Undertakings in building and construction

Undertakings are used by Building Commission NSW to help improve the practices of developers, design and building practitioners, and certifiers.

Listen

On this page

Key information

Undertakings can help to uplift industry capability and productivity by changing the way that people and businesses operate.
Undertakings can also be used to agree on processes that will be undertaken to resolve defective work, unsafe practices or other construction specific issues.
An Undertaking is offered voluntarily and becomes enforceable once it has been accepted by the Secretary of the Department of Customer Service.
An Undertaking is a legally binding agreement with penalties for non-compliance.

What is an Undertaking?

An Undertaking is a type of legally binding agreement between Building Commission NSW and another party. It can be a useful option when the person giving the Undertaking acknowledges work or practices are not up to standard and agrees on actions to resolve them.

It can be offered by an individual, a partnership or a company who is a developer, a design practitioner or a building practitioner, a certifier or the holder of an authority under the Home Building Act 1989.

If the Undertaking is not complied with, then penalties may apply.

Undertakings given by developers under the Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) Act 2020 may be published completely, in part, or not at all at the discretion of Building Commission NSW.

How does an Undertaking work?

The Undertaking is offered voluntarily to Building Commission NSW. Sometimes, an Undertaking may be offered to us for the benefit of a third party, for example the owners corporation for a residential apartment building.

Building Commission NSW has several templates for Undertakings. If you are a developer, a design or building practitioner, a certifier or the holder of an authority under the Home Building Act 1989 facing an order or non-compliance action from us, you can discuss the use of an Undertaking with us.

As a way of demonstrating goodwill, the signatory may voluntarily agree to engage in activities such as staff training, audit processes, changes to business practices, rectifying serious defects and/or providing financial securities.

Undertakings are produced using regulatory powers provided by:

When is an Undertaking useful?

Undertakings can respond to a variety of scenarios. They are a useful option when the person giving the Undertaking acknowledges and is prepared to take steps to improve on how they deliver their work.

They can help resolve defective work, unsafe practices or other construction specific issues.

List of Undertakings

Developer Undertakings

Developer Undertakings are offered voluntarily by the developer to the Secretary of the Department of Customer Service under section 28 of the Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) Act 2020 (RAB Act). These Undertakings are to fix the serious defects in relation to a building element in a residential apartment building.

A ‘developer’ is defined in the RAB Act and can include the owner of the land upon which building work is occurring or the builder.

A Developer Undertaking may be published in the interests of public disclosure about the serious defects in a residential apartment building. However, once the remediation work agreed in the Undertaking has been completed and the developer released, we will remove it from our register.

A copy of the Undertaking and any works carried out to remediate serious defects should be available to review by inspecting the strata record of the building.

A Developer Undertaking in relation to Strata Plans 101327, 101328, and 101329

An Undertaking has been offered by Australia YMCI Pty Ltd to the Secretary of the Department of Customer Service under section 28 of the RAB Act in relation to Stratum Lot 2 Deposited Plan 1260687: Strata Plan 101327, Strata Plan 101328 and Strata Plan 101329.

The Secretary accepted the Undertaking on 21 August 2022.