In August 2021, the Victorian Parliament passed legislation that will require subcontractors to be registered.
The relevant legislation, the Building Amendment (Registration and Other Matters) Act 2021 (2021 Amending Act), amends the Building Act 1993 (Vic) (Building Act) and supplements the more general tradesperson registration scheme established under the Building Amendment (Registration of Building Trades and Other Matters) Act 20181.
The registration of subcontractors is intended to:
- reduce the ‘incidence of non-compliant building work in Victoria’;
- increase accountability; and
- improve ‘consumer confidence in the subcontractors’ who perform the work by ‘ensuring they have suitable qualifications, skills and experience’2.
However, the changes to the Building Act made by the 2021 Amending Act cannot take effect until complementary regulations are made. For this to occur, a Regulatory Impact Statement and draft regulations must first be released for public consultation. This is yet to take place and the Victorian Government has not provided a date of release for either document.
The State Government had previously indicated that it planned for the regulations to come into effect in 20223. This now appears unlikely.
Although the 2021 Amending Act provides a ‘high-level framework of the new scheme’4, the details of the scheme, such as the qualifications that subcontractors must hold to be registered5, are expected to be found in the regulations.
The Government intends to gradually roll out the scheme across different subcontracting trades, currently planned to occur in the following order6:
| Stage | Trade |
|---|---|
| 1 | • Carpentry |
| 2 | • Bricklaying and block laying • Waterproofing • Wall and floor tiling • Concreting • Painting & Decorating • Insulation work • Plastering |
| 3 | • Solid plastering • Roof tiling • Glazing • Excavation and earthworks • Landscaping • Demolition work |
| 4 | • Floor finishing • Trades involved in swimming pool and spa building • Other minor building work regulated in Victoria |
| 5 | The following work already requiring a high-risk work licence under the Occupational Health & Safety Act 2004 (Vic): • Scaffolding • Rigging • Steel fixing • Dogging • Crane operating |
Whilst no immediate action is required at this stage, subcontractors should be aware that they may need to be registered in the near future.
This article was written by Alan Chiang, Partner, and Timothy White, Solicitor.
1Engage Victoria, Registration and Licensing of Building Trades: Engagement Page, https://engage.vic.gov.au/registration-and-licensing-building-trades.
2Victorian Government, ‘Q&A’s: Building Amendment (Registration and Other Matters) Bill 2021’, file://melfs2/users$/twhite/Downloads/qa_for_bill_-_august_2021%20(3).pdf.
3Victorian Government, ‘Q&A’s: Building Amendment (Registration and Other Matters) Bill 2021’, file://melfs2/users$/twhite/Downloads/qa_for_bill_-_august_2021%20(3).pdf.
4Victorian Government, ‘Q&A’s: Building Amendment (Registration and Other Matters) Bill 2021’, file://melfs2/users$/twhite/Downloads/qa_for_bill_-_august_2021%20(3).pdf.
5Section 171, Building Act 1993 (Vic).
6Engage Victoria, Registration and Licensing of Building Trades: Engagement Page, https://engage.vic.gov.au/registration-and-licensing-building-trades.
