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FACT SHEET
Building Bill 2016
&
Building (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2016
The Building Bill 2016 is a new approach to building and construction in Tasmania. It is part of
the revised Tasmanian Building Regulatory Framework which reduces unnecessary red tape and
supports the industry, whilst providing additional support and protection for consumers.
Key features of the Bill include:
Accreditation of building practitioners moved to the Occupational Licensing Act 2005.
Building, plumbing and demolition approvals based on risk. Low risk work can be
performed by a licensed practitioner without the need for a permit. Medium risk work,
assessed by a building surveyor, can be performed by a licensed practitioner without the
need for a permit, but the council must be notified. High risk work requires a permit.
The Director of Building Control may make Determinations to react to changing
circumstances within the Building and Construction Industry (for example, the
introduction of new technologies or materials).
The Director of Building Control will exercise greater oversight of permit authorities
and building surveyors and increased compliance auditing of practitioners.
Greater clarity of role and functions of building surveyors and strengthened immunity
from litigation when performing statutory role.
Owner builders are limited to two projects in a ten year period, residential only.
Clearer process for granting occupancy permits.
Improved process for granting temporary occupancy permits.
Clarified responsibilities for performance of maintenance of essential building services.
Building Levy replaced by Building Administration Fee of the same quantum, but now
payable on building and plumbing work over $20,000 instead of $12,000.
Greater emphasis on rectification of defective work and responsibility for higher
standards by responsible builders or plumbers.
Permit authority or building surveyor may serve Notices and Orders where illegal works
have been performed, or a building is no longer fit for occupation.
Additional requirements for building in hazardous areas to be provided through building
regulations.
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Accreditation of practitioners
The accreditation of building practitioners will be moved into the Occupational Licensing Act
2005 ensuring that the Building Act is about the process of building.
However the Building Bill retains the role of councils, building surveyors and the Director of
Building Control to ensure rectification of defective work.
Regulatory processes for new building or plumbing work
The Building Bill proposes significant changes to the way building and plumbing approvals are
made.
Previously all work required a building or plumbing permit unless it was exempted by the
regulations. However that imposed high costs for some relatively straightforward work. For
example, it was not uncommon for the cost of a building permit for a shed to exceed the cost
of the shed itself.
Building, plumbing and demolition work have now been assigned to risk-based categories. The
Director of Building Control will issue a comprehensive list of the type of work in each
category. This list has already been shared with stakeholders and refined with their assistance
and endorsement.
For high risk building or plumbing work the owner will need to apply for a permit from their
local council, in the same way they do now. This will be referred to as “Permit” work.
For medium risk building work, a private building surveyor will be able to assess the proposed
work, and if it is likely to comply with this Act, the building surveyor will be authorised to issue
approval for the work to proceed. The building surveyor will then notify the council that this
work will be undertaken, and then notify the council again when the work is complete.
This medium risk work which does not require a permit from the council will be referred to as
“Notifiable” work.
For medium risk plumbing work, the council plumbing surveyor will give approval for the work
to proceed.
For low risk work, no permit or notification will be required, but the work must be carried out
by a licensed builder or plumber.
Director of Building Control
With the changes to building and plumbing approval processes, there is a greater role for the
Director of Building Control in ensuring that standards are still met.
The new Building Bill expands the functions of the Director of Building Control in these areas:
Compliance auditing of standards and practitioners and others.
Ensuring that standards of work meet minimum the National Construction Standard.
Greater oversight of statutory functions of permit authorities and building surveyors and
the collection of information about their activities.
Making of Determinations for miscellaneous procedural requirements.
Issuing of guidelines to assist in complying with this Act.
Specifying time periods and the documents required for making applications.
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Building Surveyors
The Bill continues private certification of building work by a licensed building surveyor.
However, there are significant reforms:
Clearer separation of private and council employed building surveyors to ensure no
unfair competition.
Clearer performance standards to enable consistency of approach to performing
statutory functions.
