Building Reform

The Victorian Government is continually looking at ways in which the building system in Victoria can be improved to ensure the safety, liveability and sustainability of our built environment.

Review of the Victorian Building System

In December 2019, the Government announced the commencement of a comprehensive review of Victoria’s building system. An Expert Panel, chaired by Anna Cronin Commissioner for Better Regulation, has been appointed to oversee the review and provide advice to government. For further information on the review, visit Review of Victoria's Building System.

Legislative Reform Program

The government has progressively implemented a program of legislative reform since 2016 designed to improve industry performance and consumer protection and modernise the regulation, registration and discipline of building practitioners. The reforms include:

• the Building Legislation Amendment (Consumer Protection) Act 2016 – introduced new processes for resolving domestic building disputes, includes the establishment of Domestic Building Dispute Resolution Victoria, and aimed to make regulation of building practitioners stronger
• the Building Amendment (Enforcement and Other Measures) Act 2017 – includes provisions to improve information quality and accessibility for consumers, enable corporate registration, impose personal and financial probity requirements and addressed concerns around unqualified people inspecting building work and builders not sufficiently notifying surveyors of mandatory inspection stages
• the Building Amendment (Registration of Building Trades and Other Matters) Act 2018 – established a framework to prescribe types of building work that can only be carried out by registered tradespeople, improved disciplinary provisions and regulation of swimming pool and spa barriers and provided a range of measures related to cladding on buildings including a framework for cladding rectification agreements.