Building reforms a major step forward for consumers in Victoria
The Australian Institute of Building Surveyors (AIBS) and the Association of Consulting Architects (ACA) welcome the introduction of the Victorian Government’s Building Legislation Amendment (Buyer Protections) Bill 2025 as a positive step toward improving consumer confidence in the building industry.
“The Bill includes provisions we have been advocating for because it ensures that registered builders are held accountable for the work they undertake,” said AIBS National President and Victoria Board Director, Wayne Liddy.
ACA National President, Paul Viney, said: “Until now, the only recourse for homeowners was through VCAT or the courts, where excessive costs and chronic backlogs of cases left them high and dry.”
Mr Liddy said: “Consumers will see positive benefits from the introduction of Rectification Orders, which empower the new regulator to direct builders to rectify defective work on any building during the construction phase of the build and up to 10 years after the issuing of an occupancy permit, which to date hasn’t been possible, to the immense frustration of homeowners and building surveyors alike. This, together with the First Resort Domestic Building Warranty and the Developer Bond Scheme as financial safety nets when things go wrong is a great step forward for consumers in Victoria.”
Mr Liddy said that the government’s reforms included making the Building and Plumbing Commission a one-stop-shop regulator with the power to dramatically improve the experience of consumers and building practitioners.
He noted that the increased oversight in the industry together with the new measures announced will be welcomed by building surveyors and all others with an interest in seeing improvements in the safety, compliance and accountability within the built environment.
“These changes will also improve consumer confidence in the building industry as consumers can have trust that the home they purchased is the home which will be delivered by a builder,” Mr Liddy said. “For too long that has not been the case and new home buyers discover defects after they move in and have been unable to get any recourse from the builder.
“Building surveyors will no longer be the convenient scapegoat for industry shortcomings and blamed for defective work that they did not do.
“These measures should cause a softening on rising costs, starting with professional indemnity insurance for building surveyors, which have gone through the roof in recent years, partly because of issues with builder defects and the inadequacies of the domestic warranty insurance cover, which is little more than junk insurance for most consumers.
“If implemented properly, we will see more building disputes resolved earlier and less ending up in expensive and prolonged litigation.
“We know that for too long the poor performing builders have caused problems across the industry, especially for consumers, building surveyors and those good builders who aim to do the right thing.
“AIBS has called upon successive State Governments to act and at last we have a State Government prepared to do that through this Bill.
“We hope the Bill will support the many good builders that are disadvantaged by industries poor performers, and we urge all Members of Parliament to support it.
“We will continue to strongly encourage the Victorian Government and the regulator to work with industry peak bodies including AIBS and ACA, to ensure that these reforms are implemented sensibly and collaboratively.”