Building surveyor

Topics

Section 12: Keep up to date

Subscribe to Building and Energy's industry bulletins and newsletters to stay informed of: general industry trends; legislative changes; updates about registration and licensing; upcoming events and seminars; public consultations; and much more. Have you subscribed to news and updates? Sign up to...

A guide to the building approvals process in WA

16 Dec 2015

Section 11: Work affecting other land

A person responsible for building or demolition work must ensure that the work does not affect land beyond the boundaries of the works land. However there may be the potential for this to occur in certain circumstances, for example where work is on small sized lots or where construction is close to...

A guide to the building approvals process in WA

16 Dec 2015

Section 10 (continued): Processing applications

Lodging the application Applications for building, demolition or occupancy permits or for building approval certificates can be submitted in a variety of ways, including in person, by post or electronic lodgement depending on the systems the relevant permit authority has in place. Under the...

A guide to the building approvals process in WA

15 Dec 2015

Section 10: Processing applications

Choosing the correct form To provide for consistency in building approvals throughout the state, all the relevant application forms, notices and compliance certificates are approved by the Building Commissioner and available on the Building and Energy website. Providing the correct application form...

A guide to the building approvals process in WA

15 Dec 2015

Section 9: Unauthorised building work

In general a person must not carry out building work without a building permit where one is required. However the Building Act allows a person to make an application to the relevant permit authority to approve unauthorised building work in relation to a building and/or incidental structure. This...

A guide to the building approvals process in WA

15 Dec 2015

Section 8: Change of classification or use of a building

Sometimes a building owner or occupier may wish to use the building for a purpose contrary to the approved use or classification of the building detailed on the current occupancy permit. The Building Act sets out the process for obtaining approval for either a change of classification or a change...

A guide to the building approvals process in WA

15 Dec 2015

Section 7: Providing information to the FES Commissioner

The Building Act contains certain provisions requiring prescribed information to be provided to the Fire and Emergency Services (FES) Commissioner. Building surveyor requirements (r. 18B) For certain Class 2 to Class 9 buildings, the building surveyor responsible for signing the certificate of...

A guide to the building approvals process in WA

14 Dec 2015

Section 6: Notices of completion and cessation

The Building Act requires the responsible person (i.e. builder or demolition contractor) to provide certain notices for the completion or suspension of work under a building or demolition permit. Notice of cessation (s. 34) The person named as the builder or demolition contractor on a building or...

A guide to the building approvals process in WA

14 Dec 2015

Section 1 (continued): Coverage, exemptions and responsibilities

As part of its enforcement role, a permit authority can inspect building work and investigate Building Act compliance matters and, where relevant, issue infringement notices, building orders or commence prosecution for non-compliance. There are three types of permit authority: Local government For...

A guide to the building approvals process in WA

10 Dec 2015

Building in designated bush fire prone areas

In Western Australia, building work is required to comply with the performance requirements of the Building Code of Australia (the Building Code), which comprises Volumes One and Two of the National Construction Code Series. The Building Code contains specific bush fire construction requirements...

Building in bush fire prone areas

01 Dec 2015

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Publications

Local government’s four yearly inspections of private swimming pool safety barriers 2020-21

Progress report on local government’s four yearly inspections of private swimming pool safety barriers 2020-21. This Report is the third annual report on the progress of local governments’ pool inspection programs and is in response to recommendation 7 of the Ombudsman WA report Investigation into ways to prevent or reduce deaths of children by drowning , tabled in Parliament on 23 November 2017.

Building and Energy

Reports

02 Dec 2021

Security of payment – Action Plan

Action Plan for Reform An Action Plan for reform to introduce better payment protections for all participants in the Western Australian building and construction industry was released by the Minister...

Building and Energy

Plans

28 Jul 2022

Draft for comment – WA Building Surveyors’ Code of Conduct

Building and Energy has published a draft Code of Conduct for building surveyors for your information and comment. The code sets out minimum expectations of registered building surveyors undertaking building surveying work in Western Australia (WA). It’s based on the Australian Building Codes Board’s national model code of conduct for building surveyors.

Building and Energy

Code of conduct

17 Sep 2021

BA8A – Notice of cessation – Multiple properties (building work)

Current version of the Notice of cessation – Multiple properties (building work) form.

Building and Energy

Form – application

02 Sep 2021

Industry Bulletin 141 – NCC – Using the correct edition of referenced documents

This bulletin is intended to provide guidance on using the correct edition of referenced documents as listed in Schedule 4 of the National Construction Code (NCC). It also provides comment on the use of referenced documents published outside of the NCC amendment cycles.

Building and Energy

Bulletin

07 Oct 2021

Industry Bulletin 43 – Ventilation in buildings

The purpose of this technical note is to alert building designers and practitioners to the requirement of adequately controlling the accumulation of harmful contamination of micro-organisms,...

Building and Energy

Bulletin

12 Aug 2021

Building and Energy – Audit priorities statement 2021-22

An important function of the Building Commissioner is to audit the work and conduct of registered builders and building surveyors and to monitor how well building standards are being applied. The...

