Welcome back to all, as our events, forums, committees, awards programme and advocacy restarts for 2025. Our first free to members ESD lean-in ‘Sustainable Architecture Awards Masterclass 2025’ held last week was the last prompt for awards submissions which are due in by 11:59pm tonight, Monday 3rd February. Thanks to Chapter Councillor Stephanie Bullock for generously managing our monthly ESD lean-in series and to all our fantastic speakers who have volunteered their time to raise our membership’s skill level in designing for a sustainable world.
Practice forums
This year our Chapter is looking to grow our practice forums. Over the last couple of decades the practice forums have become the lifeblood of the Victorian Chapter with a range of forums held once every couple of months across the year. Covid and the subsequent introduction of the virtual hybrid format has reduced in-person attendance as many members log in virtually, which while being convenient at one level, impacts the fluency with which all attendees are engaged in the conversations. Chapter Council’s view is that the energetic and collegiate nature of the forums is best achieved in-person and from now on, all practice forums will only be held in-person at the venue announced by co-chairs, with the one exception being for regional members of any forum who may request a virtual link, albeit are of course welcome to attend in-person. The practice forums have traditionally been known for their free-wheeling and inciteful conversations, observing Chatham House rules where commentaries can be recounted but not assigned. To this end there will be no recording of forums to encourage open and frank conversations.
Given the high quality of forums, the Victorian Chapter is proposing to National Council that our practice forums should be able to offer formal CPD points when there is a suitably structured topic with a stated learning outcome follow-up questions with issuance of certificates in accordance with ARBV protocols. A Victorian paper on this topic was presented to National Council last October and an expanded paper will be presented at March’s National Council. This is an opportunity to push standards still higher and to provide more value to members of the Institute of Architects.
If you have not attended a practice forum or your in-person involvement has lapsed through the covid period, take advantage of the wonderful opportunity that awaits through forum involvement. Topics of forums respond directly to the interests of forum members and so are absolutely relevant and vital to the heartbeat of today’s practice. Each forum is initiated by guest speakers who introduce and inform the topic, and then pollinate an intelligent and discursive interrogation of the topic. Our Victorian Practice Forums are:
- Small Practice Forum (for directors of practices with 1-5 staff)
- Medium Practice Forum (for directors of practices of 6-30 staff)
- Large Practice forms (for directors of practices of 30+ staff)
- Sustainable Architecture Forum (for those interested in sustainability)
- Regional Forum (for directors of regionally based practices)
There is no additional cost to attend a practice forum, just a great collegiate learning experience that has the potential to improve the quality of your practice in what is a challenging profession. Of course, if you are not a director of a practice, there are plenty of other regular collegiate and vibrant opportunities to engage in, such as SONA for students, EmAGN for the graduate and younger registered architects, as well as a comprehensive array of events and committee meetings that should pique the interest of any architect. Contact our Victorian Chapter Coordinator, Justine McMahon at vic@architecture.com.au for contact and calendar details of forums as well as for other events.
Building permits: advocacy
Chapter Councillor Sarah Bryant, Policy & Advocacy Manager Reece Agland and myself recently attended a meeting to discuss the current challenge of obtaining building permits with the Victorian Building Authority (soon to become the Building and Plumbing Commission), represented by State Building Surveyor, Steven Baxas, Deputy State Building Surveyor Jo van Loon, VBA Senior Manager Technical and Regulation, Matt Waters, and VBA Principal Advisor Technical and Regulation Shaun Breaden. The meeting was called as a consequence of an earlier meeting with Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny, where we explained that the work to expedite planning permit processes is being negated by an increasingly complicated, time consuming and extruded building permit process that is lengthening the time taken to get a project under construction and so disadvantaging consumers as well as placing additional pressures on architects to facilitate the process. I am sure all practitioners will have numerous war stories of the challenges of achieving a building permit.
We explained to SBS Baxas that the building permit process has become quite unwieldy over the last eighteen months or so and specifically referenced the following issues:
- The increasing tendency for RBSs to require performance building solutions that justify construction systems which had traditionally been considered deemed to satisfy, for instance the use of brick cladding on commercial buildings and the use of skylights in all buildings
- The increasing tendency of RBSs to require a significant number of report & consents which is impacting Municipal Authorities and Council’s capacity to respond in a timely fashion
- The requirement to obtain flood mapping from the water authority and municipal council with flood levels often varying significantly between the two authorities
- The difference of view in the retention of trees between the Country Fire Authority and the Shire Council and negotiating between these two bodies
- The impact of the Code of Conduct for Building Surveyors in Victoria (June 2020) forbidding a certifying Relevant Building Surveyor from advising an applicant during the design and documentation period with the consequential establishment of consultant Building Surveyors to provide advice which sometimes differs from later certifying RBS decisions on the same issues.
- Statutory planning reviews considering a reduced number of parameters where the compliment of parameters are simply passed onto the RBS to assess, for instance Rescode assessments, so effectively just moving the timing of the review.
- Protection Works processes where requests for further information have the potential to create a much extruded process
The State Building Surveyor and his team took these comments on board and are to meet with other authorities to see if changes can be made to hasten regulatory permit processes. SBS Baxas promised to return and continue the conversation with the Institute and we look forward to further opportunities to assist the efficacy of the building permit application process. The State Government is currently rewriting the Building Act and Regulations through its Framework of Reform process, so this is a timely opportunity to positively impact future legislation and regulations.
Should you have comments on the building permit process or indeed any other issue of concern or matter you wish to raise the profile of, do not hesitate to contact your Chapter Councillors so the matter can be considered by the Institute. Our Victorian Chapter Council for 2025 consists of Aimee Goodwin, Antony Martin, Bonnie Herring, Brad Kerr, Mick Moloney, Maria Danos, Nick Bourns, Sarah Bryant, Sarah Buckeridge, Stephanie Bullock, Immediate Past President Bill Krotiris with EMAGN representatives Malisa Benjamins and Claire Ward. Our first Chapter Council for 2025 convenes tomorrow, Tuesday 5th February and subsequently once a month throughout the year to discuss current issues so there is plenty of opportunity for your Chapter Councillors to consider a matter of importance to you, develop a view and then progress as appropriate.
David Wagner FRAIA
President of Victorian Chapter
