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Building Statement: Strengthening Victoria’s Building System

We have released the Building Statement: Strengthening Victoria’s Building System to set out our vision for a safer, more trusted building system.

We need a strong building system that industry and consumers trust. That’s why we have an ambitious plan to reform the building system to ensure safer, higher-quality buildings that meet the needs of Victorians.

The Building Statement outlines the progress we’ve made on our building reform program so far, and the work we’ll be doing over the next 18 months and beyond.

Strengthening the Building and Plumbing Commission

A new building regulator has been created to strengthen Victoria’s domestic building and plumbing industries.

The Building and Plumbing Commission (BPC) is a streamlined watchdog for consumers that oversees all aspects of building quality control - including regulation, insurance, and dispute resolution.

It brings together the functions of the Victorian Building Authority (VBA), Domestic Building Dispute Resolution Victoria (DBDRV) and the domestic building insurance arm of the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority (VMIA) into one location.

The Building and Plumbing Commission is being strengthened to protect Victorians:

Rectification orders

The BPC can issue rectification orders to direct builders, subcontractors and developers to fix poor work at any time during construction and up to 10 years after the date of practical completion, providing stronger protections for people building or renovating their homes.

First Resort Home Warranty Scheme

The First Resort Home Warranty Scheme is Victoria’s new domestic building insurance model for eligible residential projects. It covers work on buildings up to three storeys where the contract value is $20,000 or more. Cover available includes lost deposits, incomplete building work, and non-compliant or defective building work.

Developer Bond Scheme

The Developer Bond Scheme requires developers of apartment buildings four storeys and above to lodge a bond with the BPC before applying for an occupancy permit. These funds can be directed towards covering the cost of rectifying defects, providing financial protection for apartment owners.

The scheme will apply to projects that have a building permit issued after 1 July 2027 to give developers adequate time to accommodate to the requirements.

Building and Plumbing Administration and Enforcement Act 2026

The Building and Plumbing Administration and Enforcement Act 2026 passed Parliament on 12 May 2026 and received Royal Assent on 19 May 2026.

The new principal Act will administer and enforce laws regulating the building and plumbing industries and building and plumbing work. It is designed to improve outcomes for consumers by incentivising better building practices, preventing defects and support quicker intervention when things go wrong.

The Act will:

  • legally establish the Building and Plumbing Commission (BPC)
  • introduce a new overarching building system objective to promote and protect the health and safety of building occupants and the public
  • clearly identify the statutory roles in the building and plumbing regulatory system
  • equip the BPC with modern enforcement powers to strengthen oversight of the system, including:
    • broadening the scope of infringement notices and introducing a new improvement notice power to monitor compliance and identify issues early
    • new civil penalties and expanded ability to make director personally liable in the most serious cases.

The Act builds on reforms implemented via the Building Legislation Amendment (Buyer Protections) Act 2025 and the Domestic Building Contracts Amendment Act 2025, which began the process of creating a more integrated and effective building regulator.

The Act is expected to commence mid to late 2027, and no later than 1 December 2027.

Cladding Safety Victoria Repeal Act 2026

The Cladding Safety Victoria Repeal Act 2026 passed Parliament on 12 May 2026 and received Royal Assent on 19 May 2026.

Cladding Safety Victoria (CSV) was established by the Cladding Safety Victoria Act 2020 to oversee the Private Residential Cladding Rectification Program and Government-owned Buildings Cladding Rectification Program.

CSV has delivered a world-first initiative, working with building owners to make their buildings safe from combustible cladding. CSV has completed remediation on more than 99% of the highest-risk buildings in the Cladding Rectification Program, dramatically reducing their combustible cladding risk, with the remaining buildings to be completed this year.

To mark the completion of CSV initiatives, the Cladding Safety Victoria Act has been repealed and CSV has been wound down.

The completion of the Cladding Rectification Program has allowed the Cladding Rectification Levy component of the Building Permit Levy to be repealed. It has been replaced by a new component of the Building Permit Levy, which only applies to certain building types in non-regional Victoria with a cost of building works of $1.5 million or more. This levy is lower in cost and applies to fewer building permits, resulting in savings for consumers.

The new levy component will be in place up to and including 30 June 2029 and will help fund the BPC to ensure it has the resources needed to effectively regulate the building and plumbing industry.

Building Legislation Amendment (Buyer Protections) Act 2025

The Buyer Protections Act 2025 passed Parliament on 29 May 2025 and received Royal Assent on 3 June 2025.

The Act brought together the functions of the VBA, DBDRV and the domestic building insurance arm of the VMIA into the Building and Plumbing Commission (BPC) - a single, integrated regulator for the building system established on 1 July 2025.

The Act also introduced rectification orders and the First Resort Home Warranty Scheme, which commenced on 1 July 2026. The Developer Bond Scheme will apply to projects with a building permit issued from 1 July 2027, allowing developers time to prepare for the new requirements.

Building Legislation Amendment (Fairer Payments on Jobsites and Other Matters) Act 2025

The Fairer Payments on Jobsites and Other Matters Bill passed both Houses of Parliament on 30 October 2025 and received Royal Assent on 13 November 2025.

The Act makes changes to Victoria's Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2002 (Security of Payment Act) and delivers on the Government's commitment to implement 16 recommendations from a Parliamentary inquiry into employers and contractors who refuse to pay their subcontractors for completed works.

