New protections for home builders debated

The Building Legislation Amendment (Buyer Protections) Bill 2025 has the potential to provide fairer, quicker and cheaper resolution of disputes while improving the building system overall by overhauling the Victorian Building Authority and replacing it with a more powerful watchdog, the Building and Plumbing Commission.  

In his second reading speech Minister for Consumer Affairs Nick Staikos said the bill would pave the way for improving consumer protections and streamlining regulatory processes. 

“ 'Sometimes consumers give up and choose to incur costs to rectify building work themselves rather than pursue the builder for work that should have been done correctly the first time.' ”

Nick Staikos, Minister for Consumer Affairs

‘Responsibility for domestic building functions is fragmented across various agencies. Each is vested with different responsibilities, such as monitoring and enforcing compliance with the Building Act, providing dispute resolution functions and domestic building insurance,’ he said.  

‘Fragmented regulatory responsibilities create confusion for consumers, who may not know which agency to turn to when a building work issue arises. Consumers are often passed around agencies before finding the right one to investigate or resolve their problem, leading to lost time and additional costs. Sometimes consumers give up and choose to incur costs to rectify building work themselves rather than pursue the builder for work that should have been done correctly the first time.’    

Instead, the legislation proposes a ‘one-stop-shop’ building regulator that is intended to be more effective at resolving building work issues quickly. 

Richard Riordan, Member for Polwarth, acknowledged the need for reform and improvement in the relationship between consumers and builders, particularly in the domestic home building market. 

‘These places that are built ultimately become people’s homes. They are often the most valuable asset that those people living under that roof will have, and their hearts and souls are invested in these properties. It is only right that the government has a legislative framework that seeks to protect those investments and those homes that people have,’ he said.  

Nonetheless he said the the opposition did not support the bill in its current form. 

‘Our position will be, sadly, to oppose this bill. We will be opposing this bill because it fundamentally will not deliver to the consumers of Victoria the protections. In discussions with the industry and the real estate agents and those dealing in this space all the time, what is fundamentally letting Victorians down is the monitoring of the construction industry.’

“ 'There has to be that balance between protecting the purchaser without demonising the builders.' ”

Tim McCurdy, Member for Ovens Valley

Katie Hall, Member for Footscray said many of her constituents had been harmed by poor building practices.  

‘I met with residents from an apartment complex in West Footscray – the development ironically named Eternity Apartments. Residents, many of whom bought off the plan, were sold on an environmentally sound design that included native timber facades, green walls, solar hot water, bike racks, smart meters, rooftop terraces and more. What they got was unrecognisable from the renders and the brochures. They got a rotting timber facade, a soulless concrete rooftop and not a single one of the amenities I just listed.'  

She said the bill was about giving Victorians confidence in the housing system  

‘This bill is about accountability. Dodgy builders must be held to account for the harm, the distress and the pain caused to decent, hardworking people.’   

Tim McCurdy, Member for Ovens Valley said the bill did not get the balance right between consumer protection and protecting ‘builders who are doing a good job and are providing the homes for people in Victoria’.  

‘Yes, we need to protect purchasers and we need to protect those who are building a new home, because for many of them it is, quite rightly, the biggest investment of their life, and I get that. But there has to be that balance between protecting the purchaser without demonising the builders, and that is what this bill is doing in some circumstances,’ he said.  

Member for Tarneit Dylan Wight said the legislation would not affect quality builders. 

‘If you are a builder doing the right thing and delivering the product, the house, that you have been paid to deliver, you have nothing to fear,’ he said. 

Wayne Farnham, Member for Narracan said complying with the new regulations would push up costs for builders.  

‘This bill will increase costs by up to about $30,000 on a domestic house. We are trying to get people into homes. We are making it less affordable again,’ he said.  

Member for Lara Ella George said the bill would help to ensure new housing stock in Victoria was built to a high standard. 

‘We have a clear target to deliver more homes in Victoria over the next 30 years, and this bill will be a big part of ensuring that that target can succeed and ensuring that we have the provisions to make sure that we are not just building more homes, but we are building quality homes,’ she said. 

You can read the full debate in Hansard.

The legislation has now been introduced into the Legislative Council.