Builders, plumbers and homeowners be aware of new legislation and 28-day time limits

New legislation means new time limits. Rectification Orders and First Resort Insurance are coming to the Building and Plumbing Commission.

New time limits to appeal to the VCAT will be as short as 28 days from the decision being made.

• See section 75S for decisions related to Rectification Orders.
• See section 137ZK for decisions related to VMIA and insurance.

28 days to file an application for a review at VCAT means being ready to act quickly.

This right of appeal (called a review) will apply to a review of the Authority (VBA is now called BPC and VMIA applies to insurance) and the decision to issue or not issue a Rectification Order or a Rectification Costs Order, a notice to the Registrar of Titles regarding an RO and related matters and decisions to grant or not grant insurance assistance for statutory insurance (domestic building insurance).

Background

Under the newly released Building Legislation Amendment (Buyer Protection) Act new processes at the Victoria Building Authority and now called the Building and Plumbing Commission will apply.

Rectification Orders

First of all, the Authority may make decisions regarding issuing a:

Rectification Order: This is an order requiring a person to rectify building work, this could apply to a plumber, builder or other parties carrying out work and even a developer in certain circumstances.

Rectification Costs Orders

Secondly, the Authority may also make decisions regarding issuing a:

Rectification Costs Order: This is an order that a builder etc pay certain costs of the Authority.

Appeal rights and time limits

If you do not agree with such a decision there will be a right of effective appeal (called review) under “Section 75S Review by VCAT”.

The time limit to make an application for review to the VCAT will be very short, including from 28 days from the day on which the decision is made OR in certain circumstances 28 days after the person receives notice of the decision.

A decision by VMIA to provide or not provide assistance under the statutory insurance scheme (otherwise referred to as domestic builders warranty insurance) will also be open to appeal or review under “Section 137ZK Review by VCAT” and also a 28 day time limit applying.

Key takeaways

Put simply, time limits will be short.

There is still much to be understood in practice and the regulations but I expect these two provisions of the new legislation will be critical for building practitioners such as builders and plumbers to understand. Also, for building owners to quickly understand a decision and act if appropriate.

These new provisions will not apply until 2026 and expected to apply from 1 July 2026.

Whilst this is a little while off plumbers and builders should be getting in place processes and procedures to manage compliance.

This article is a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

Tagged as:

• building law
• litigation
• regulatory compliance
• insurance law