NSW Design and Building Practitioners Regulation finalised

16 April 2021

Paul Tobin
National Practice Group Leader
Sparke Helmore Lawyers

Paul Tobin
National Practice Group Leader
Sparke Helmore Lawyers
t: +61 2 4924 7345

Paul is a senior construction and procurement lawyer. He assists clients through all phases of projects from conception, tendering, documentation to contract and claim administration, and dispute resolution.

The Design and Building Practitioners Regulation 2021 (NSW) (Regulation) was made on 9 April. The Regulation is needed for the new regulatory regime under the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 (NSW) and the Regulation to commence on 1 July 2021. The Regulation follows a period of public consultation (see our previous Alert). The Regulation and the associated Consultation Report can be accessed here.

A significant change to the transitional exemption provisions has been made from the consultation draft, with the consultation position of the regime not applying if the first application for a construction certificate for the building has been made before 1 July 2021 being replaced with a requirement that the relevant building work has commenced before 1 July 2021.

Another significant change from the consultation draft is the extending of the exemption, for the first two years from 1 July 2021 of registered persons needing to be adequately insured, to design practitioners and professional engineers. The Regulation maintains this position for building practitioners.