Fees prescribed in regulations are subject to a sunset review every ten years in accordance with the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994. The sunset review of the regulations in 2017 was unable to reset certain fees due to limited availability of data at the time. Regulation 286 was inserted into the regulations with a revocation date that would prompt a review. The current date of revocation is 1 July 2024.
The purpose of these fees is to collect sufficient revenue to support the necessary regulatory activities and efficient delivery of services by:
- the Victorian Building Authority (VBA) for owner-builder certificates of consent
- the Building Appeals Board (BAB) for building appeals, referrals and applications
- the Building Regulations Advisory Committee (BRAC) for product accreditation
- local councils for lodgement of documents, information requests and reports and consents.
If the regulations are not remade and regulation 286 revokes the fee regulations, the VBA, BAB, BRAC and local councils will have fewer resources to fulfil their statutory requirements. These entities would need to seek alternative sources of funding and/or conduct their regulatory activities with fewer resources, which could compromise the effectiveness of building regulation, and the safety and amenity of buildings and their occupants.
The review proposes preferred options for each fee collecting entity to improve levels of cost recovery in line with the Victorian Pricing Principles and the regulatory activity they are required to undertake to fulfil their statutory requirements.
Public consultation on the Regulatory Impact Statement and Exposure Draft Regulations, which assesses the need for changes to fee levels, is now open on Engage Vic
