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BUILDING AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2002 (2002 NO 9)
2002
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY FOR THE AUSTRALIAN
CAPITAL
TERRITORY
BUILDING ACT 1972
BUILDING AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2002
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Circulated by authority of
Simon Corbell MLA
Minister for Planning
AUSTRALIAN
CAPITAL TERRITORY
BUILDING AMENDMENT REGULATIONS
2002
SUBORDINATE LAW No. SL
2002-9
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
These are amending Regulations. They amend the Building Regulations 1972
(the “Principal Regulations”).
Part 5a of the Building Act
1972 (“the Act”) contains a requirement for builders to obtain
residential building work insurance that protects the owners of the buildings
concerned. The insurance applies during and after construction but does not
cover the builder if he is also the owner. Section 34 of the Act requires this
insurance to be in force before work begins.
The purpose of the amending
regulations is to deal with the effect of these requirements in the aftermath of
the withdrawal of one of the two residential building work insurance providers
in the ACT. On 10 April 2002 Dexta announced that it was withdrawing
immediately from providing residential building work insurance. Since the
collapse of HIH Insurance insurers have imposed stricter conditions on the
provision of this insurance. Builders had already been experiencing delays in
obtaining insurance by the time they wish to start work and greater delays are
anticipated as builders formerly serviced by Dexta apply to the remaining
insurance provider.
The amending regulations modify the requirements for
insurance by allowing a builder who is also the owner of the land when work
begins to provide proof of insurance not before work begins but instead before
the building certifier issues a certificate of completion for the building
work.
Details
Regulation 1 is a formal regulation that gives the name of the
amending regulations.
Regulation 2 is a a formal regulation that specifies the manner of
commencement of the amending Regulations.
Regulation 3 provides that the regulations amend the Building
Regulations 1972.
Regulation 4 adds new Regulations 23 to 25 to the Principal
Regulations.
New regulation 23 exempts work carried out by the builder on land
owned by the builder from the requirements of section 34 of the Act to
demonstrate during building approval that residential building work insurance
has been obtained.
New regulation 24 requires the certifier of
work exempted by new regulation 23 to demonstrate that residential building work
insurance has been obtained before the certifier issues a certificate under the
Act for the completion of the work.
This regulation adopts the
definitions of “builder” and “residential building work”
used by Part 5a of the Act in relation to residential building work
insurance.
New Regulation 25 sets the term of these new
regulations at six months. For regulation 23 it also validates approvals of
plans following the expiry of earlier regulations (No 40 of 2001) with the same
purpose that came into effect on 2 October 2001. They applied for four months
unless the Minister extended them before their expiry. A direction (2002 NI 33)
for their extension was signed on 30 January but not notified in time before the
expiry of the regulations. It seems likely that certifiers may have continued
approving plans as permitted under the October amendments, in ignorance of the
fact that the effectiveness of those amendments was not in fact extended. This
retrospective application is considered justifiable as a non-prejudicial
provision within the meaning of section 76 of the Legislation Act
2001.
Financial Implications
Nil.