Engineers Australia comments on the proposed NSW Building Bill

Engineers Australia has recently lodged comments on the proposed Building Bill to the NSW Building Commission.  The full document can be downloaded here (www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/2024-10/20241018-NSW-Building-Bill-2024-Engineers-Australia-Submission.pdf).

Engineers Australia believes that the “proposed NSW Building Bill will perpetuate and extend the design flaws that were present in the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 and subsequent legislation, with the likely outcome that the reforms will not achieve the intended objectives”.

The Engineers Australia submission reinforces concerns raised about terms in the proposed Bill that:

1.      undermine and limit national consistency of registration of engineers

2.      put impractical and unreasonable obligations on individual engineers

3.      do not accurately reflect the realities of doing engineering work, and

4.      may prevent engineering businesses providing services in NSW.

Engineers Australia recommendations included:

1.      Provide for nationally consistent registration of engineers

2.      Ensure the model for co-regulation of engineers is nationally consistent

3.      Ensure impractical and unreasonable obligations placed on individual engineers working on buildings are not carried over from the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020.

Unfortunately, I expect that the NSW Building Commissions mind is made up and the Building Bill will be passed in its current form.  In time, we understand the implications for not only engineers but all in the construction industry across NSW.