Responding to a Building Commission NSW Proactive Inspection

What it is

Building Commission NSW is the construction regulator created under the Building Commission Act 2023 (NSW) and the wider reform package that includes the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 and the Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) Act 2020. The Commission absorbed the building functions of NSW Fair Trading and runs a proactive inspection program rather than waiting for complaints.

For a residential builder, that means inspectors can turn up on a site, look at the work, ask for documents and issue orders on the spot if they see a serious defect or a process breach. The Commission visited more than 850 sites across NSW during its 2025 regional inspection campaign and continues that activity in 2026.

What the Commission can do on site

The powers run wider than most builders expect. Inspectors can enter sites, examine work in progress, photograph, take measurements, request records under the Act and require attendance for an interview.

Orders the Commission can make

Three orders matter most for residential builders.

A Building Work Rectification Order under the RAB Act, or the equivalent power for class 1 work, requires a builder or developer to fix work that is, or is likely to result in, a serious defect. It can be issued while the build is under construction or after occupation.

A Rectification Order targets defects that fall short of the serious defect threshold but still need to be fixed under the Home Building Act 1989 (NSW).

A Stop Work Order can be imposed where work is being carried out unlawfully or in a way that creates a significant risk of a serious defect, and a Prohibition Order can stop occupation of a building until issues are addressed.

Draft order pathway

The Commission usually issues a draft order before the final order is made. That draft is a real opportunity. During the 2025 regional campaign, the Commission resolved more than 130 defect issues through draft orders before any final order was made. Engaging properly at the draft stage often avoids a published final order on the public register.

What inspectors look for

The published focus areas drive what gets photographed and recorded.

Documents

Contract of works including the prescribed warning, home building compensation cover, design and building practitioner registrations for any class 2 work, building practitioner declarations under the DBP Act, regulated design documents and construction issued plans, and the site safety record. Missing or expired Home Building Compensation Fund cover is one of the fastest paths to an order.

Physical work

Waterproofing to AS 3740, structural framing against the approved plans, fire separation, balustrade heights, energy performance compliance against NCC Volume Two, and any departure from the construction issued documents that has not been formally varied.

Practitioner conduct

Whether the builder named on the contract is the builder actually running the job, whether subcontractors are licensed for the work they are doing, and whether the site supervisor holds the required qualifications.

Where most builders trip up

The pattern is consistent. Site files that live in the project manager utility vehicle and not on site. Plans on site that are an earlier revision than the construction issued set. Waterproofing photographed before the final coat. No record of the licensed waterproofer details and licence number. Subcontractors who turn up unlicensed because the head builder never asked. Variations done verbally with no signed instrument under the contract.

The other big one is the response to the inspector. Refusing entry, arguing on site or trying to remove evidence is the fastest way to turn a routine visit into an enforcement file.

Immediate response actions

The first hours and the first week shape the outcome.

On the day of the inspection

Be cooperative. Confirm the inspector identity and the section of the Act being relied on. Have the site supervisor walk through with the inspector rather than leaving a junior on site alone. Take your own photographs of anything the inspector photographs. Note every question asked and every document requested. Do not make admissions about defects that have not been confirmed.

Within seven days

Confirm in writing what was requested and the date for production of documents. Engage your construction lawyer if a draft order is foreshadowed. Pull the regulated design and building practitioner records for the project. Get an independent inspection from a building consultant if a serious defect has been alleged so you have a parallel view of the work.

If a draft order arrives

Treat it as a negotiation document, not a verdict. The Commission expects a response that addresses each alleged defect with a proposed scope of rectification, timeframes and the practitioner responsible. A draft order resolved at this stage does not appear on the public register of building work orders.

If a final order is made

Reviews of certain Commission decisions can be brought to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal under the relevant Act, and final orders are published on the NSW Government building work orders register, which is read by banks, insurers and prospective clients.

TradeLens framing

What the Commission looks for is now public and well documented. TradeLens maps a builder current sites against the Commission published focus areas, scores HBCF cover and DBP registration status, and flags the projects most likely to attract an inspection or fail one. The audit you prepare for is the audit you walk through.