Image Courtesy of Angus & Robertson
Section 10 – Building Permits with the old building regulations
There is a provision in the Victorian Building Act 1993 which gives the building surveyor significant discretion as to whether to apply the new BCA when it comes into force on the 1 May each year. Section 1o says:
“A building regulation, or an amendment to a building regulation, does not apply to the carrying out of building work if the relevant building surveyor is satisfied , and certifies in writing, that substantial progress was made on the design before the building regulation or amendment commenced. “
The effect of this discretion has enabled past projects with design timeframes extending past the 1 May milestone not to apply the Section J Energy Efficiency provisions when they first came in. It is likely that it may be applied on the 1 May 2011 to enable the introduction of the new Disabled Access provisions not to be applied.
There are definitely potential traps in taking this approach – For example:
- In the Energy Efficieny area new buildings could be devalued or discounted when compared to other new buildings where the provisions were applied;
- In the area of Disabled Access provisions in May 2011 it looks like the same provisions will be mirrored in the Access to Premises Standards under the Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and they will be enforced and enforceable under that Act.
So the mechanism is there to issue a building permit for the previous building regulations, with some definite practical benefits, but maybe the savings gained are in reality just costs passed on to future owners!
Tags: BCA, Building Act 1993, Building Regulations, DDA, Energy Efficiency