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Building Act and Regulations

The Tasmanian building framework was introduced in January 2017 and is based on:

The Building Act 2016

Provides the framework for the legislation for building and plumbing work and contains details of what you can and can’t do.

The Act takes a risk-based approach to building approvals.  Some low-risk and medium-risk building and demolition work can be done without seeking a building permit from Council.

See Building Application Process  for further information.

Building Act 2016  Legislation can be accessed here

Building Regulations 2016

Provides some of the detail about the concepts in the legislation including time periods, prescribed criteria such as documents that must be supplied, and processes that must be followed.

Building Regulations 2016

The National Construction Code

The National Construction Code details the minimum standard for building and plumbing work in Tasmania.

Illegal building works

Illegal work is work that has been completed without the required permits (building and/or planning), or certificates or work that does not comply with the National Construction Code.

It is important that owners need to understand the provisions of the Director’s Determination of categories of building or demolition work and review the limits and conditions imposed on Low Risk Work, such as proposed size, location or type of erection, to ensure that what they want to build will fit within the permitted scope.   Choosing the wrong category may mean work performed is “illegal” and must go through a process of being made legal.

Penalties for performing illegal work include fines, possible court action, and potentially orders to rectify or demolish the work.