Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020

This Act is the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020.

This Act commences on the date of assent to this Act, except as provided by subsections (2) and (3).

Part 2, Division 1 of Part 3 and Parts 5–9 and clauses 2–4 of Schedule 1 commence on 1 July 2021.

Division 2 of Part 3 commences on a day or days to be appointed by proclamation.

In this Act—

Building Code of Australia has the same meaning as in the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.

building compliance declaration—see section 8(3).

building element—see section 6.

building practitioner—see section 7(1).

building work—see section 4.

class of building means a building of that class as recognised by the Building Code of Australia.

close associate has the same meaning as in the Home Building Act 1989.

compliance declaration means a design compliance declaration, principal compliance declaration or building compliance declaration.

Department means the department in which this Act is administered.

design includes a plan or specification or a report detailing a design.

design compliance declaration—see section 8(1).

design practitioner means a person who prepares regulated designs.

function includes a power, authority or duty, and exercise a function includes perform a duty.

occupation certificate means an occupation certificate issued under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.

performance solution has the same meaning as in the Building Code of Australia.

practitioner means a design practitioner, principal design practitioner, professional engineer, specialist practitioner or building practitioner.

preparing or varying a regulated design or other design means—

actually preparing or varying the design, or

coordinating or supervising the preparation or variation of the design.

principal compliance declaration—see section 8(2).

principal contractor—see section 7(2).

principal design practitioner means a person who coordinates the provision of design compliance declarations for the purposes of building work done by a building practitioner.

professional engineer means a person who carries out professional engineering work in a prescribed area of engineering within the meaning of section 32.

professional engineering work—see section 31.

register as a registered practitioner includes renew or restore registration.

registered body corporate means a registered practitioner that is a body corporate.

registered building practitioner means a person who is registered as a building practitioner under this Act or recognised as a building practitioner under this Act.

registered design practitioner means a person who is registered as a design practitioner under this Act or recognised as a design practitioner under this Act.

registered practitioner means a registered design practitioner, registered principal design practitioner, registered professional engineer, registered specialist practitioner or a registered building practitioner.

registered principal design practitioner means a person who is registered as a principal design practitioner under this Act or recognised as a principal design practitioner under this Act.

registered professional engineer means a person who is registered as a professional engineer under this Act or recognised as a professional engineer under this Act.

registered specialist practitioner means a person who is registered as a specialist practitioner under this Act or recognised as a specialist practitioner under this Act.

registration means registration as a registered practitioner and includes recognition as a practitioner under this Act.

regulated design—see section 5.

relevant authorisation means any of the following—

registration as an architect under the Architects Act 2003,

registration as a certifier, or accreditation to carry out regulated work, under the Building and Development Certifiers Act 2018,

a contractor licence, endorsed contractor licence, supervisor certificate, tradesperson certificate or owner-builder permit under the Home Building Act 1989,

for a person registered under this Act in one class of registration—registration in another class,

an authorisation or qualification, however described, that—

is issued under the laws of another jurisdiction, and

authorises the holder to carry out work that is substantially similar to the work authorised by an authorisation specified in paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d),

another authorisation or qualification, however described, prescribed by the regulations.

Secretary means the Secretary of the Department.

specialist practitioner means a person who carries out specialist work.

specialist work—see section 34.

stop work order—see section 89.

Tribunal means the Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Note.

The Interpretation Act 1987 contains definitions and other provisions that affect the interpretation and application of this Act.

Notes included in this Act do not form part of this Act.

For the purposes of this Act, building work means work involved in, or involved in coordinating or supervising work involved in, one or more of the following—

the construction of a building of a class or type prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition,

the making of alterations or additions to a building of that class or type,

the repair, renovation or protective treatment of a building of that class or type.

The regulations may—

prescribe additional work that is building work for the purposes of this Act, and

exclude work from being building work for the purposes of this Act.

In this Act, a reference to a building (including a building as defined in Part 4) includes a reference to part of a building (including a building element).

