The VBA Building Technical Bulletin is a quarterly newsletter that provides Victorian building practitioners with up-to-date information about legislative and regulatory changes, education opportunities and industry trends, with a focus on the technical aspects of their trades.
Each newsletter is sent to building practitioners and industry bodies, along with engineers and subscribers.
Welcome to the fourth and final edition of the Building Technical Bulletin for 2024.
A new regulator with new powers
Last month, the Minister for Planning Sonya Kilkenny announced an overhaul of the building regulator, with a new more powerful watchdog – Building & Plumbing Commission – to oversee Victoria's building and plumbing industries.
The new regulator will deliver more protections for Victorian homebuyers, giving them peace of mind whether they're building, buying or renovating a home.
These reforms put consumers at the core of the building system – right where they should be.
This is exciting news as for the first time, the regulator will bring together all aspects of building quality control – regulation, insurance and dispute resolution – into a single agency.
The Victorian Building Authority (VBA), Domestic Building Disputes Resolution Victoria (DBDRV) and the Domestic Building Insurance (DBI) function of the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority (VMIA) will form the new regulator, which will be given tough new powers to protect consumers and hold practitioners to account.
As someone who has worked in this industry for more than three decades, I understand and have seen many of the frustrations practitioners and consumers have with the system. The Government has listened and made the necessary changes to forge a better path for construction in Victoria.
These reforms are significant and I'm incredibly excited to see where they take us.
Legislation will be introduced to Parliament in early 2025 to enable the integration of these new functions. We will keep you updated through our website and industry communications.
Learn more by visiting the VBA website .
Kind regards,
Steven Baxas
State Building Surveyor
Office of the State Building Surveyor
In this edition...
Seismic design of secondary parts and components
The VBA has developed a guidance web page for seismic design, particularly focusing on the seismic design of secondary parts and components.
Guidance video: Timber Framing Code – Bridge blocks & lateral loads
How well do you know your Timber Framing Code? Our latest building standards video explains how to properly secure internal brace walls to floors.
Compliant bushfire shelters or bunkers
A building permit must be obtained to install a private bushfire shelter (or bunker).
They must meet the strict fire safety Performance Requirements set out in the National Construction Code (NCC) and as part of the building permit process they must be either accredited by the BRAC, approved by the BAB or certified by a registered fire safety engineer.
Reminder about complaint handling processes for building surveyors
Building surveyors are reminded of their obligation to ensure adequate complaint handling processes by having a clear, documented process for addressing complaints, as required by the Code of Conduct for Building Surveyors.
VBA refreshing how DTFs and building orders are managed
The VBA is working with industry to develop a set of improvements to better support relevant building surveyors, including in how Directions to Fix and Building Orders are issued and what they contain.
The VBA will recognise the Australian Institute of Building Surveyors (AIBS) accreditation and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) membership as a Chartered Building Control Surveyor when assessing applications for registration as a building surveyor.
Practice guide: Design Documentation Practice Guide for Class 2 residential buildings
This informative guidance document was developed to help improve design documentation standards by highlighting the type of information required and how compliance details and supporting information may be documented for building and structural designs.
Videos on demand
