Residential Focus: DBP Act and RAB Act to extend to class 3 and 9c buildings

The Design & Building Practitioners Act and Residential Apartment Buildings Act are being extended to cover Class 3 and Class 9c buildings. This expansion broadens the regulatory framework that previously applied primarily to Class 2 residential apartment buildings. The extension brings additional compliance obligations, practitioner licensing requirements, and accountability measures to a wider range of residential building types, including low-rise multi-unit dwellings and buildings with mixed-use components.

For remedial building professionals and strata managers, this expansion materially increases the scope of buildings now subject to stricter design and building standards, defect notification requirements, and practitioner accountability. Consultants, builders, and building certifiers working on Class 3 and 9c projects will need to understand new compliance pathways, insurance implications, and potential latent defect liability exposure. The change affects project delivery timelines, cost structures, and professional indemnity considerations across a larger segment of the residential sector.