We were pleased to welcome our new Chapter President, Adam Haddow who has quickly immersed himself in the role. We look forward to working closely with Adam, particularly with a focus on housing and sustainability.
February was a hectic time as we had the opportunity to provide last minute input to government on a number of fronts in the lead up to caretaker mode which commenced on 3 March 2023. As the election approaches, here is a reminder of our Key Election Priorities based upon our NSW Member Survey.
NSW BUILDING REFORMS
DBP ACT & RAB ACT EXPANSION – IMPORTANT UPDATE FOR MEMBERS
From 3 July 2023, the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 and Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) Act 2020 are being expanded to include new classes 3 and 9c buildings. Alteration or renovation work for existing class 3 and 9c buildings will come into effect on 1 July 2024.
If you are doing certain design work on these buildings, you will now need to be registered. If you are already registered to do regulated work on class 2 buildings, your registration will be extended to do the same work on class 3 and 9c buildings. To find out more about how this change will impact you, please visit the NSW Fair Trading website.
BUILDING REFORM REGULATION AN OPPORTUNITY MISSED BY NSW GOVERNMENT
The publication of the Building Legislation Amendment (Building Classes) Regulation 2023 on 24 February 2023 endorses an unrestricted class of Building Designer as able to design and document for building classes which accommodate some of our community’s most vulnerable residents.
The Institute believes an unrestricted class of building designer may result in unintended consequences, will reduce consumer protection, and will impair international recognition of our skills base by indicating that an Architect and Building Designer (Level 1) are equivalent in terms of their education, skills, experience, ongoing professional development, regulation, and expertise when they are clearly not the same.
Read our full media release here.
UPDATED COMPLIANCE DECLARATION FORMS
A reminder to members that the new Compliance Declaration Forms for Class 2 are now in place and the previous forms will no longer be accepted.
Practitioners must now prepare and complete a separate design compliance declaration form for each regulated design.
Visit the NSW Fair Trading website to access:
- the new forms and guidance material
- more about Design Practitioner obligations.
HOW WILL THE ELECTION IMPACT NSW BUILDING REFORMS?
The Institute has worked closely with the current government to ensure the voices of our members have been represented from the outset of the implementation of the NSW building reforms. What is likely to change with the coming election? Hear from The Hon Courtney Houssos MLC, Shadow Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation, Shadow Minister for Natural Resources and current Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government, Minister for Small Business, and Minister for Fair Trading, The Hon Victor Dominello MP on the direction the reforms will take post-election.
Statement from The Hon Courtney Houssos MLC
Statement from The Hon Victor Dominello MP
DPIE
DPIE will not be proceeding with the proposed merit appeal for planning proposals to the Land and Environment Court. The other components of the proposed new rezoning process as outlined in last year’s discussion paper will also not be progressed at this time.
See the response from DPIE here: DPIE Letter
USYD & INSTITUTE SUSTAINABILITY ACTION PLAN PROJECT
A big thank you to all our members who signed up to work with the University of Sydney on their Sustainability Action Plan Project being led by Daniel Ryan. The University was overwhelmed by the response and now has a waitlist for practices still keen to become involved. We will keep you updated with the project’s progress and outcomes.
Lisa King
Policy & Advocacy Manager NSW
