NSW’s new Building Act: a consolidated approvals and practitioner regime

Overview

The Act was passed on 4 August 2026 and received assent on 14 August 2026. It will eventually replace the Building and Development Certifiers Act 2018 and the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020. Most provisions have not yet commenced and will depend on future proclamations and regulations.

• New approvals framework: Construction certificates will become building approvals, occupation certificates will become completion approvals, and certifiers will become approval authorities. Building approvals may be issued in stages, but only an owner or an authorised person may apply. A completion approval will generally be required before a building can be occupied or used.

• Variations: Approval authorities will be able to approve certain variations where the changed work could originally have been approved. However, a site instruction, revised drawing or contractual variation will not automatically legalise work that has already departed from the approved design. Approval consequences should be addressed before varied work begins.

• Regulated designs and declarations: The existing requirements for regulated designs, design compliance declarations and building work compliance declarations will continue under the new Act. Builders, designers and developers should maintain clear records of designs, revisions, departures, approvals and documents lodged on the NSW Planning Portal.

• Practitioner regulation: The Act introduces more detailed conflict-of-interest requirements for approval authorities and substantially increases penalties for certain contraventions, potentially to $1.1 million. A conviction may also result in an automatic 120-day suspension of registration. Certification businesses should review their independence, referral and engagement arrangements.

• Prefabricated construction: The Act expressly regulates relevant prefabricated and modular buildings. Manufacturers may need to provide a prefabricated building declaration and instructions addressing transport, design and erection. These documents may need to be supplied through the construction chain and lodged with the approval authority before construction begins.

• Building Code compliance and enforcement: Persons carrying out or supervising building work must take reasonable steps to ensure compliance with the Building Code of Australia. Authorised officers will have expanded powers to require documents and answers, enter premises in specified circumstances, inspect and test building work, conduct destructive investigations and take enforcement action.

• Statutory duty of care: The statutory duty of care will continue to require people carrying out construction work to take reasonable care to avoid economic loss caused by defects. The duty may extend to designers, manufacturers, suppliers, supervisors, project managers and others exercising substantive control. It cannot be delegated or excluded by contract.

• Ten-year long-stop period: Civil proceedings arising from defective building work generally cannot be commenced more than 10 years after completion. The relevant date may be the completion approval, the required final inspection or the date the building was first occupied or used. Shorter limitation periods may still apply.

• Practical preparation: Developers, owners, builders, designers, approval authorities and manufacturers should update their contracts, approval procedures, variation controls, conflict policies, compliance systems, insurance arrangements and document-retention practices before the new regime commences.

The Act is not merely a change in terminology. It will affect the sequencing of construction work, contractual responsibilities, approval procedures, practitioner regulation, prefabricated construction and building defect claims across NSW.