Building and Energy

Guide / handbook

04 Dec 2023

Building and Energy – Building Compliance Audit Strategy 2021-24

Our audit strategy (2021–2024) sets out a vision to implement an effective and efficient audit program that focuses our efforts on residential and commercial building industry practices which pose...

Building and Energy

Guide / handbook

29 Jul 2021

Changing your roof cover – Things you need to know

Building and Energy is aware of several roofs that have lifted off or collapsed following changing of their roof cover. In these cases, the required building licence/permit was not in place and the roof was not adequately tied down to the house.

Building and Energy

Fact sheet

26 Jul 2021

Compliance report – A summary of technical building inspections (Class 1 - residential buildings) 2019–20

The Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety - Building and Energy Division (Building and Energy) has developed an audit program to monitor whether registered building service...

Building and Energy

Reports

04 Dec 2023

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Announcements

Office hours – December and January

Our offices will be closed from Wednesday 25 December 2019 to Wednesday 1 January 2020. Normal services will return on Thursday 2 January 2020. For urgent enquiries please visit our contact page.

Corporate

Department News

04 Dec 2019

Commissioner's Blog: Home building approvals – have a say

With Commissioner for Consumer Protection David Hillyard Did you know that currently when you build a home in Western Australia, such as a one or two storey house, there are no mandatory inspections during, or at the end of, construction? In a recent social media survey run on Consumer Protection’s Facebook page, 55% of respondents wrongly thought local government WAS required to carry out...

Consumer Protection

Media release

29 Nov 2019

Home builder fined for lack of insurance and permit – Compass Building Pty Ltd (BC33514, expired) and Robin Pyle (BP4373)

The Building Services Board has fined a Mount Pleasant building practitioner and his company $6,000 in total for starting construction of a two-storey house in Doubleview without the required home indemnity insurance (HII) or building permit. Compass Building Pty Ltd (BC33514, expired) was fined $3,500 for negligence under WA’s building registration laws. The company’s director and nominated...

Building and Energy

Media release

28 Nov 2019

Building surveyors fined $35,000 over unsafe fire approvals – Resolve Group Pty Ltd; Scott Michael Roberts; Kieran James Hunt

A Perth building surveying company and its two directors have been fined a total of $35,000 for negligence after signing off on three buildings that failed to meet fire safety requirements. Applecross-based registered building surveying contractor Resolve Group Pty Ltd (BSC31) and registered building surveying practitioners Scott Michael Roberts (BSP244) and Kieran James Hunt (BSP2224) were the...

Building and Energy

Media release

05 Nov 2019

ABCB online survey – Developing Performance Solutions

The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) has today released an online survey regarding the inclusion of mandatory requirements in the National Construction Code (NCC) for the development of Performance Solutions. You have been invited to complete the survey in order to help inform the development of draft NCC provisions for public consultation and the associated regulation impact analysis. The...

Building and Energy

Department News

13 Sep 2019

Have your say on home building approvals

Building and Energy is inviting Western Australians to share their views on ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of home building approval processes. A public consultation launched today is seeking input from property owners, the building industry, local government and other stakeholders with an interest in home construction. Under WA’s current home building approval processes, a...

Building and Energy

Media release

12 Sep 2019

Building surveyor certifies non-complying construction – Constructive Building Consultants Pty Ltd and Caillam Walter Bruyn

The Building Services Board has fined Wangara building surveying contractor Constructive Building Consultants Pty Ltd (BSC2033) $2,500 and building surveyor Caillam Walter Bruyn (BSP2164) $1,000 after they signed off on a Toodyay community facility that did not meet construction requirements. In 2016, the Shire of Toodyay received a certificate of construction compliance for the newly built...

Building and Energy

Media release

29 Aug 2019

$90,000 penalty for bogus building claims – Frayson Pty Ltd, Instyle Residence Australia Pty Ltd, Armand Noor

Two Perth businesses and their director must pay almost $90,000 in fines and costs following a Building and Energy prosecution for falsely claiming to be authorised to do work that only a registered building contractor can carry out. After a five-day trial in the Perth Magistrates Court, Frayson Pty Ltd and an associated company, Instyle Residence Australia Pty Ltd , were found guilty of separate...

Building and Energy

Media release

12 Aug 2019

Bush fire framework review 2019 and changes to the Map

On 30 July 2019, the McGowan Government announced a three-stage plan to improve the bush fire policy framework, including the Map of Bush Fire Prone Areas (the Map). The improvements will reduce the number of residential buildings required to comply with the bush fire construction requirements of the Building Code of Australia (BCA). Stage One will see a new edition of the Map come into effect on...

Building and Energy

Department News

30 Jul 2019

Top ten building regulatory compliance audit items for improvement

Between 1 January 2017 and 28 February 2019, in total 56 regulatory compliance inspections were carried out and 3,209 items of regulatory requirements were inspected. Of these 3,037 or 95% were found to be compliant. The top ten items of non-compliance that require improvement are listed in Table 1 below: Table 1: Top ten items of regulatory compliance that require improvement Item Number...

Building and Energy

Department News

08 Jul 2019

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