On 12 September 2012 the Minister for Commerce introduced the Building Amendment Bill 2012 (BAB) into the Upper House of State Parliament. This Bill has not yet been passed by Parliament nor assented to by the Governor and therefore it is not yet law. However it is useful to explore a few of the more relevant changes which will affect the way local governments and applicants move through the building permit process.
Requests for Further Information
Section 18 of the Building Act 2011 currently allows local governments to request further information from an applicant. The BAB proposes to permit regulations to be made to limit the number of requests for information that a local government may make. The proposed regulations have not been released so it is difficult to assess their practical impact on the processing of an application.
Time to Process an Application
Another significant proposed change in the BAB is that where a local government requests further information under section 18, the time for deciding the application would no longer be reset to give the local government the benefit of additional time to determine the application. The original number of days for determining the application applies until a request for further information is requested. The clock then stops on that day and resumes again once the information is received.
For example, if a request for further information is made on the 19th of the 25 days allowed for an uncertified application, the clock then stops and resumes the day after the local government receives the further information as if it was day 20 for the purposes of determining the application.
Complying with Building Standards
Another significant change is that the BAB proposes to amend section 57 so that the Certificate of Building Compliance only has to state that the proposed building substantially complies with the applicable Building Standards.
The previous Section 374AA (4) of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1960 (LG (MP) Act 1960), allowed a local government evaluating existing unauthorised works, to issue an approval if satisfied that the unauthorised work substantially complied with the LG(MP) Act 1960.
Amendment to require local government delegates to be employees
An amendment to section 127 of the Building Act 2011 would require any delegation of powers or duties by a local government only to a local government employee. Note that this does not affect the referring of an uncertified application to a private building surveyor.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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