Higher insurance premiums and litigation against building surveyors have been of concern to
the profession. The Bill provides clarification of immunity from litigation for building surveyors
when performing their regulatory role, where they have acted in good faith with due diligence.
The Bill also allows building surveyors to grant Temporary Occupancy Permits, instead of
councils.
Other changes
Objectives
The Bill includes a statement of objectives. This gives clear guidance to practitioners and the
community on meeting expected minimum standards and ensuring work does not negatively
affect the health and safety of persons.
Technical Standards
The Bill references the National Construction Code for all technical requirements of building
and plumbing work. That code is the minimum standard for all work in Tasmania. The NCC
currently consists of the Building Code of Australia and the companion Plumbing Code of
Australia.
Duties of Parties
The Bill allocates the responsibilities and duties of all participants in the building process
including owners or developers, building and plumbing practitioners and local government.
Demolition work
A separate approval process has been introduced for demolition work, to avoid unnecessary
steps that resulted from it being included with building work under the previous legislation.
Demolition work will also be categorised as low, medium or high risk and therefore will be
either no permit, notifiable or permit work. The focus will be on the safe performance of that
work.
Required upgrading of certain buildings
Where new building work is performed on part of an existing building, the Bill clarifies when
the whole building may need to be upgraded to meet current standards. Current or proposed
new work, to more than half of the volume of the original building, will require the entire
building to be upgraded to comply with current standards.
Council roles
The Bill retains Permit Authorities for granting Building and Plumbing permits for high risk work.
Other changes for councils include:
More emphasis on risk based compliance and inspections.
Permit Authorities take on compliance functions from the General Manager.
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Council has wide powers for dealing with non-compliance with the legislation.
Occupancy permits
More certainty is provided for granting of these permits, which are required after new work is
completed, or where the building has undergone a change of its current use.
Temporary Occupancy Permits
Temporary occupancy permits can now be granted by a private building surveyor instead of
only by the council. This will streamline applications and reduce the administrative burden for
owners and event managers.
The Bill also allows a temporary occupancy permit to be granted to a particular temporary
structure allowing its re-erection at different locations, providing considerable savings in fees for
owners.
Maintenance of Essential Building Services
The Bill provides the requirements for the maintenance of a building’s essential services. The
emphasis is on having a schedule of essential maintenance tasks and an audit regime which
ensures that tasks have been undertaken.
Clarification that the maintenance responsibilities for a building are primarily with the
building owner.
Building owner to have an up to date maintenance schedule and records of
maintenance tasks available for inspection by an authorised officer or the Tasmanian
Fire Service.
No longer a requirement to display an annual maintenance statement in the building.
Appeals
Any Decisions under the Bill affecting the rights or interests of parties may be appealed to the
Resource Management Planning Appeals Tribunal (RMPAT).
Disability access Determinations
RMPAT continues in the current role of being an access panel for consideration of applications
for modification of disability (access to premises) standards on grounds of causing unjustifiable
hardship if the owner had to fully comply.
Building in Hazardous areas
The Bill provides for the application of additional requirements for the assessment of risks on
building sites, design and construction requirements for building in certain areas, such as
bushfire prone, landslip, erosion or flood-prone areas. Those detailed requirements are to be
provided for in the building regulations, consistent with the current Building Act.
Regulations
The Bill provides for the making of building and plumbing regulations under the Act.
Transitional
Comprehensive transitional provisions are included in the Bill for a seamless change from the
current Act and to facilitate moving accreditation of practitioners into the Occupational Licensing
Act 2005.
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Repealed legislation
The Bill repeals the Building Act 2000, and rescinds the Building Regulations 2014 and the
Plumbing Regulations 2014.
Building (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2016
Because the Building Act 2000 and its regulations are referred to in many pieces of Tasmanian
legislation, it is necessary to update these Acts to refer to the Building Act 2016 and the new
regulations. The Building (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2016 lists these changes.
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