Building surveyors in Victoria must now apply for a Building Permit Number (BPN) from the Victorian Building Authority (VBA) before they can issue a building permit as part of a three-year overhaul of the state’s building industry regulations.

The changes, which came into effect on 1 July, also require that owners notify VBA of changes to the cost of a project and give the VBA new powers to reassess building permit levies after a permit has been issued.

To assist in the transition to the new system, VBA is developing an online platform referred to as the Building Activity Management System (BAMS).

The platform will accept applications for BPNs, process levy payments, issue BPNs, accept mandatory monthly reports from relevant building surveyors and accept amendments to BPN records and building permit details.

Building surveyors are now required to provide information to satisfy 34 required fields and, depending on answers, they could also need to provide answers to an additional 19 conditionally required fields.

Builders will now need to provide the applicant with all information required to ensure the correct information is provided to the RBS.

Builders need to be aware that the RBS is not allowed to issue a building permit until payment of the building permit levy has been made to the VBA and the RBS has received the BPN from the VBA.

The RBS will then need to inform the applicant or their agent of the need to pay the building permit levy directly to the VBA before the BPN and subsequent building permit can be issued.

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