A leading Victorian building surveyor with decades of experience in local government has been appointed as the Victorian Building Authority’s inaugural Deputy State Building Surveyor. Jo van Loon joins an impressive list of leading industry technical experts who have joined the Office of the State Building Surveyor, since it was established in 2019.

As deputy state building surveyor, Jo will focus on improving building safety and consumer outcomes through practitioner capacity building, technical advice and building performance oversight.

Ms van Loon will also support the OSBS in monitoring building sector performance and compliance, identifying and managing emerging risks, implementing education programs, regulatory reforms and process changes to promote sector best practice.

Victoria’s state building surveyor Andrew Cialini says he looked forward to working collaboratively with her: “It will be wonderful to have Jo join our dynamic team, leading a group of technical professionals across fire safety, structural engineering, complex plumbing and building surveying fields.

“Her knowledge and experience as a building surveyor will enhance the work the VBA does in ensuring building compliance in Victoria.

“Building surveyors play a pivotal role in the building approval process and ensuring building safety. A severe shortage of building surveyors is proving challenging for both local government and private sectors and will be an ongoing focus of future activities.”