Professional Engineers Registration (Fees) Regulations 2021

The central concept is the fee unit as the unit of account. Rather than fixing dollar amounts, the Regulations specify numbers of fee units. The actual dollar amount depends on the value of a fee unit for the relevant financial year, as determined by the Treasurer under section 5 of the Monetary Units Act 2004. This means the nominal cost to registrants changes annually, potentially rising with inflation or other government decisions. While this reduces the frequency of amendments, it transfers cost uncertainty to registrants and may create budgeting difficulties for sole practitioners or small firms who must track gazette notices each year.

Practising versus non‑practising registration is a key distinction. The practising registration fee (27.42 fee units for initial registration, 31.53 for renewal) is roughly five times the non‑practising fee (5.48 and 6.31 respectively). This reflects the higher regulatory oversight, continuing professional development obligations and potential liability risks associated with active practice. The gap also creates a financial incentive for engineers to hold non‑practising registration where permitted, even if they occasionally engage in professional work, raising a risk of under‑registration relative to actual activity.

Endorsement adds a layer for engineers engaged in the building industry. An endorsed building engineer pays an application fee of 14.75 fee units and an annual endorsement fee of 7.42 fee units. The annual fee is due on each anniversary of the original registration or, for deemed building engineers, the anniversary of their previous building practitioner registration under the Building Act 1993. The endorsement fee is separate from the registration fee, so an endorsed practising engineer pays both the practising registration fee and the annual endorsement fee.

Pro‑rata calculation appears in three formulae. For changes from non‑practising to practising, the fee payable is (B - C) / 1095 × D, where B is the practising fee, C is the non‑practising fee and D is the number of days before the next renewal. The same structure applies in reverse for refunds on surrender of registration or endorsement, and for the mandatory refund on changing from practising to non‑practising. The base of 1095 days reflects a three‑year registration cycle. For annual endorsement, the refund formula uses 365 days.

Discretionary versus mandatory refunds is an important conceptual distinction. Most refund provisions say the Registrar “may” refund. Only regulation 16 says the Registrar “must” refund on a change from practising to non‑practising. This creates asymmetry: an engineer moving to non‑practising is entitled to a refund, but one who surrenders registration entirely is not. The policy rationale is unclear from the instrument itself, but it suggests that the state is willing to return money only when the engineer remains within the regulatory system in a lower‑cost category.

The Regulations primarily affect individual professional engineers seeking registration or already registered under the Professional Engineers Registration Act 2019. Within that group, practising professional engineers bear the highest fees: a practising applicant pays 5.79 fee units application fee plus 27.42 fee units registration fee (total about $499 at 2021‑22 values), and at renewal pays another 5.79 plus 31.53 (total about $561). Non‑practising engineers pay much less: 5.79 plus 5.48 at registration (about $169) and 5.79 plus 6.31 at renewal (about $182). The differential may encourage some engineers to classify themselves as non‑practising even if they perform limited professional work, potentially undercutting the Act’s objective of ensuring competence in active practitioners.

Endorsed building engineers form a subset who pay additional fees: an endorsement application fee of 14.75 fee units (about $222) and an annual endorsement fee of 7.42 fee units (about $112). These engineers are engaged in the building industry, so they are already subject to the Building Act 1993 regime. The Regulations do not reduce or offset the registration fee for endorsed engineers; they simply add a layer of cost.

Applicants whose applications are refused or withdrawn are affected by the discretionary refund provisions. A person whose application for registration is refused may receive a refund of the registration fee but not the application fee. If an endorsement application is refused, only the part of the endorsement application fee not relating to processing may be refunded. This places the risk of refusal on the applicant, even if the refusal arises from an administrative error or change in the regulator’s interpretation. Similarly, an applicant who withdraws must apply for a refund and the Registrar may grant none if the application had progressed significantly.

Deemed building engineers (those who were already registered as building practitioners in the engineer category under the Building Act 1993 when the new regime commenced) receive two explicit exemptions: they are exempt from the fee for changing from non‑practising to practising (regulation 9(3)), and their annual endorsement fee anniversary date is tied to their previous registration date (regulation 10(2)(b)). They are not otherwise exempt from the annual endorsement fee.

Members of the public and journalists who wish to search the Register pay 3.36 fee units per request (about $50 at 2021‑22 values). This is not a trivial sum for occasional searchers and may reduce transparency if the Register is the primary means of verifying an engineer’s credentials.

The Business Licensing Authority and the Victorian Building Authority are affected as the bodies that handle refunds. The Registrar (within the BLA) decides most refund applications; the VBA refunds annual endorsement fees on surrender of endorsement. Both must exercise discretion and document their reasons.

The Regulations impose a duty to pay prescribed fees as a condition of obtaining or maintaining registration and endorsement. No separate penalty for non‑payment appears in this instrument, but the parent Act almost certainly makes payment a precondition for registration or renewal, so failure to pay results in loss of status.

Right to apply for refund on refusal. If the Business Licensing Authority refuses to grant a registration or endorsement, the Registrar may refund the registration fee (but not the application fee) and the part of the endorsement application fee that does not relate to processing. This is discretionary, not automatic. The Registrar must have regard to the person’s circumstances (regulation 12(3)). A person whose application is refused therefore has no entitlement to a full refund, even if the refusal was based on a technicality or regulator error.

Right to apply for refund on withdrawal. Regulation 13 allows a person who withdraws an application to apply to the Registrar for a refund of all or part of the fee. The Registrar may grant a refund having regard to the person’s circumstances and the progress of the application. The more processing that has occurred, the smaller the likely refund. This creates a disincentive to withdraw even if the applicant discovers a better option or a change in personal circumstances.

Right to surrender and seek refund. A registered professional engineer may surrender their registration or endorsement. If they do, the Registrar may refund a pro‑rata portion of the registration or renewal fee, and the VBA may refund a pro‑rata portion of the annual endorsement fee. Again, this is discretionary. An engineer who surrenders early in the registration period may receive nothing.

Mandatory right to refund on change to non‑practising. The only mandatory refund is under regulation 16: if a practising professional engineer changes their registration type to non‑practising, the Registrar must refund the difference between the practising fee and the non‑practising fee on a pro‑rata basis. The formula (B - C)/1095 × D ensures the refund covers the unused portion of the higher fee. This is a right, not a discretion, and applies to both initial registration fees and renewal fees.

Exemption from annual endorsement fee. An endorsed building engineer is exempt from paying the annual endorsement fee if the fee falls due on the same date as the renewal of their endorsement (regulation 10(3)(a)). In that case, the annual fee is effectively folded into the renewal fee. An engineer whose endorsement has been suspended is also exempt (regulation 10(3)(b)). The exemption is narrow: the annual fee must coincide exactly with the renewal date, not merely fall in the same month.

Obligation to calculate correctly. For variable fees calculated by formula (change of registration type and refunds), the applicant or registrant must supply the correct inputs. The formula uses the number of days outstanding before the renewal date, which requires knowing the exact renewal date under section 20(2) of the Act. Miscalculation could lead to underpayment requiring top‑up or overpayment requiring a refund application.

These Regulations do not create any penalties. They contain no offence provisions, no late‑payment surcharges, no enforcement mechanisms and no power to suspend or cancel registration for non‑payment. All such powers reside in the Professional Engineers Registration Act 2019, which is not reproduced here. The Regulations are purely a schedule of fees and refund rules.

Enforcement therefore depends on the parent Act. The practical consequence of non‑payment of a prescribed fee is likely that the application for registration or renewal is not processed, or that the registration lapses. The Act probably provides that an application must be accompanied by the prescribed fee; without it, the application is incomplete. Similarly, failure to pay the annual endorsement fee may lead to suspension of the endorsement under section 21(5) of the Act, which regulation 10(3)(b) acknowledges by exempting suspended endorsements from further annual fees.

The refund provisions themselves contain no penalty for delay by the Registrar or the VBA. If a mandatory refund under regulation 16 is not paid, the registrant’s remedy would be an application for judicial review or a civil claim for money had and received. Because the Regulations are subordinate legislation, the mandatory language “must refund” creates a duty enforceable in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal or the Supreme Court, but the instrument provides no internal enforcement mechanism.

The discretionary refund provisions are even softer. The Registrar may refuse a refund for any reason or no reason, subject only to the requirement to have regard to the person’s circumstances. This is a low threshold. A person refused a discretionary refund would have difficulty challenging the decision unless it was so unreasonable that no reasonable Registrar could have made it.

Overall, these Regulations do not add to the enforcement arsenal; they merely set the financial terms that the Act then uses to regulate access to the profession.

The Regulations are made under section 103 of the Professional Engineers Registration Act 2019 and are entirely subordinate to it. They cannot expand or contract the substantive provisions of the Act. Their sole function is to fill in the fee‑setting powers that the Act grants. For example, section 10(2)(e)(i) of the Act allows the regulations to prescribe an application fee, and regulation 5(1) does so. Section 21(1) of the Act allows regulations to prescribe an annual endorsement fee, and regulation 10(1) does so. The Regulations therefore operate within the four corners of the Act.

The Monetary Units Act 2004 governs the mechanism for converting fee units to dollars. Section 7 of that Act requires multiplication of fee units by the value fixed by the Treasurer. The value is published in the Government Gazette and a Victorian newspaper before 1 June each year. This cross‑reference means the actual dollar amount in any given year is not found in these Regulations but in the Treasurer’s determination. A registrant must consult two instruments to know what they owe, increasing compliance costs slightly.

The Building Act 1993 appears in two places. Regulation 10(2)(b) uses the date of registration under section 171(1) of that Act as the anniversary for annual endorsement fees for deemed building engineers. Regulation 9(3) exempts “an endorsed building engineer who is deemed to be an endorsed building engineer under section 107 of the Act” from the change‑of‑registration‑type fee. Section 107 of the Act is a transitional provision that carries forward existing building practitioner registrations, so engineers already in the system are treated preferentially.

The Subordinate Legislation Act 1994 imposes a ten‑year sunset: these Regulations will expire on 16 June 2031 unless remade. This gives the government a built‑in review cycle for the fee structure. If the fees have become inappropriate, the minister must introduce new regulations or let the existing ones lapse. Lapsing would create a vacuum in which no fees are prescribed, potentially halting new registrations until emergency regulations are made.

The Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984 governs the formal construction of the Regulations, confirming that headings, examples and notes form part of the instrument. This means the explanatory detail in Endnote 4 about fee units is part of the statutory rule for interpretation purposes, though the endnote itself is likely considered “other material” that does not form part of the regulation under section 36(3D) of that Act.

No interaction with other laws such as consumer protection, trade practices or corporations legislation is apparent from the source. The Regulations do not reference insurance, professional indemnity or continuing professional development requirements, which are presumably dealt with in the Act or other instruments.

According to Endnote 2, Table of Amendments, no amendments have been made to the Professional Engineers Registration (Fees) Regulations 2021 by statutory rules, subordinate instruments or Acts. The version before us is Version No. 001, effective as at 1 July 2021. Endnote 3 confirms that no amendments are yet in operation.

The Regulations were made on 16 June 2021 by the Governor in Council and came into operation on 1 July 2021. They have been in force for over three years without alteration. This stability may indicate that the fee structure has been adequate and that indexation through the Monetary Units Act 2004 has sufficiently adjusted for inflation. However, it may also indicate that the regulatory burden of amending subordinate legislation has discouraged updates, even if the fee units set in 2021 are now out of step with administrative costs.

The ten‑year sunset provision means that unless new regulations are made before 16 June 2031, these Regulations will automatically expire. If the Act is still in force at that date, the government would need to remake the fees regulations. The absence of any amendment history to date suggests that the government has treated the fee schedule as a settled matter, but a future review could adjust the fee unit numbers or the refund formula.

Because the version is 001, there is no history of consolidated amendments. The original text as made remains the current text. This simplicity is unusual for Australian subordinate legislation, which is often amended frequently to adjust fees or correct drafting errors. The lack of amendments may reflect the narrow scope of these Regulations: they set only fees and refunds, and the indexation mechanism handles cost changes mechanically.

Practitioners should be aware that a future amendment could change fee units, add new categories of fees, alter the refund discretion to mandatory or vice versa, or expand the exemption for annual endorsement fees. The current version is as made, but any future amendment would create a new version.

No litigation is recorded in the source document. The Regulations are subordinate legislation setting administrative fees, and such instruments rarely generate direct litigation. Applicants aggrieved by a refused refund or a disputed fee amount might challenge the decision in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal or the Supreme Court, but the source provides no examples.

Potential grounds for challenge include: (a) that a fee is so high as to be ultra vires the parent Act, if it amounts to a tax rather than a fee for service; (b) that the Registrar’s discretion under regulation 12 or 13 was exercised unreasonably or without proper consideration of the person’s circumstances; (c) that the formula in regulation 9 or 16 produces an irrational result due to an arithmetic error in the drafting; or (d) that the exemption for deemed building engineers is discriminatory or not authorised by the Act.

The refund discretion in particular is a potential source of litigation. The Regulations require the Registrar to “have regard to the circumstances of the person” when considering a refund under regulation 12(3), and to “the circumstances of the person” and “the progress of the person’s application” under regulation 13(2). If the Registrar gives no reasons or applies a blanket policy (for example, never granting refunds on withdrawal), a person might argue that the discretion was not exercised properly. However, the source does not indicate that any such challenge has occurred.

The Regulations are still relatively new (since 2021). It may take several more years for disputes to accumulate. Practitioners should not assume that the absence of litigation means the provisions are immune from challenge; it may simply mean that the fees are low enough that disputing them is not cost‑effective.

The sunset clause in 2031 may prompt litigation if the government fails to remake the regulations and a gap occurs, but that is speculative.

The most significant trap is the discretionary nature of most refunds. An applicant whose application is refused by the Business Licensing Authority will not receive a refund of the application fee (5.79 fee units) and may not receive a refund of the registration fee either the Registrar “may” refund it, not “must”. The same applies to withdrawals and surrenders. An engineer who decides to stop practising mid‑cycle may lose hundreds of dollars in non‑refundable registration fees unless the Registrar decides to refund. The only situation where a refund is guaranteed is changing from practising to non‑practising. This asymmetry creates a strong disincentive to surrender registration entirely, even if the engineer has no intention of practising again.

