ARBV Update

Edition 19, December 2024

As the end of 2024 is upon us, we would like to take this opportunity to wish you all the best for the festive season and a Happy New Year. 

It has been a busy year at the ARBV as reflected in this Update. There have also been significant developments in the built environment sector, some recent developments and resources relating to the broader sector are outlined below:

• In October 2024, the Minister for Planning Sonya Kilkenny announced a new more powerful watchdog to oversee Victoria’s building and plumbing industries. The Victorian Building Authority (VBA), Domestic Building Disputes Resolution Victoria (DBDRV) and the Domestic Building Insurance (DBI) function of the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority (VMIA) will form the new regulator, which will be given tough new powers to protect consumers and hold practitioners to account.
• You can read more from Steven Baxas, State Building Surveyor in the VBA's Building Technical Bulletin – November 2024. 
• Cladding Safety Victoria (CSV) released their report on compliance in building design. The report outlined that out of 659 cases where cladding compliance could be determined 476 were found to have no performance solution for the specification of ACP or EPS as a cladding product. We would like to encourage you to stay up to date with the work CSV is doing. You can download a copy of their latest report Compliance in building design on the CSV website: Cladding safety | vic.gov.au

The Student Professional Practice Award is awarded to students at Victorian Universities for academic excellence in a subject that demonstrates specific knowledge, skills and industry preparedness related to architectural practice. 

Case study - Protection work insurance

Earlier this year, an adjoining owner made a complaint to the ARBV about their neighbours failing to obtain protection work insurance for building work being carried out on their property. The complaint arose after the adjoining owner alleged that damage was caused to their property by the building work and sought details of the protection work insurance from the property owners’ architect.   

Section 93 of the Building Act 1993 requires that, before any protection work is commenced in respect of an adjoining property, an owner must ensure that a contract of insurance is in force, in accordance with the Building Act against:

1. damage by the proposed protection work to the adjoining property; and
2. any liabilities likely to be incurred to adjoining occupiers and members of the public during the carrying out of the building work and for a period of 12 months after that building work is completed.

The insurance must be entered into with an insurer for an amount agreed with the adjoining owner. If the owner and adjoining owner cannot agree on the insurer or amount, these are to be determined by the Building Appeals Board. A copy of the contract of insurance must be lodged with the adjoining owner before commencement of the protection work.

While the legal obligation to comply with the requirements under section 93 lies with the property owner, the ARBV investigated the conduct of the architect who was acting as agent for the property owner. The investigation focused on whether, by failing to advise their clients of the requirements under section 93, the architect may have acted unprofessionally or had otherwise fallen short of acceptable professional conduct standards.

ARBV guidance

To help achieve compliance with section 93 of the Building Act within the profession, the ARBV has prepared a Guideline which sets out the insurance requirements under that section and the steps that must be taken by owners or others acting on their behalf. 

Guideline: Protection of adjoining property – section 93 insurance requirements

Client-architect agreements - what is required by law? 

While an important aspect of an architect’s work is carefully documenting designs and specifications, often overlooked is the importance of ensuring there are adequate contractual documents in place prior to the design work starting. The ARBV does not provide templates for client-architect agreements, but we are aware that a number of membership organisations provide templates to their members. Prior to the use of any template, it is important to check that the document meets all the relevant requirements and ensure that you are using the latest version.

The Architects Regulations 2015 outlines specific requirements for client agreements. The ARBV also has a Guideline available to provide further tips on ensuing you have a compliant agreement.

Any agreement must be a written agreement between the relevant parties and must include:

• the name, registration number and contact details of the architect responsible for providing the services
• the scope, nature and specific requirements of the services
• the timeframes for providing the services
• details on how the professional fees and costs of the services will be calculated, and reasonable estimates of disbursements (where possible)
• how professional fees and costs, including disbursements, will be paid
• details on how the architect will inform the client of progress
• how the client can authorise the architect to proceed with the services
• details on how the architect will inform the client about a change or amendment to the services that will affect the fees and costs and how the architect can obtain the client's authority to change or amend the services
• details on how variations to the agreement may be made
• an overview of how an architect can withdraw from the provision of services and how the agreement may be terminated and for what reason.

Standards for the professional conduct and practice of architects can be found in the Victorian Architects Code of Professional Conduct at Schedule 1 of the Architects Regulations 2015.

Upcoming ARBV Webinars

Our CPD Webinar program is seeing increasing numbers, and our aim is to provide 8-10 webinars each financial year. We have a number of webinars planned for the first half of 2025, keep an eye out for invites closer to the event. 

