The Victorian Building Authority

The VBA will deliver strong governance across the entire building industry and together with the reforms recently announced in the Domestic Building Consumer Protection Reform Strategy will improve the building practitioner registration processes and the building permit system to deliver confidence to consumers and industry. The VBA will be a regulator focused on industry regulation. This means that it will be strong in administering and enforcing building safety and amenity. It will effectively monitor the performance of the system and determine any necessary interventions that need to be implemented. It will ensure that the regulatory framework is efficient in issuing building and occupancy permits. It will deliver best practice regulatory outcomes. A new corporate governance structure has been put in place. We have appointed an independent board of commissioners who will be responsible for the strategic management of the VBA. This will provide the foundation for high performance with lines of accountability that are clear, simple and transparent. With the further reforms due to be implemented over the next 12 months the VBA will become the one-stop shop for building regulation. It will focus on dispute prevention rather than dispute resolution and if building disputes do arise, it will seek to resolve them quickly, fairly and efficiently. The establishment of the VBA is only one component of a package of significant reforms. The government is also taking steps to improve the consumer protection framework now. From 1 July 2013, the Building Practitioners Board (BPB) has been given additional disciplinary powers in the short term. These powers will transfer to the VBA when the BPB is abolished in the next phase of reforms. We have also introduced the requirement for an authorisation for a police check for applications for registration of building practitioners and registration and/or licensing of plumbers. This will assist the BPB and VBA to ensure that only suitably qualified and competent people are registered to undertake building work in Victoria. Collectively these measures demonstrate the Victorian Government’s commitment to implement all the recommendations of the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office and the Victorian Ombudsman. We have acted to ensure that all Victorians can have confidence in the building industry.