The Enforcement of Compliance
Watershed Building Consultants has recently updated how we administer compliance enforcement. Compliance Enforcement means Watershed’s (the Building Surveyor’s) responsibility to meet standards and obligations on the projects they are appointed to. In the world of building and building surveying, it is the Victorian Building Authority (VBA) who regulate these standards and obligations.
Compliance
To meet compliance is to fulfil requirements and in this case, statutory obligations. The Australian Institute of Building Surveyors (AIBS) provides an excellent description of the role, the importance and the statutory obligations of Building Surveyors. However, in short, Building Surveyors are here to assess, approve, review and inspect during the build process. Building Surveyors ensure a project is structurally sound, energy efficient, accessible and can be safely occupied.
ENFORCEMENT
During a construction project, Building Surveyors are obliged to issue and enforce building notices and building orders. These notices and orders are necessary to bring about compliance with a provision of the Building Act 1993 (the Act), or the Building Regulations 2018 (the Regulations). Types of enforcement include:
Building Notice – a legal regulated document issued to the property owner to notify the owner and builder of a compliance and / or safety issue. Most commonly issued when works are not in accordance with the approved plans or permit.
Building Order – issued to the property owner if the above Building Notice is not complied with. If a Building Order is not complied with it may be reported to the VBA.
Stop Work Order – is issued where the Building Surveyor has reason to believe that there is a contravention of The Act and The Regulations, or there is a safety issue on-site. The owner and builder must stop work to prevent further contravention, or cease work that is considered unsafe.
Minor Works Order – can be issued without the prior issue of a Building Notice. This is a direction to carry out building work, protection work or other work required by The Regulations if the Building Surveyor is of the opinion the work required is of a minor nature.
Written Direction to Fix (WDTF) – following a failed mandatory inspection or site inspection that investigates a complaint / concern, verbal direction to fix the non-compliant item(s) is provided. The owner/builder must rectify the items within 7 days of the verbal direction, if not, a WDTF is issued. If Watershed does not receive a response to the WDTF within the allocated time frame, a building notice is issued.
Additional Inspections – after a failed mandatory inspection or to check the status of the building work following a complaint or concern. Additional Inspections are also charged for if the scheduled inspection is cancelled without adequate notice to Watershed.
The relevant recipient (owner, builder or applicant) on a project will receive the above communications in the form of an email or a letter from Watershed.
Responsibilities
The owner, the engineers, the trades, the Council, and the builder all have a level of responsibility throughout a project to enforce compliance within their area of skill and within their jurisdiction. As the Building Surveyor, Watershed is proud to oversee and enforce compliance throughout the entire permit, construction and final aspects of a project. We encourage open communication to solve problems and to reach our overall goal of a safe and compliant project.
If you would like more information on Compliance Enforcement, visit the below links or contact us.