Design and Building Practitioners

There are new requirements for registered people to declare that:

• Designs comply with the Building Code of Australia and other relevant standards, in a Design Compliance Declaration (made by a registered Design Practitioner), and
• Building work is constructed in accordance with compliant designs and in compliance with the Building Code of Australia, in a Building Compliance Declaration (made by a registered Building Practitioner).

Who is a design practitioner?

Industry participants will be considered Design Practitioners if they:

• Prepare a design (which includes a drawing, plan, specification or a report detailing a design), and
• The design is for a:
  • Building element (fire safety system; waterproofing; internal or external load bearing components including foundations, footings, floors, walls, roofs, columns and beams; building enclosure; mechanical, plumbing and electrical services), or
  • Performance solution, and
• The design is for 'building work', i.e. involved in the construction; alteration or addition; or the repair, renovation or protective treatment, of a class 2 building or building with a class 2 part.

Who should become a registered design practitioner?

A registered Design Practitioner is responsible for making 'Design Compliance Declarations' – they declare that designs comply with the Building Code of Australia and other relevant standards. NSW Fair Trading has published standard forms for completion of Design Compliance Declarations.

The Act requires a registered Design Practitioner to provide a Design Compliance Declaration to a person when they provide that person with a regulated design and the design is in a form suitable for use in connection with building work. A Design Compliance Declaration is also required when a building element (see above) or performance solution is varied.

There are 18 classes of registration for design practitioners (including architectural, building design (low rise), building design (medium rise), civil engineering, façade, fire systems, structural engineering and others).

Each class of registration has separate eligibility requirements.

An industry participant should become a registered Design Practitioner if they:

• Are a design practitioner (see above), and
• Fall within one of the 18 specified classes, and
• Meet the eligibility requirements, and
• Are the practitioner who will declare Design Compliance Declarations.

Registration should be made through Service NSW after 1 July 2021, and before any documents need to be declared.

Only the person who will be declaring or lodging documents needs to register. For example, one designer might sign off on designs from a team of designers. Only the person signing off and declaring the design needs to register. Not every designer needs to register.

Who is a building practitioner?

A building practitioner means:

• A person who agrees to do 'building work', that is, work involved in the construction; alteration or addition; or the repair, renovation or protective treatment, of a class 2 building or building with a class 2 part, or
• If more than one person agrees to do building work, the principal/head contractor.

Who needs to become a registered building practitioner?

A registered Building Practitioner is responsible for:

• Lodging (with the NSW Planning Portal) designs and Design Compliance Declarations (obtained from registered Design Practitioners) before construction starts. No construction on part of a building that requires a regulated design can commence until this occurs, and
• Preparing and lodging (with the NSW Planning Portal) a Building Compliance Declaration, which declares that building work is constructed in accordance with compliant designs and in compliance with the Building Code of Australia.

There are three classes of registration for building practitioners (body corporate, body corporate nominee, and general).

Each class of registration has separate eligibility requirements.

An industry participant should become a registered Building Practitioner if they:

• Are a building practitioner (see above), and
• Fall within one of the 3 specified classes, and
• Meet the eligibility requirements, and
• Are the practitioner who will declare and lodge the relevant documents.

Only the head Building Practitioner or principal contractor needs to register to make a Building Compliance Declaration, not every subcontractor and tradesperson.

Professional Engineers

The Act also establishes a new registration scheme for Professional Engineers carrying out work in NSW.

Who is a Professional Engineer?

Industry participants will be considered Professional Engineers under the Act if they:

• Perform engineering work that requires, or is based on, the application of engineering principles and data to –
  • A design (which includes a drawing, plan, specification or a report detailing a design); or
  • A construction, production, operation or maintenance activity; and
• That engineering work is in the areas of civil, electrical, fire safety, geotechnical, mechanical, or structural engineering, and
• That engineering work is carried out directly in relation to the design or construction of a class 2 building or a building with a class 2 part.

Professional Engineering work does not include work provided pursuant to a prescriptive standard, that is, work:

• Only provided in accordance with a document that states the procedure or criteria for carrying out the work, and
• That does not require the application of advanced scientifically based calculations.

Who needs to become a registered Professional Engineer?

It is an offence under the Act, if an engineer’s work meets the above criteria and they are not registered as a Professional Engineer in the appropriate class of registration for that work, unless:

• They are doing the work under the direct supervision of a registered Professional Engineer in the appropriate class of registration for that work, or
• They are expressly authorised under the Regulations to do the work without registration.

To avoid penalty, a professional engineer needs to apply for registration prior to 7 July 2021.

In addition, an engineer is not entitled to be paid for doing work if they are not appropriately registered, supervised or authorised. Any amount paid for doing the work would also be recoverable as a debt.