What it does
Mechanically, the Building Act 2011 creates a regime for controlling the carrying out of building work, demolition work, and the occupation and use of buildings in Western Australia. The Act centralises three core regulatory steps: (1) pre‑work authorisation by way of building permits or demolition permits (Part 2, ss 9-21); (2) certification and compliance during and on completion of work through design and construction compliance certificates, prescribed inspections and tests, and notices of completion (ss 16-20, 33, 36); and (3) post‑construction authorisation to occupy or change the use of a building by way of occupancy permits and building approval certificates (Part 4, ss 41-61). The Act also establishes an enforcement toolkit: authorised persons with entry and inspection powers (Part 8 Divs 2-3, ss 96-103), building orders (ss 110-118), warrants (ss 106-109) and penalties for contraventions (see ss 9-10, 29, 37-38, 41, 43-44, 115). It creates processes for affecting other land (Part 6, ss 76-91), permits exemptions and delegations (ss 66-67, 124-127), and provides for registers and records (Part 11, ss 128-132).
The Act, as presented, specifies who decides: permit authorities are the State, a special permit authority designated by regulation, or the local government for the district where the building or incidental structure is located (ss 6-7, 124). It prescribes the information and documentary package required for an application (s 16), and it requires that certified applications be supported by a certificate of design compliance signed by a building surveyor (ss 14-16, 19). The Act also circumscribes permit authorities’ duties and limits their obligations to check the substance of technical certificates and specialist certificates (s 144).
The Act’s official purposes, as listed in the long title, are to provide for permits, standards for construction and demolition, requirements for existing buildings, and related transitional arrangements. Those are stated objectives; the Act implements them through the mechanisms above. The statutory incentives and compliance burdens are explicit: failure to obtain or comply with permits attracts substantial pecuniary penalties and, for repeat offences, imprisonment (for example s 9 and s 10 set fines up to $100,000 and up to 12 months’ imprisonment for third or subsequent offences). The Act also creates administrative incentives: strict procedural timeframes (s 23, s 59), deemed refusals if time limits lapse (s 23(3), s 59(2)), refund rules (s 23(4)), and rights of review to the State Administrative Tribunal (Part 9, ss 119-122). These mechanics allocate decision‑making power to permit authorities and tribunals, while distributing compliance obligations across applicants, builders, demolition contractors, owners and occupiers, as the detailed provisions indicate.