The Building Legislation Amendment (Consumer Protection) Act 2015 became law on 19 April 2016 It amends both the Building Act 1993 and the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995. The changes being implemented by the new legislation are being introduced in stages.
The Victorian Building Authority has published a range of factsheets about the changes to commence on 1 September 2016.
One of the important changes is that builders are now required to give to owners a “Domestic Building Consumer Guide” before they enter into a major domestic building contract and to include a revised checklist. So, all contracts where the value of the works exceed $5,000.00 are required to have the guide included. Attached is a copy of the two page guide and the new checklist. The guide emphasises the importance of the building surveyor exercising his or her statutory functions in an independent manner, it also provides information about the responsibilities of each party in the building process with recommendations, and notes that the VBA will be implementing a new dispute resolution process through a new body called the “Domestic Building Disputes Resolution Victoria” (DBDRV). The conciliation service has not yet been established, but is likely to be introduced sometime in early 2017, and at the latest by 1 July 2017. The service introduces mandatory conciliation and powers for a conciliator to issue binding orders on all parties to resolve disputes. The State government hopes that this service will give parties greater incentive to resolve disputes more efficiently, and reduce the number of disputes and vexatious claims that are referred to VCAT.
Our firm will be monitoring the introduction of the new service and also assisting clients with the process of dealing with both conciliation and conciliators decisions. VCAT will have new powers to review decisions arising from conciliation, usually with a time frame of 28 days to make an application for review. The conciliation service appears to be similar to services already operating in Queensland and New South Wales.
If you have any queries at all about the new legislation, or the requirements for major domestic building contracts entered into after 1 September, or the new government initiatives in the new legislation, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Download the ‘Domestic Building Consumer Guide And Checklist’ by clicking the link below
