In late December 2023, the West Australian government announced major reforms to the state laws governing construction work to start in 2024.
The reforms include:
tiered registration of builders,
enhanced requirements for building professionals and building surveyors,
stricter requirements for building design documentation,
third-party review of structural and fire safety designs for complex and significant buildings,
requirements to document design changes during construction,
building manuals for high-rise apartment buildings,
mandatory inspections of new apartment and commercial buildings at critical construction stages,
better enforcement powers for the Building Commissioner, Building Services Board and permit authorities, and
increases to fine penalties.
It sounds like very good news for strata stakeholders and follows similarly radical changes in the ACT about construction laws.
But, what’s going with this rash of reviews of Australian building laws: has the construction quality issue reached a tipping point?
Read more about the WA reforms here as well as the Draft Regulatory Impact Statement Volume 1 and Volume 2.