Western Australia is set to undertake major building reform, with the government in that state pursuing what it says is the most significant reform package in more than a decade.

Shortly before Christmas, the Western Australian Government unveiled a package of reforms that aims to improve the quality and safety of new buildings which are constructed in that state.

Known as the Better Building reform package, the changes will include:

• New mandatory inspections that will be required at important stages of construction for new commercial, public and multi-storey residential apartment buildings (class 2-9 buildings as classified under the National Construction Code).
• New and improved enforcement powers which will be given to the Building Commissioner, Building Services Board and permit authorities. These will include the authority to issue directions on technical matters, enter any construction site, notify permit authorities of serious non-compliant work and issue greater penalties for various offences under the legislation.
• Introduction of tiered registration for builders, including an unlimited ‘Open Builder’ registration category and a more restrictive category for low-rise builders.
• New requirements for the engagement of building surveyors. These include that surveyors must be engaged by building owners (not builders), that surveyors must act in the public interest and that payment for building surveyors must not be conditional on the issuing of a certificate of compliance or a building permit.
• Improvements to building design documentation, including minimum standards, registration requirements for designers and third-party review of structural and fire safety designs for complex and significant buildings.
• Clearer processes for documenting design changes during construction, including a defined process for approval of major or minor variations.
• Provision of building manuals for high-rise apartment complexes to facilitate post-construction management and maintenance.

The new mandatory inspections will be introduced over time on a staged basis beginning in 2026.

Initially, the inspections will focus on apartment buildings of four or more storeys in height as well as commercial and public buildings.

This may be extended to lower rise construction following a review of the rollout and provision of sufficient time for improvement of industry capacity.

The reforms respond to a major review of Western Australia’s building regulation that was undertaken by the Building and Energy Division of the state’s Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (Building and Energy).

That review was undertaken in order to help inform Western Australia’s response to the recommendations contained in the Building Confidence Report that was prepared at a national level for the Building Ministers Forum (now called the Building Ministers Meeting) in 2018 by Professor Peter Shergold and lawyer Bronwyn Weir.

As outlined in the review, the changes come amid ongoing concern about the quality and safety of newly constructed buildings throughout Western Australia.

These concerns are not unique to Western Australia, but are evident across the state nonetheless.

Over a five-year period spanning 2015 until 2020, audits of new residential buildings undertaken by Building and Energy uncovered concerningly high rates of non-compliant construction across at least 22 building elements (see chart).

This includes termite management, bushfire area requirements, wet areas, ventilation, glazing, timber wall framing and many other areas (refer chart).

In addition, Building and Energy says it has received an alarming number of reports relating to poor waterproofing, non-compliant windows and water ingress in newly constructed apartment complexes throughout the Perth metropolitan area.

Finally, Building and Energy’s audit of multi-storey apartment buildings uncovered 52 buildings that were of either high or moderate risk on account of flammable cladding.

Furthermore, the review uncovered weaknesses in the state’s building regulatory system.

For instance, Western Australia is currently the only state/territory in Australia not to mandate inspections of work at critical stages in residential buildings (and in some cases, commercial buildings).

This means that defective work may remain undetected until after construction – at which time building owners are left to remedy defects on their own or through dispute mechanisms.

All up, the Building and Energy review made 39 recommendations for change.

If all recommendations are implemented, the state will have partially or fully implemented fifteen of the 20 BCR recommendations that were slated to be implemented at a state level.

Further, a Decision Regulatory Impact Statement found that benefits associated with full implementation of the recommendations would significantly exceed the cost involved.

All up, full implantation of the recommendations is expected to deliver benefits of $1.514 billion. This is almost entirely on account of avoided rectification costs which are associated with doing things right during construction.

This compares with $1.061 billion in costs, which mostly relates to higher costs for inspection, documentation and construction.

The reforms also come as Western Australia has previously been criticised (along with several other states) for its slow response to the BCR recommendations.

Prior to the latest announcement, the only significant reforms undertaken by Western Australia in response to the BCR involve a new registration scheme for professional engineers which commences on 1 July 2024 as well as a new code of conduct for building surveyors.

This is despite the fact that almost six years have passed since the report’s publication in 2018.

A consultation draft of the laws will be released at a future (as yet unspecified) date.

This will provide peak bodies, local governments, building professionals and the public the opportunity to understand the changes as well as to provide feedback regarding the technical details.

At the same time as the consultation draft is released, the Government will release an action plan that will set out the timeline for implementation of the changes.

WA Commerce Minister Sue Ellery said the changes will deliver better protection for consumers as well as safer and higher quality buildings.

“These important reforms to WA’s building laws involved close consultation with industry, local governments and building professionals. I would like to thank the many Western Australians and peak bodies who provided feedback during this process,” Ellery said.

“The reforms will increase consumer protections, modernise the way buildings are designed, approved and constructed in WA, and provide peace of mind that our buildings are safe and constructed to the required standards.

“The Cook Government acknowledges the State’s building industry is facing several challenges caused by the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, disruptions to global trade, labour shortages and increasing inflationary pressures.

“Significant consideration has been given to ensure the reforms are implemented gradually, are well understood by building professionals and local governments, and cause as little disruption as is practicable.

“The public will also have an opportunity to review the draft laws and have their say on the details.”

Lawyer Bronwyn Weir, who co-authored the aforementioned Building Confidence Report, welcomed the announcement.

Weir particularly commended the transparency with which the Government had compared its response to the BCR recommendations – something which has been lacking across most states and territories.

“It’s great to see transparency in these documents on how the WA scheme will compare to the BCR recommendations and the detailed reasoning and cost benefit analysis on how each reform issue has been decided,” Weir wrote on LinkedIn on the day that the changes were announced.

“These changes are significant and will bring positive outcomes for the WA building industry and consumers.

“They will take several years to implement and have been a long time coming but it is great to see such a comprehensive package put out by the WA Government today.”