For the purposes of this Act, regulated design means—

a design that is prepared for a building element for building work, or

a design that is prepared for a performance solution for building work (including a building element), or

any other design of a class prescribed by the regulations that is prepared for building work.

The regulations may prescribe the form and content of regulated designs or regulated designs belonging to a particular class.

The Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, specify particulars that are additional to those (if any) prescribed by the regulations for regulated designs or regulated designs belonging to a particular class.

An order under subsection (3) is to be made available on the website of the Department as soon as practicable after it is published in the Gazette.

For the purposes of this Act, building element means any of the following—

the fire safety systems for a building within the meaning of the Building Code of Australia,

waterproofing,

an internal or external load-bearing component of a building that is essential to the stability of the building, or a part of it (including but not limited to in-ground and other foundations and footings, floors, walls, roofs, columns and beams),

a component of a building that is part of the building enclosure,

those aspects of the mechanical, plumbing and electrical services for a building that are required to achieve compliance with the Building Code of Australia,

other things prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this section.

The regulations may exclude things from being building elements for the purposes of this Act.

In this section—

above grade wall means a wall above the level of the ground surrounding a building.

below grade wall means a wall below the level of the ground surrounding a building.

building enclosure means the part of the building that physically separates the interior environment of the building from the exterior environment, including roof systems, above grade and below grade walls (including windows and doors).

In this Act, building practitioner means—

a person who agrees under a contract or other arrangement to do building work, or

if more than one person agrees to do building work, a person who is the principal contractor for the work.

In this Act, principal contractor means a person who agrees to do building work under a contract or arrangement (the head contract) and for whom work is to be carried out under one or more other contracts or arrangements as part of or incidental to the work carried out under the head contract.

In this Act, a building practitioner is taken to do building work if the practitioner—

agrees to do building work under a contract or other arrangement, or

is the principal contractor for the work.

The regulations may—

prescribe additional persons as building practitioners for the purposes of this Act, and

exclude persons from being building practitioners for the purposes of this Act, and

prescribe circumstances in which a person prescribed for the purposes of paragraph (a) is taken to do building work.

In this Act, design compliance declaration means a declaration in the form and manner prescribed by the regulations as to the following—

whether or not a regulated design prepared for building work complies with the requirements of the Building Code of Australia,

whether or not the design complies with other applicable requirements prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this subsection,

whether or not other standards, codes or requirements have been applied in preparing the design,

any other matter prescribed by the regulations.

In this Act, principal compliance declaration means a declaration in the form and manner prescribed by the regulations as to the following—

whether or not a design compliance declaration has been provided in accordance with this Act for each regulated design prepared for the building work,

whether or not each design compliance declaration has been provided by a registered design practitioner whose registration authorises the practitioner to provide a declaration as to the matters to which the declaration relates,

any other matter prescribed by the regulations.

In this Act, building compliance declaration means a declaration made in the form and manner prescribed by the regulations as to the following—

whether or not the building work complies with the requirements of the Building Code of Australia,

whether or not the building work complies with other applicable requirements prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this subsection,

if the building work does not comply with the requirements referred to in paragraph (a) or (b), the steps required to be taken to ensure compliance,

for a regulated design used for the building work, whether or not the design was prepared by a registered design practitioner and the building work was built in accordance with the design,

whether or not a design compliance declaration has been obtained in relation to regulated designs used for the building work,

whether or not a registered principal design practitioner was appointed in relation to the building work,

whether or not a principal compliance declaration was obtained in relation to the regulated designs and design compliance declarations relating to the building work,

any other matter prescribed by the regulations.

A registered design practitioner must provide a design compliance declaration to a person if—

the practitioner provides the person with a regulated design prepared by the practitioner, and

the design is in a form suitable for use by that person or another person in connection with building work.

Maximum penalty—1,500 penalty units (in the case of a body corporate) or 500 penalty units (in any other case).

A registered design practitioner must provide a further design compliance declaration to a person if—

the practitioner or another practitioner has previously provided a design compliance declaration for a regulated design prepared by either practitioner in connection with building work, and

the practitioner provides the person with the regulated design as varied by the practitioner in a form suitable for use in connection with the building work before the building work is commenced.

Maximum penalty—1,500 penalty units (in the case of a body corporate) or 500 penalty units (in any other case).

A registered design practitioner must provide a further design compliance declaration to a person if—

the practitioner or another practitioner has previously provided a design compliance declaration for a regulated design prepared by either practitioner relating to a building element or performance solution in connection with building work, and

the practitioner provides the person with the regulated design as varied by the practitioner in a form suitable for use relating to the building element or performance solution after the building work is commenced.

Maximum penalty—1,500 penalty units (in the case of a body corporate) or 500 penalty units (in any other case).

A registered design practitioner who is required by subsection (1), (2) or (3) to provide a design compliance declaration to a person must also provide a copy of the declaration to the registered principal design practitioner (if any) appointed in relation to the building work to which the declaration relates.

Maximum penalty—1,500 penalty units (in the case of a body corporate) or 500 penalty units (in any other case).

A registered design practitioner must provide a design compliance declaration in other circumstances prescribed by the regulations.

Maximum penalty—1,500 penalty units (in the case of a body corporate) or 500 penalty units (in any other case).

Without limiting subsection (5), a regulation made under that subsection may require regulated designs and design compliance declarations to be lodged electronically through an internet site or an application established by or on behalf of the Department.

A person must not make a design compliance declaration that the person knows to be false or misleading in a material particular.

Maximum penalty—2,000 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years, or both.

The regulations may require a design compliance declaration provided under this section to be accompanied by other documents prescribed by the regulations.

A person must not make a design compliance declaration unless—

the person is a registered design practitioner, and

the person’s registration authorises the person to provide a declaration as to the matters to which the declaration relates.

Maximum penalty—1,500 penalty units (in the case of a body corporate) or 500 penalty units (in any other case).

A registered design practitioner must not—

provide a design compliance declaration or prepare a regulated design, or

hold out that the practitioner is adequately insured with respect to the provision of the declaration or that work,

unless the practitioner is adequately insured with respect to the declaration and work.

Maximum penalty—300 penalty units (in the case of a body corporate) or 100 penalty units (in any other case).

For the purposes of this section, a registered design practitioner is adequately insured with respect to a declaration and work if the practitioner—

is indemnified by insurance that complies with the regulations against any liability to which the practitioner may become subject as a result of providing the declaration or doing the work, or

is part of some other arrangement approved by the regulations that provides indemnity against the liability.

It is a condition of registration that a registered design practitioner must provide to the Secretary, in the time specified by the Secretary, information that the Secretary may require to satisfy the Secretary that the practitioner is adequately insured in accordance with this section.

A registered principal design practitioner appointed in relation to building work must ensure that—

a design compliance declaration has been provided in accordance with section 9 for each regulated design prepared for the building work, and

each declaration has been provided by a registered design practitioner whose registration authorises the practitioner to provide a declaration as to the matters to which the declaration relates.

Maximum penalty—1,500 penalty units (in the case of a body corporate) or 500 penalty units (in any other case).

A registered principal design practitioner appointed in relation to building work must provide a principal compliance declaration to the persons, and in the circumstances, prescribed by the regulations.

Maximum penalty—1,500 penalty units (in the case of a body corporate) or 500 penalty units (in any other case).

Without limiting subsection (2), a regulation made under that subsection may require regulated designs and principal compliance declarations to be lodged electronically through an internet site or an application established by or on behalf of the Department.

A person must not make a principal compliance declaration that the person knows to be false or misleading in a material particular.

Maximum penalty—2,000 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years, or both.

The regulations may require a principal compliance declaration provided under this section to be accompanied by other documents prescribed by the regulations.