NSW Design & Building Practitioners Regulations – Class 2, 3 & 9c
The NSW Design and Building Practitioners Regulations for Class 3 & 9c buildings comes into force on 3rd July, 2023.
There are three levels of registration available for building designers under the Regulations – Open, Medium Rise and Low Rise. The eligibility criteria for these can be found at:
In addition to the academic standards, applicants for registration must also complete and pass two training modules –
a. The Value of Australian Standards learning module – available now on the Construct NSW Digital Learning platform at:
https://store.training.tafensw.edu.au/product/the-value-of-australian-standards/
The course cost is $140 (incl GST)
b. Navigating the Design and Building Practitioner (DBP) Legislation learning module – available now on the Construct NSW Digital Learning platform at:
The course cost is $140 (incl GST)
Applicants must also obtain a NSW Police check, provide copies of their qualification/s, undertake prescribed CPD and carry Professional Indemnity Insurance.
Experience Requirements
For building designers holding the required qualification and experience, the experience requirement is a minimum of 5 years working on Class 3 or 9c projects within the last 10 years, including at least 2 years Australian experience. This practical experience must be relevant to this class of registration involving a class 3 or 9c building.
These building designers may apply direct to NSW Fair Trading for registration.
For building designers without the required qualification and experience, the experience requirement is a minimum of 10 years working on Class 3 or 9c projects.
Refer to the Transition Provisions below.
ALREADY REGISTERED FOR CLASS 2
Building designers who already hold Class 2 low rise or medium rise registration will automatically be registered for Class 3 & 9c.
Conversely, if you are now applying for Class 3 & 9c, low rise or medium rise registration you will automatically be registered for Class 2.
Building Designers who work on high rise buildings can also register for a new building designer class for Class 3 & 9c only with no height limit.
TRANSITION PROVISIONS
The BDAA has been successful in negotiating with the NSW Government a transition pathway for Class 2, 3 & 9c Building Designer Registration at the Low and Medium Rise Levels where an applicant may not hold the required qualifications. This pathway will be available until the 31st December, 2023.
Important Note: The cut-off date for the BDAA to receive applications under this transition pathway will be October 31st 2023.
This process will be similar to the transition pathway provided by the BDAA for Class 2 registration.
The building designer must meet the knowledge and skills requirements for this class of registration and must successfully complete a BDAA competency assessment. The applicant must have 10 years, or equivalent part time, practical experience within the last 15 years, including at least 2 years Australian experience. This practical experience must be relevant to this class of registration involving a class 3 or 9c building.
Please note that there is no Transition Pathway for Level 1 Design Practitioner for Class 3 & 9c buildings.
PROCESS OF ASSESSMENT UNDER THE TRANSITION PROVISIONS
ALREADY ACCREDITED
Building designers who already hold BDAA Accreditation will be required to undergo a major audit of their competence prior to the issuing of a Competency Certificate that is required by the Department. You will require you to provide samples of Class 2, 3 & 9c designs, complete the NCC questionnaire and undertake an interview.
The cost of this audit will be $495 (incl GST) + Government mandated interview $385 (incl GST) a total of $880.
Applicants will be sent a Class 2, 3 & 9c NCC Questionnaire on payment of the Application fee.
Those undertaking this enhanced audit for registration will be required to provide a copy of their PII Certificate of Currency, a summary of their CPD activities for the previous 12 months and 2 sets of working drawings of recent Class 3 or 9c projects, including project specific specifications for these projects.
Accredited building designers wishing to undertake this audit are required to complete the appropriate Audit Application Form.
The On-Line Accreditation Lodgement form has provision for you to nominate if your application is for Class 3 or 9c registration.
NOT YET ACCREDITED
Those building designers who do not hold current BDAA accreditation will be required to undergo a full accreditation assessment for the level of registration that they are seeking (either Low Rise or Medium Rise). This process would follow the normal accreditation process that is described in the BDAA Accreditation Program documents.
However, projects submitted for assessment must be of Class 2, 3 & 9c design and applicants will undergo an interview along with completing an NCC questionnaire.
Applicants will be sent an NCC Questionnaire on payment of the Application fee.
The cost of this assessment will be $1320 (incl GST) + Government mandated interview $385 (incl GST) – a total of $1705.
NEW ACCREDITATION APPLICATION
To apply for accreditation, the following information will assist you in putting together your accreditation application and submitting it through the On-Line application Form.
Step 1
Download the Accreditation Participant Handbook.
Please read through this as it will assist you in determining the level of accreditation that is appropriate for your needs.
- It will also assist in determining the level of assessment you will need to undertake – Assessment Type A – for those with appropriate qualifications and experience.
Assessment Type B – for those who do not have the appropriate qualifications but do have the required level of experience.
Step 2
Download the appropriate Application Form and follow the instructions on the Form to complete. Please ensure that you follow the file naming protocol noted on the Application Form.
Step 3
Download and complete the Statutory Declaration of Authorship.
This form must be witnessed and signed by an appropriate person. A list is provided with the form.
Step 4
All applicants are required to complete the NCC Questionnaire.
All questions must be answered correctly and note that there may be multiple correct answers to some questions.
Applicants will be sent an NCC Questionnaire on payment of the Application fee.
Step 5
Download and complete the On-Line Lodgement Form.
Complete the fields in this Form and upload your documents in the appropriate boxes.
When completed, simply click on ‘SUBMIT’.
Fee Payment
You do not have to include any payment at this stage as an invoice will be generated once we have received the application and forwarded to you within 5 working days.
Once we have received the payment, your application will be assigned to an assessor for processing.
ASSESSMENT OF ACCREDITATION APPLICATIONS
We endeavour to have all accreditation applications processed with 5 – 6 weeks.
Any Application for Accreditation that is received without all the required documentation is unable to be processed. An email will be forwarded to the Applicant requesting any outstanding or incorrect information. You may also be contacted by the assessor who is handling your application requesting further clarification on any matter.
This may delay the Application being approved and will incur a re-submission fee of $220 (incl GST).
If an Accreditation Application received is deemed unsuitable for approval by an Assessor, no refund is applicable. All attempts to assist an Applicant through the Assessment process will be made prior to this being done.
* IMPORTANT NOTE: Please fill in any Application Form using correct punctuation to assist in processing speed. Please do not complete name in all capitals or all lower case, and also provide full address details and not abbreviated, eg st – please type Street.
This will assist our office in processing your application as quickly as possible.
Re-application – Accreditation
Note: Where an applicant has had their application for Accreditation deemed as ‘not yet competent’ the applicant may reapply, after a period, not less than 6 months from the date the application was declined. This period is considered the minimum time needed for the applicant to provide a body of new work on which a new application can be assessed.
The full Application fee must be paid before the assessment can proceed.
SUMMARY
As stated in the introduction, there are many reporting, lodging and compliance requirements within the Regulations, including access to a ‘standard’ title block that must be used on all drawings, and all building designers are urged to visit the on-line information provided at the Fair Trading Website.
Questions?
If you have any questions about the above, and we are sure that many of you will, then please contact: