As a building service provider, you are required to renew your registration. The Building Commission’s registration renewal process ensures building service providers continue to meet the requirements of registration and also provides a mechanism for those no longer wishing to be registered to allow their registration to expire. If you wish to maintain your registration, you need to renew on time.

The date that your registration expires is located on your building registration certificate and on the register on the Building Commission website.

Traditionally, the whole industry renewed on 1 February. This meant that thousands of renewal applications arrived at the Building Commission and needed to be assessed before new certificates could be issued. Lengthy delays were causing major problems for the industry, so to improve the way the Building Commission delivers its services, some changes have been made. These have included spreading the due dates for renewal applications across the year, meaning that:

• Your renewal may no longer be due on 1 February.
• Your next renewal period will be between 18 months and three years.

The Building Commission will be able to match resources to this steady stream of renewals that will come throughout the year. We are seeing vast improvements already. In 2013, the 1 February renewals took several months to finalise.  Now, with these changes in place, more than 80 per cent of builder and painter renewals are finalised within 10 days.

When will you be notified your renewal is due?
All renewal forms are posted to you six to eight weeks before your registration expiry date at the address we have listed for you and/or your partnership/company. If your address and contact details change, you will need to notify the Building Commission in writing as soon as possible. However, it is your responsibility to be aware of your renewals expiry date and you should not simply rely on the notification from the Building Commission to remind you.

What happens if the renewal application is not submitted on time?
If the Building Commission does not receive your application by the expiry date your registration will automatically expire. You will then not be registered. If your registration expires and you are a:

• Contractor – you must immediately cease providing building services, stop work on site and any building permits issued for relevant building projects will be automatically suspended.  Your insurances will also be invalid; as a pre-requisite for insurance is that you are registered.
• Practitioner – you will cease to be a nominated supervisor for any contractor. If the contractor does not have a current Nominated Supervisor, the contractor can’t trade and all work must cease immediately.

What if I submit my renewal application after my expiry date?
If you are late with your renewal but wish to remain registered, you can submit a late application form to the Building Services Board. It is unlikely the Building Services Board will approve late applications based on reasons such as:

• Failure of mail delivery.
• Being away from the office or on holiday.
• Not receiving the renewal advice.

The Board has a policy and form available on the Building Commission website to help you. It is recommended you read to policy if you intend to submit a late reason.

What if my late reason is refused by the Board?
If have submitted a late renewal application and the Board did not accept your reasons, the Board will not consider your renewal application and your registration remains expired. If you want to re-instate your practitioner and/or contractor registration you will need to lodge a new application for registration. If you are a practitioner you may apply for re-registration, providing you are applying within three years of your expiry date. If you are a contractor you will need to lodge an initial registration application form.  You may choose to do this as soon as you become aware you have expired and avoid the late process – it can be the quickest way to get your registration back.

What if I need to submit extra information?
You must lodge the forms and payment before the expiry date. If you do not have required attachments such as financial information, you must still lodge the application before the expiry date and submit this information later. If you wait until you have received the additional information to submit your renewal application and it is after the expiry date, your registration will automatically expire.

Contact the Building Commission

For further information, contact the Building Commission on 1300 489 099 or be.info@dmirs.wa.gov.au.