What You Need to Know About the Proposed NSW Building Bill before it Passes

By Eleanor Bock

With a focus on prefabricated construction and modern methods of construction: What does the Bill mean for developers, builders, certifiers, designers, engineers and owners?

‘The bill strips away decades of red tape and administrative burden that is hampering industry and frustrating consumers due to highly complex certification systems’1

  • The Hon. Rose Jackson, NSW Minister for Housing, Minister for Homelessness, Minister for Mental Health, and Minister for Youth; in the Legislative Council’s Second Reading Speech,

In this newsletter, the Bill will be compared against existing legislation and determine what is new, repackaged, and what remains. The overview will provide information directly from the explanatory note and the Bill itself, on which legislation is impacted and the purpose of the Bill. Consider the subheadings on new, repackaged and remaining legislation for written comparison and a table for a briefer glance.

Overview

The NSW Building (Approvals and Practitioners) Bill 2026 was introduced to the legislative assembly in May of this year and passed the assembly in late May. It passed the Legislative Council with amendments on the 25th of June, and is currently back with the Assembly for concurrence.

Per the explanatory note, the objects of the Bill are;

  1. to establish a framework for the approval and oversight of building work, including work involving prefabricated buildings,
  2. to provide that certain work may be carried out only under a registration (registered work) and to establish a registration process for registered work,
  3. to enable the Secretary of the Department of Customer Service (the Secretary) to take disciplinary action against persons who are registered,
  4. to enable the appointment of authorised officers, who are responsible for investigating, monitoring and enforcing the requirements of the proposed Act and the regulations,
  5. to set out additional powers of the Secretary under the proposed Act,
  6. to establish a duty of care owed by persons who carry out construction work requiring the persons to take reasonable care to avoid defects arising from the construction work,
  7. to set out additional miscellaneous matters relating to the administration of the proposed Act,
  8. to make consequential amendments to other Acts.2

It will replace construction certificates with ‘building approvals’ and occupation certificates with ‘completion approvals’. Additionally it will consolidate certifier and practitioner registration into a single scheme and re-enact the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 duty of care in an expanded form. This Bill proposes to be the first dedicated statutory regime for prefabricated and modular buildings in Australia.

The repealed acts will be;

  1. Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020
  2. Building and Development Certifiers Act 2018
  3. Environmental Planning and Assessment (Development Certification and Fire Safety) Regulation Act 2021

The other amended acts include (not comprehensively);

  1. Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979
  2. Local Government Act 1993
  3. Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) Act 2020
  4. Home Building Act 1989


What’s Actually New?

Prefabricated building declarations and instructions

Manufacturers must certify compliance with the Building Code of Australia before a prefabricated building can be supplied or installed. 3

A ‘post-commencement authorisation’ regime allowing the Secretary to authorise a building approval for work that has already started.

This grants power to recover costs from the landowner, the person with the benefit of the consent, or the builder, regardless of who benefited from the work. 4

Landowner consent is now required to apply for a building approval or completion approval, and unprecedently extending the development application consent regime to certification.. 5

Certifier directions become criminally enforceable in their own right

Non-compliance is an offence, carrying large fines with no merits right of appeal. 6

The Secretary gains a new power to investigate and sanction local councils acting as approval authorities. 7

What’s Being Repackaged, not Reinvented?

The core of many existing regimes remains largely unchanged. We have compiled these changes into a table for your reference.

Existing RegimeNew Location in BillWhat Changed
DBP Act statutory duty of carePart 8, ss 177-184Same non-delegable duty to avoid economic loss from defenses. This is now expressly extended to building product manufacturers/suppliers and certifiers
DBP Act design compliance declarationsPart 3, Div 6, ss 66-70Same declaration obligations for building element work, folded into the approvals application process itself.
DBP Act 10-year long-stop limitation periods 192Reproduced without substantive change.
BDCA certifier accreditationPart 4 (registration)Merged with DBP Act practitioner registration into a single cross-sector register administered by the Secretary
RAB Act investigative powersPart 6, ss 139-162Same entry, document production and seizure power to be generalized across all registered/approvals work, not just residential apartment buildings under construction.
DBP Act/BDCA disciplinary processesPart 5, ss 127-138Same show—cause and suspension architecture, now covering every category of registration holder under one framework.

The Bill expands certifiers powers, as Section 75 replaces the current

itemised list of matters a certifier may sign off on in place of a council, with a general

power to be satisfied of virtually any matter a consent authority would otherwise need

to be satisfied of.

What remains?

Notably, the Home Building Act 1989 is not repealed. Its statutory warranty, licensing and home warranty insurance regime(HBCF), continues, ,with the Bill’s regulation-making power (s12(7)) reserved only to govern the interface between the HBA and the new prefabricated building regime. The RAB Act is also retained, albeit narrowing its role as a result of investigative powers being absorbed into the Bill.

Key Takeaways

  1. Prefabrication is moving into the mainstream regulatory framework. The Bill introduces a statute for prefabricated and modular buildings.
  2. Manufacturers and suppliers will carry greater responsibility. Prefabricated building manufacturers will need to certify compliance with the Building Code of Australia first. This duty expressly extends to building product manufacturers and suppliers.
  3. Developers and builders have a new approvals pathway. Construction certificates and occupation certificates will be replaced by building approvals and completion approvals, while new post-commencement authorisations may allow approval of work that has already commenced. In some cases landowner consent will also be required.
  4. Certifier directions are criminally enforceable while certifier registration and practitioner registration will be consolidated.
  5. Little will change for designers and engineers in practice – In practice there are virtually no changes beyond their integration into a consolidated approvals and registration regime.
  6. Owners and landowners are more directly involved.

Overall, the Bill consolidates the existing system, rather than rewriting it. For instance, while enforcement is becoming broader and potentially more consequential, the Home Building Act remains relevant, and the Bill does not propose to replace the existing statutory warranties, licensing or home warranty insurance regime.

The article is general information only and not legal advice. If you would like advice on how the Building (Approvals and Practitioners) Bill 2026 affects your project or business, our experts at Crisp Law are here to assist.

Contact Crisp Law for advice and information:

Telephone: +61 2 8042 8701

Email: admin@crisplaw.com.au

References

Building (Approvals and Practitioners) Bill (2026) (NSW) (NSW), Parliamentary Debates, Senate, 23 June 2026, (The Hon. ROSE JACKSON ((Minister for Water, Minister for Housing, Minister for Homelessness, Minister for Mental Health, and Minister for Youth)) < Legislative Council Hansard – 23 June 2026 – Proof>

Photo by Dominic Kurniawan Suryaputra on Unsplash

1 New South Wales, Parliamentary Debates, Senate, 23/06/2026, 1, The Hon. Rose Jackson, NSW Minister for Housing, and Minister for Youth.

2 Explanatory Notes, Building (Approvals and Practitioners) Bill 2026 (NSW)

3 Building (Approvals and Practitioners) Bill (2026) (NSW) pt 8, ss 177-184

4 Building (Approvals and Practitioners) Bill (2026) (NSW pt 3, div 2, ss 29

5 Building (Approvals and Practitioners) Bill (2026) (NSW pt 3, div 2, sub-div 2, ss 32(1)

6 Building (Approvals and Practitioners) Bill (2026) (NSW) pt 3, div 2, sub-div 1, ss 73(1)-(4)

7 Building (Approvals and Practitioners) Bill (2026) (NSW) pt 4, div 3, sub-div 4, ss 108(2)

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