The Victorian Government has made changes to the Victorian Building Association’s powers and functions under the Building Act 1993.

Some of these changes may affect your obligations under the law.

You can find all the information about how these changes relate to your work as a building practitioner generally or a building surveyor specifically, by visiting the dedicated pages of the VBA website:www.vba.vic.gov.au/.

The first set of changes came into effect on 4 July 2016. They include:

– the extension of the VBA’s inspection powers to owner-built sites
– new offences for undertaking work without a building permit
– changes to powers to issue directions, notices and orders
– a requirement on private building surveyors not to act where there is a conflict of interest
– provision of a checklist for use by relevant building surveyors lodging building permits to councils

Log on to the VBA website to find out how the changes relate to you, when the changes come into effect, what will be different when the changes come into effect, and any specific things that apply during the transition to the new laws.