About orders from Building Commission NSW

Types of order

Building Commission NSW can issue 4 types of order:

1. stop work orders
2. prohibition orders
3. building work rectification orders
4. rectification orders

Relevant legislation

Depending on the order type, orders can be made under the following acts:

1. the Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) Act 2020 (the RAB Act), or
2. the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 (the DBP Act), or
3. the Home Building Act 1989 (the HB Act).

Stop work orders

Stop work orders can be issued:

1. Under the RAB Act (section 29) to stop building work if work on a building is, or is likely to be, carried out in a manner that could result in significant harm or loss to the public or occupiers or potential occupiers of the building or significant damage to property.
   Issued to: the developer within the meaning of the RAB Act.
2. Under the DBP Act (section 89) to stop building work, professional engineering work or specialist work if the work is, or is likely to be, carried out in contravention of the DBP Act, and the contravention could result in significant harm or loss to the public or occupiers or potential occupiers of the building to which the work relates or significant damage to property.
   Issued to: the person carrying out the work or to the owner of the land on which the work is being carried out.
3. Under the HB Act (section 129) to stop residential building work if the building work is, or is likely to be, carried out in a way that could result in significant harm or loss to the public or to occupiers or potential occupiers of the building to which the work relates or significant damage to property; or if there is a change in principal certifier or building practitioner for the residential building work - the building work is, or is likely to be, carried out in a way that could prevent the valid issue of an occupation certificate or building compliance declaration for the residential building work.
   Issued to: the contract licence holder for the work or a developer within the meaning of the RAB Act.

Building Commission NSW publishes stop work orders currently in force on the register of building work orders.

Prohibition orders

Prohibition orders can be issued under the RAB Act (section 9).

A prohibition order can prevent the issue of an occupation certificate, the registration of a strata plan or both, in relation to a building.

Issued to: a developer within the meaning of the RAB Act.

A prohibition order can be issued in any of the following cases:

• the expected completion notice was not given or was given less than 6 months before the application for the occupation certificate was made,
• an expected completion amendment notice of a new expected date was not given or was given less than 6 months before the application for the occupation certificate was made,
• a serious defect in the building exists,
• a rectification bond required under the terms of an undertaking has not been provided,
• a strata building bond has not been given,
• the developer fails to comply with a direction of a Building Commission NSW authorised officer,
• the developer fails to pay a building work levy.

Building Commission NSW publishes prohibition orders currently in force on the register of building work orders.

Building work rectification orders – RAB Act

Building work rectification orders can be issued under the RAB Act (section 33).

A building work rectification order can:

• require a developer within the meaning of the RAB Act to eliminate, minimise or remediate a serious defect in a building by requiring specified work to be carried out or not carried out, or by requiring other action to be carried out.
• be issued if the building work was or is being carried out in a way that could result in a serious defect in a building, or a building has a serious defect.

Building Commission NSW publishes building work rectification orders currently in force on the register of building work orders.

Classes of buildings to which the RAB Act applies

Stop work orders, prohibition orders and building work rectification orders can be issued for the following classes of buildings:

• Class 2 (residential apartment buildings) or a building that contains part of a class 2 building.
• Class 3 (a common place of long term or transient living for a number of unrelated people e.g. boarding house, guest house, hostel, certain backpackers, dormitory style accommodation, workers’ quarters, care-type facilities) or a building that contains part of a class 3 building.
• Class 9c (residential care buildings that may contain residents who have various care level needs e.g. aged care building) or a building that contains part of a class 9c building.

Find out more about the classes of building.

Definition of developers within the meaning of the RAB Act

Section 4 of the RAB Act has a wide definition of a 'developer'.

A developer is any of the following:

• the person who contracted or arranged for, or facilitated or otherwise caused, (whether directly or indirectly) the building work to be carried out
• the owner of the land on which the building work is carried out at the time the building work is carried out, if the building work is the erection or construction of a building or part of a building
• the principal contractor for the building work
• the developer of the strata scheme.

Rectification orders under the HB Act

Rectification orders can be issued under the HB Act (section 49B).

A rectification order requires a contractor for residential building work to take the steps specified in the order to ensure that a defect in residential building work or damage is rectified.

A rectification order can be issued in any of the following cases:

• the residential building work done by the contractor or on the contractor’s behalf is defective;
• the residential building work done by the contractor or on the contractor’s behalf was or is being carried out in a way that could result in a defect;
• the contractor or a person acting on the contractor’s behalf has, in the course of doing residential building work, caused damage to a structure or work;
• as a consequence of defective residential building work done by the contractor or on the contractor’s behalf, a structure or work has been damaged.

Rectification orders are issued to: 

• the person who is the holder of a contractor licence for the work.

Building Commission NSW publishes rectification orders currently in force on the register of building work orders.