A BUILDING surveyor is an essential part of the domestic building process, providing independent oversight of construction work and on completion ensuring buildings are safe to use, accessible, energy-efficient and built in keeping with the building permit; the issuing of which is a key role for a building surveyor.
In Victoria, building surveyors must be registered with the Victorian Building Authority (VBA) in either of the two categories ‘Building Surveyor (Limited),’ and ‘Building Surveyor (Unlimited).’
Building surveyors are professionals trained in understanding the building control process. They are authorised to assess building drawings, specifications, computations and reports with a view to ensuring they comply with the Building Act 1993, the Building Regulations 2018 and the National Construction Code. They can be a private building surveyor or a municipal building surveyor (working for a local council).
Once appointed by the owner or a person the owner has authorised to make the appointment for them, the building surveyor should remain involved for the duration of the building project. Legislation introduced in 2016 prevents the builder from appointing the private building surveyor to a project. Importantly, only one building surveyor can be appointed to a building project.
The appointed building surveyor will be known as the ‘relevant building surveyor’ for your project. This applies even if you have not signed a contract.
Building surveyors carry out inspections, or have a building inspector carry out inspections on their behalf, to inspect required stages of the project.
Once building work is complete, the building surveyor is responsible for issuing the occupancy permit or certificate of final inspection, allowing the building or part of building to be used and/or occupied.
You can check that a building surveyor is registered at www.vba.vic.gov.au or search for a local building surveyor by visiting www.aibs.com.au
