The NSW Government is investing $145.1 million in Building Commission NSW as part of the 2025-26 Budget, providing funding security for the dedicated building regulator so it can continue to restore confidence and quality in the sector.
Building Commission NSW employs more than 450 people including building and compliance inspectors, policy experts, investigators, intelligence analysts, lawyers, and industry engagement specialists.
The significant investment in the Minns Government's third Budget will allow Building Commission NSW to continue to conduct inspections, investigate complex building issues, progress key building reforms and educate the industry.
Specifically, this new recurrent funding will allow the digitisation of penalty infringement notices, which will in turn sharpen the Commission's data analytics resulting in more targeted inspections and ultimately more prosecutions.
The $145 million funding boost will also allow the Commission to standup joint taskforces with Fair Trading, ASIC, ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) and the NSW State Coroner, to ensure all necessary prosecutions across different jurisdictions can be carried out.
So far this financial year, Building Commission NSW has inspected 1015 building sites for defects and has issued 455 orders as a result, with water ingress and fire safety defects among key issues.
Building Commission NSW has also inspected 401 residential building sites for building compliance issues, including licencing, specialist trade supervision and signage requirements, this financial year.
These compliance inspections resulted in Building Commission NSW issuing 202 Penalty Infringement Notices (PINs) for issues identified including unlicensed work and contractors working without the right licence.
Building Commission NSW also conducted nearly 20,000 plumbing inspections, more than 2000 electrical inspections, and close to 1000 gas inspections in 2024/25, targeting specialist trade work.
In 2025, Building Commission NSW also devoted significant resources towards ensuring building quality is maintained in regional and rural parts of the state.
This regional push saw teams of building quality and compliance inspectors in the North Coast, Mid-North Coast, Riverina and Murray, as well as the Central West regions of NSW.
These regional inspection blitzes resulted in visits to 223 residential building sites, the issuing or expected issuing of 3 orders with a further 55 orders to be finalised for building defects, and the issuing of 72 PINs.
Building Commission NSW continues to engage with industry on proposed building reforms to consolidate a patchwork of existing laws into a simple and modernised legal framework for rebuilding trust in the sector, improving consumer protections, and reducing defects.
In the 2024-25 financial year, Building Commission NSW's Construct NSW platform delivered courses to more than 23,800 students and launched five new courses, to ensure the industry is well trained.
Building Commission NSW expects to launch a further 16 courses this year, including Mandarin translated courses on Asbestos and Silica awareness, Electrical and Air Conditioning Standards, Automated Vehicle Parking Systems, and Vehicle Lifts - Safety and Integration.
Quotes to be attributed to Minister for Building, Anoulack Chanthivong:
"Building quality is one of the top priorities of the Minns Government.
"Ensuring homes, whether they be apartments or free-standing houses, are built to the highest standards is critical to helping address the housing crisis we inherited in NSW.
"To do this, the NSW Government established Building Commission NSW as a dedicated regulator with the aim of restoring confidence in the construction sector and ensuring building quality is improved across the state.
"This $145 million investment secures the Commission's funding over the next four years, so it can continue on its mission to uplift and improve the quality of the residential building sector."
Quotes to be attributed to NSW Building Commissioner, James Sherrard:
"In 2024/25 alone we have conducted thousands of inspections on sites across NSW, with a particular focus on building our presence and programs in the regional and rural parts of the state.
"This $145 million investment over the next four years will provide the Commission the funding security it needs to keep inspections going and ensure building quality is maintained across the state.
"It will also allow us to continue to progress key building legislative reforms, and deliver education to the industry, so the sector is supported and can continue to improve into the future."