The annual endorsement fee exemption is narrower than it first appears. An endorsed building engineer is exempt from paying the annual fee only if it falls due on the same date as the renewal of the endorsement (regulation 10(3)(a)). If the anniversary date is different from the renewal date, the engineer must pay both. For most engineers, the renewal date is three years after registration, while the annual endorsement fee is due each anniversary, so the fees rarely coincide. The exemption therefore applies only in the first year or if the engineer renews early. Engineers should not assume they are exempt simply because they have paid a renewal fee.

The change‑of‑registration‑type fee for moving from non‑practising to practising is calculated using a formula that depends on the number of days outstanding before the next renewal date. If the engineer changes type early in the registration period, the fee will be high (almost the full difference). If they change late, the fee will be small. The engineer must calculate the fee themselves and pay it; there is no provision for the Registrar to calculate it on their behalf. Miscalculation could delay the change.

The refund formula for surrender uses 1095 days for registration and renewal fees, but the denominator for annual endorsement refunds is 365 days. An engineer who surrenders an endorsement partway through the year will receive a pro‑rata refund of the annual endorsement fee, but the refund for the endorsement application fee (paid when the endorsement was first granted) uses 1095 days. Since the endorsement lasts for three years, a surrender in the first year means a refund of only two‑thirds of the application fee, not a full refund.

The register search fee of 3.36 fee units per request is not trivial. A journalist or researcher wanting to search for multiple engineers could face significant costs. The Regulations do not provide for bulk searches at a reduced rate. This fee may discourage public scrutiny of the register and reduce transparency.

The fee unit value changes annually without notice to individual registrants. An engineer who budgets based on the first year’s value may be surprised in later years if the Treasurer increases the value. Because the Regulations use fee units, the nominal dollar amount can increase even though the regulation text stays the same. There is no requirement for the regulator to notify registrants of the current value; they must check the Government Gazette.

Finally, the sunset date of 16 June 2031 means that after that date these Regulations will cease to have effect. If no replacement regulations are made, there will be no prescribed fees, and the Act will become inoperative for new applications. Engineers relying on the continued operation of the registration system should monitor whether new regulations are introduced before the sunset.

Compliance requires paying the correct fee at the right time using the appropriate calculation method. For initial registration, the applicant must pay two amounts: an application fee of 5.79 fee units and a registration fee of 27.42 fee units (practising) or 5.48 fee units (non‑practising). Both must accompany the application under section 10(2)(e) of the Act. The dollar amount depends on the current fee unit value, which must be obtained from the Treasurer’s gazette notice for the relevant financial year.

For renewal, the applicant pays an application fee of 5.79 fee units plus a renewal fee of 31.53 fee units (practising) or 6.31 fee units (non‑practising). The renewal must be made before the expiry date under section 20(2) of the Act. Late renewal may require additional steps not covered in these Regulations.

For an endorsement application or renewal, the fee is 14.75 fee units each time. Additionally, an endorsed building engineer must pay an annual endorsement fee of 7.42 fee units on each anniversary of the registration date. The annual fee is separate and must be paid even if the registration renewal is not due. If the annual fee falls due on the same date as the renewal of the endorsement (which is rare), the engineer is exempt.

When changing from non‑practising to practising, the engineer must calculate the fee using the formula F = (B - C)/1095 × D. B is the practising fee (initial or renewal as applicable), C is the non‑practising fee, and D is the number of days before the next renewal. The calculation must be made carefully, and the fee paid before the change takes effect. Deemed building engineers are exempt from this fee.

If changing from practising to non‑practising, the engineer is entitled to a mandatory refund from the Registrar. The refund amount is calculated using the same formula but in reverse: R = (B - C)/1095 × D. The engineer should apply to the Registrar promptly after the change is recorded.

If an application is refused or withdrawn, the applicant may apply for a refund. The application should explain the person’s circumstances and, for withdrawals, the progress of the application at the time of withdrawal. The Registrar will exercise discretion. The applicant should not assume a refund will be granted.

If registration or endorsement is surrendered, the engineer may apply for a refund using the formula in regulations 14 or 15. The refund is discretionary, so the engineer should provide reasons why a refund is appropriate.

To search the Register, a person must pay 3.36 fee units per request. The fee is payable before the search is conducted.

Finally, compliance requires keeping track of the fee unit value each financial year. The value is published in the Government Gazette and a Victorian newspaper before 1 June. Engineers should note the new value and adjust their payments accordingly. Overpayment can be corrected only through the discretionary refund process; underpayment may result in the application being rejected.