• Producing compliant designs - Advice from the State Building Surveyor: 19 February 2025
• Deep dive into NCC compliance: 12 March 2025
• Deep dive into Disruptive forces: 28 May 2025
• Understanding Country and the Built Environment: TBC
• Business management: TBC

Proof of Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) cover

Architects registered in the practising class are responsible for ensuring they have appropriate Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) cover.  The ARBV will accept a Certificate of Currency as proof of insurance which demonstrates the cover meets the requirements outlined in the Architects Insurance Ministerial Order (January 2020). 

Proof of insurance must be uploaded via the ARBV portal by approved companies, partnerships and architects.  Where an architect is an employee of an approved company, their approved company employer is required to acknowledge via the company’s ARBV profile that its architect employees are covered under the company’s PII policy.

The ARBV actively reviews proof of PII documents and requires documentation which demonstrates the policy is current and is no less than 3 months from the policy expiry date.  If the proof of PII provided is within 3 months of the policy expiry date, please provide further proof that you have applied for cover for at least 12 months.  When the new Certificate of Currency is issued by your insurer upon reaching the policy expiry date, please upload this document via the portal.

For further information regarding PII, see the ARBV website here.

Digital resources to help you navigate the NCC

The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) has developed a new online tool with busy practitioners in mind. The NCC Navigator features a short, targeted format, with easy-to-navigate sections. Visit the ABCB website to access the NCC Navigator. 

Frequently asked questions

At the ARBV we receive a range of questions throughout the year from both architects and consumers. Here are a few FAQs we thought you may be interested in. 

The below Q&As were derived from questions received during the webinar hosted by Rowan Gregory from Preventative Hydraulic Engineering. Rowan has prepared the following answers. 

Question: Given hydraulics engineering is such a critical element in roof design who should be expected to do the calculations?  

Response: Detailed roof drainage design (particularly where the roof drainage includes box gutters) should be carried out by a hydraulic engineer at building permit stage, however, other design categories may be required (for example, in NSW, I understand there is ‘Design practitioner – drainage’).  Roof plumbers typically do not get involved until after building permit stage, and this is too late for coordination. Close coordination is required between the roof drainage design, architecture and structure, and this can only be achieved at building permit stage.  Just like structural engineering design, the design of roof drainage is often iterative until a final solution is determined. 

Question: Is there any limitation on the use of spreaders, from a roof with X square area to a lower roof?

Response: Section 5.7.7 of SA HB 39 (‘HB 39’) relates to spreaders. HB 39 states that the maximum catchment area that can be drained from a higher catchment area via a spreader is 15m², but then notes that the limitations stated relate to a corrugated roofing profile, and that the 15m² limit may be exceeded if the lower roof profile has adequate hydraulic capacity based on the manufacturer’s data.  Corrugated roof sheeting has a very low hydraulic capacity compared to other profiles, which have in the order of 10 times the hydraulic capacity for the same slope.  There is no guidance on the design of spreaders themselves.  For example, in order to evenly distribute the water flowing out of the spreader, the holes in the spreader could potentially be graduated to increase towards the end of the spreader. Care should be taken when discharging a spreader to a lower roof with an eaves gutter because the locally concentrated flow could potentially ‘jump’ over the eaves gutter and result in unwanted locally concentrated discharge to the ground or (potentially) adjoining property. For spreaders discharging higher flows, it may be preferrable for the lower roof to discharge to box gutter rather than an eaves gutter. Adequate turn-up of the upstream end of roof sheets is essential.

Correction to webinar: Roof Drainage for Low Pitched Metal Roofs

The answer to CDP Question 1 was incorrect. This question related to preparing Performance Solutions in relation to SA HB 39 but failed to take into account an amendment to the Victorian Plumbing Regulations which occurred on 26 September 2023.  

Explanation

Victorian Plumbing Regulations Version No. 004 (18 October 2022) required compliance with:

(a)   SA HB 39

(b)   SAA/SNZ HB 114.

Victorian Plumbing Regulations Version No. 005 (26 September 2023), and subsequent versions, require compliance with SA/SNZ HB 114 but not with SA HB 39.

PCA 2019 A1 Clause Vic F1.2 General Requirements enables a DtS Solution for roof drainage by compliance with AS/NZS 3500.

PCA 2022 Clause VIC E3D2 General Requirements enables a DtS Solution for roof drainage by compliance with AS/NZS 3500.3 and SA HB 39, but notes where there any conflicts between these documents, AS/NZS 3500.3 prevails.

Consequently, from 26 September 2023, it has been possible to prepare a Performance Solution in relation to HB 39.