Do construction (residential and commercial) businesses need to comply with NSW Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020?

Comply with NSW Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020. The Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 (NSW) requires design practitioners, building practitioners and professional engineers to be registered to work on regulated buildings, and makes them declare that designs and completed work comply with the Building Code of Australia. It first applied to class 2 buildings (multi-unit apartments and mixed-use buildings with a class 2 part) and, from 3 July 2023, to certain new class 3 and 9c buildings (class 3 shared residential buildings and class 9c residential care buildings such as aged care); alteration and renovation work on existing class 3 and 9c buildings comes under it from 1 July 2028.

Trigger: Preparing regulated designs for, or carrying out or contracting to carry out building work on, a class 2, 3 or 9c building (or a building with such a part) in New South Wales.

Rules Mate runs its applicability engine across 9 business structures and 6 size bands for each of the 35 industries it maps. For 34 of those industries the answer for "Comply with NSW Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020" is no. Construction (residential & commercial) is one of the 1 where the answer is different: only if.

The deciding fact for construction (residential and commercial) businesses: Industry: Construction (residential & commercial); applies only if you design or build Class 2 (apartment) buildings.

About the industry: Builders, contractors, and subcontractors covered by the Building & Construction General On-site Award and high-risk WHS.

Compare a professional services (general) business with 6–19 employees structured as a Pty Ltd company: the obligation does not apply (Requires a trigger outside this questionnaire).

Each cell is the engine's outcome for a business in construction (residential & commercial) with that structure and size, assuming it sells to consumers and small businesses and holds customer contact details. "Check" means the obligation turns on a fact the industry does not settle.

When due

Registration in the correct class before doing the work; regulated designs and design compliance declarations lodged on the NSW Planning Portal before the relevant building work starts (certifiers cannot issue a construction certificate without them); building compliance declaration and as-built designs lodged before applying for an occupation certificate; developers notify the expected date of the occupation certificate application and pay any building work levy.

Evidence to keep

Registration certificates for each design practitioner, building practitioner and professional engineer class used; regulated designs and design compliance declarations; Planning Portal lodgement records; building compliance declaration and as-built designs; contractor licence or supervisor certificate under the Home Building Act 1989 underpinning registration; builders' annual CPD records.

Maximum penalty

Building Commission NSW can issue building work rectification orders, stop work orders and (before an occupation certificate) prohibition orders that block occupation, accept enforceable undertakings, issue penalty infringement notices and audit buildings for up to 10 years after the occupation certificate. Offence penalty amounts were not verified for this entry; check the Act on legislation.nsw.gov.au

Regulator

Building Commission NSW

Jurisdiction

NSW only

• Hold current QBCC licence for QLD building work: Yes
• Maintain VBA registration as builder / draftsperson / surveyor: Yes
• Asbestos management — workplace + dwelling rules (state): Yes
• Building work — comply with National Construction Code (NCC): Yes
• Comply with the respirable crystalline silica workplace exposure limit (0.05 mg/m³): Yes
• EPBC Act — assess + approve controlled actions affecting MNES: Only if
• All 31 answers for construction (residential & commercial)