMIA), the new regulatorwill deliver stronger protections for Victorian homeowners and create a new one-stop shop to regulate Victoria’s building and plumbing industries.
The new regulator will combine the key regulatory functions relating to the building industry together under one roof, streamlining the process for consumers and industry and enabling the regulator to have oversight of all complaints so they can be handled more effectively and efficiently.
This change is the most significant reform to building industry regulation in decades and puts consumer protection clearly front and centre in terms of the Government’s regulatory priorities. This new entity will be game changing for the people of Victoria.
Creating an overarching, more powerful regulator that addresses the life cycle of the building process will create a better consumer experience and supports improved standards and quality in the building industry.
What new powers will the new regulator have?
The regulator’s new powers will be a game changer for consumers, with better protections and the ability to hold rogue builders and plumbers to account more effectively.
The new powers include:
- A new rectification order power to allow the regulator to act against a builder after the occupancy permit is issued. This is important because defects are often only discovered after the homeowner moves in.
- Compelling developers of apartment buildings above three storeys to notify the regulator before a building is occupied, so the regulator can conduct a final inspection.
- Apartment owners will be better protected with a strata bond introduced for mid- to high-rise apartment buildings. This ensures funds are available to rectify defects after the occupancy permit is issued.
- DBI will be expanded to respond when a builder has failed to comply with the new rectification order. This means the builder must no longer be insolvent, have disappeared, or died before a claim can be made.
How and when will the changes occur?
The new regulator and its additional powers require changes to legislation to go through Parliament as well as new administrative arrangements through government departments.
The changes that have been announced are slated to come into effect in the first half of 2025 and there are no imminent changes to our business-as-usual activities.
As we get closer to the establishment of the new regulator further information on the changes and any transitional arrangements to support consumers and practitioners in their interactions with the both the existing agencies and the new regulator will be published on our website.
For more information about this announcement, please read the Premier’s media release and visit the VBA website.
The publication of Victorian Building Authority – The Case for Transformation
The VBA has published an independently commissioned report (Victorian Building Authority – The Case for Transformation) into seven of the VBA’s most complex and challenging consumer cases, some of which span more than 10 years.
The reasons for getting this report done are that, when I first joined the VBA, I wanted to understand where we were doing well, but also where we had experienced challenges or may not have performed as well as we could have, particularly in supporting consumers who had been seriously let down by the building system.
I have met with six of the seven consumers involved, and spoken to the seventh on the phone. Their distress about how the system has treated them is palpable. And, as you will read in the report, there are clearly areas where, if the VBA had had a clear focus and priority on consumers, we would have done things differently and better in terms of outcomes for them.
The report makes 20 recommendations, some of which relate to our own VBA policies and practices and others which require the Government’s consideration. I support all of the report’s recommendations in regard to our own practices, in principle, and am committed to implementing them as quickly as possible.