Changes to the Security of Payment Act commenced on 15 April 2026, delivering certainty to the construction industry.

The changes to the Security of Payment Act will:

  • improve the construction industry’s ability to recover payments for completed construction work and for the supply of related goods and services
  • better align Victoria’s legislation with security of payment legislation in other Australian states and territories
  • modernise the Act to make it easier to make claims and have them adjudicated if there’s a payment dispute.

Prompt commencement of these reforms will significantly improve smaller subcontractors’ and tradies’ cash flow and provide certainty for industry at a time of global unpredictability. The Act will also improve building practices in the industry by:

  • reforming the building surveyors and building inspectors registration scheme to lift practitioner performance and boost workforce supply
  • authorising development of a plumbing code of conduct to be enforced by the BPC
  • making improvements to other legislation, including the Planning and Environment Act 1987, to widen the scope of VCAT orders to protect native vegetation, and the Heritage Act 2017, to eliminate risks and uncertainties.

Reforms to Victoria's building system

Building manual

From 1 February 2027, new Class 1b, 2, and 3 buildings - including boarding houses, apartments, and larger residential buildings such as hotels - will be required to have a building manual. Smaller owner-operated Class 1b guest houses and bed and breakfasts that meet certain criteria are not required to have a building manual. Buildings constructed before this date are not affected.

A building manual is a single document containing key information about a building's design, construction, and subsequent works. Having this information centralised and readily accessible helps owners and owners corporations make informed maintenance decisions, identify defects early, and manage their building more effectively over its lifetime.

The building owner or owners corporation is responsible for keeping the manual and updating it annually to capture any changes or works carried out on the building.

For more information and to view the regulations, visit Engage Victoria.

Modern methods of construction

We're developing options to better enable modern methods of construction.

Modern methods of construction are innovative building processes that are different to traditional construction; they are often referred to as prefabricated, modular, or off-site construction.

It is estimated that only five to eight per cent of new homes in Australia are prefabricated. We know that the Building Act, which regulates all building and plumbing work in Victoria, does not adequately support this construction methodology. We're exploring ways to improve uptake, including through changes to approvals, registration and licensing, inspections and insurance requirements.

Public consultation was open between 16 June and 7 August 2025. You can read more about the project on the Engage Victoria.

Expanded building industry registration

The framework for building industry registration will be expanded to broaden the range of building industry practitioners who need to be registered.

This will improve regulatory oversight of practitioners, making them more accountable and providing consumers with better protection. The registration requirement will mean work is restricted to qualified, competent practitioners.

It will enable regulations to be made that set the qualifications and experience required for registration. Stakeholder consultation and impact assessments will be completed ahead of finalising these regulations.

New categories to be considered for the registration requirement are:

  • building consultants
  • site supervisors.

Two existing categories, draftsperson and project management work, will be renamed to align with national categories.

Information statements

Building surveyors will be required to provide an information statement to the owner of the building or land within 10 working days of issuing a building permit.

This will address concerns over the lack of consumer understanding about the role and functions of building surveyors in the building permit process.

Regulations will be made to prescribe the form of the information statement and the information it must contain.

Building Monitor

The Building Monitor is a dedicated advocate for Victorian domestic building consumers and ensures their voices are heard when decisions are made about the building industry.

The Building Monitor can access and analyse data held by government agencies to identify areas where consumers need better protection.

The role of the Building Monitor is to:

  • consult with Victorians through a consumer reference group and other forums
  • make recommendations to the Government on ways to address problems faced by building consumers
  • not duplicate the work of regulators and dispute resolution agencies, which will continue to respond to individual consumer matters.

The Building Monitor provides a voice for consumers in systemic building matters. Find out more about the Building Monitor.

State Building Surveyor

The State Building Surveyor is the main source of technical expertise for industry and practitioners. The State Building Surveyor, as a statutory appointment, provides strong leadership, specialist expertise and stakeholder engagement capabilities to manage a team of senior technical professionals.

The State Building Surveyor gives authoritative technical advice and has the authority to make binding determinations on the technical interpretation of building and plumbing regulations, codes and standards.

The State Building Surveyor improves technical capability across the industry and supports practices resulting in safer, compliant and durable buildings.

Review of Victoria's building system

An expert panel is undertaking a comprehensive review of Victoria’s building system.

For Stage Three of its review, the Expert Panel has been asked to advise the Government on a framework for a new Building Act for Victoria.

The Government will consider the Expert Panel’s advice and opportunities for stakeholder engagement as part of any future review and rewrite of the Building Act.

Find out more about the review of the Victorian Building System.

Previous building reform initiatives

The building reform program has targeted:

  • Supporting education and training system reforms: a range of short–term changes to the education and training system that will increase the supply of building surveyors to meet current and future needs.
  • Strengthening the role of the State Building Surveyor: redefining the role to play a more direct role in oversight of the building surveying profession.
  • Establishing a building consumer information and support service: giving building consumers access to information they need to understand and navigate the building sector from start to finish of a building project.
  • Supporting improvements in industry compliance: providing increased guidance and improved transparency of building inspection activity.
  • Promoting consumer awareness about building consultants: provide consumers with accessible information about the role of building consultants, including their participation in disputes over building.

Page last updated: 27/07/26