The ACT Government reports annually on progress of reforms to the ACT's building regulatory system. The report is current as at the end of the financial year being reported on.

During the 2023-24 financial year, the ACT Government undertook the following work in relation to improving and maintaining the building and construction industry and progressed actions that promote health, safety, amenity and sustainability outcomes and maintain quality of living standards for Canberrans:

  • Established the legislative framework for a property developer licensing and regulation scheme. The Property Developers Act 2024:
    • regulates individuals and entities that engage in residential development activity
    • brings developers into the regulatory chain of accountability for building work they are involved in.
    The Scheme was informed by targeted consultation with key industry stakeholders as well as policy advice from consultants. Work also progressed on the supporting regulation and other legislative instruments for implementation of the scheme.
  • Continued to progress work to strengthen certification services in the ACT and support regulatory oversight to increase consumer confidence. This included engagement of a consultant to provide an options analysis to deliver this commitment and engagement with stakeholders on the options analysis and implementation of the preferred option. An options paper was considered by the Government and regulation changes will be progressed in the second half of 2024 to implement the Government’s decision.
  • Developed a 10-year pathway to shift to world's best practice on climate-ready and environmentally-sustainable buildings. This included the engagement of the Green Building Council of Australia to support the development of the supporting policy material.
  • Undertook and implemented reforms to security of payment laws to make the construction industry fairer, including an industry workshop discussing the impact of the reforms. This work will inform a detailed review of the ACT’s security of payments framework to commence scoping later in 2024.
  • Commenced implementation of the findings of the review of residential building work insurance settings to improve consumer protection. This includes progressing regulation changes in the second half of 2024 to increase the minimum prescribed insurance amount and time limits to lodge a claim from 1 January 2025.
  • Continued to progress work to respond to action 11.4 in the Strategic Bushfire Management Plan: require new or substantially altered residential properties in bushfire prone areas to comply with the bushfire related construction requirements in the Building Code of Australia. Work on assessing the regulatory impacts to the community of any changes to the current definition of bushfire prone area in the Building Regulatory System is ongoing.
  • Commenced and progressed work on implementing regulation of medical gas systems, including new licensing requirements.
  • Commenced work on implementation of the National Registration Framework, an output of the Building Confidence Report.
  • Commenced work on actions to support a mobile building and construction labour force.
  • Led national discussions on action to be taken to address embodied carbon emissions in the National Construction Code (NCC 2022).
  • Worked closely with national colleagues on the National Framework for Disclosure of Residential Energy Efficiency Information.
  • Supported participation of the Minister for Sustainable Building and Construction in National Building Minister's meetings.
  • Supported the ACT representative on the Australian Building Codes Board.
  • Worked with colleagues from other jurisdictions through Senior Officials meetings and working groups.
  • Provided information on the operation of the ACT's building regulatory system to Government, the community, stakeholders, other jurisdictions and national bodies.
  • Undertook ongoing engagement with the community and industry stakeholders.

During the 2023-24 financial year, the ACT Government completed the following work:

  • Established the legislative framework for a property developer licensing and regulation scheme through the passage of the Property Developers Act 2024.
  • Completed a review of residential building work insurance regulatory settings to ensure the cover offered remained current and fit for purpose.
  • Commenced the Professional Engineers Registration Scheme on 6 March 2024 with applications being processed in a phased manner. From 6 March 2025, all engineers providing professional engineering services in a prescribed area of engineering will be required to be registered and will be subject to compliance and enforcement activity. A dedicated page on this site has been established to provide information to the community about the scheme.
  • Established home swimming pool safety reforms through the introduction and passage of the Building (Swimming Pool Safety) Legislation Amendment Act 2023. The scheme commenced on 1 May 2024 and requires all home swimming pools and spas to have a safety barrier compliant with modern safety standards by 1 May 2028. A dedicated page on this site has been established to provide information to the community and industry about the scheme.
  • Implemented and adopted the energy efficiency, condensation mitigation and liveable housing provisions in the NCC 2022 in the ACT from 15 January 2024.
  • Developed and implemented improvements to the ACTs building regulatory system through the introduction and passage of the Building and Construction Legislation Amendment Act 2023.
  • Developed and implemented new licensing requirements in relation to distributed energy resource installations (such as rooftop solar) through the introduction and passage of the Building and Construction Legislation Amendment Act 2023, the development and notification of the Construction Occupations (Licensing) (Distributed Energy Resource) Declaration 2024 and updates to the Construction Occupations (Licensing) Qualifications Declaration.
  • Developed and implemented new requirements when reconnecting electrical installations that have sat idle for 6 months or longer through the introduction and passage of the Building and Construction Legislation Amendment Act 2023.
  • Expanded the regulator’s powers to provide electrical inspectors with powers in relation to electrical equipment or electrical installations that are or are becoming a source of danger through the introduction and passage of the Building and Construction Legislation Amendment Act 2023.
  • Introduced new regulation of medical gas systems to address safety risks with the installation, testing and maintenance of medical gas systems through the introduction and passage of the Building and Construction Legislation Amendment Act 2023. The new regulation will commence later in 2024.
  • Developed and implemented changes to the ACT’s security of payment laws to set statutory timeframes for payment claims through the introduction and passage of the Building and Construction Legislation Amendment Act 2023.
  • Completed a review of the regulatory settings for residential building work insurance. The final report made 12 recommendations to government, including clarifying regulatory responsibilities, updating legislative instruments, considering options for a consumer representative, and enhancing complaints management procedures. The final report was tabled in the ACT Legislative Assembly in June 2024. The review included extensive consultation with stakeholders, including community advocates, which informed the findings of the review.
  • Implemented legislative reforms to support implementation of recommendations 2, 3 and 4 from the review of the regulatory settings for residential building work insurance through the introduction and passage of the Building and Construction Legislation Amendment Act 2023. These reforms:
    • related to applications for approval of fidelity fund schemes
    • introduced conditions of approval of fidelity fund schemes and established the role of consumer representative for approved fidelity fund schemes in primary legislation.
  • Continued to improve practitioner regulation in the ACT through: