NSW building reforms pass Parliament: How Adecore is helping builders strengthen quality and compliance

The direction of reform is now clear

Two significant pieces of NSW building legislation were passed by Parliament in August 2026 and received assent on 14 August:

• The Building (Approvals and Practitioners) Act 2026, establishing a new framework for building approvals, oversight and practitioner registration.
• The Fair Trading and Building Legislation Amendment Act 2026, providing the final legislative groundwork for Decennial Liability Insurance and strengthening regulatory powers across building, certification and property licensing.

The Acts are distinct, but they point in the same direction: clearer responsibility, stronger oversight and better evidence across the building lifecycle. NSW Parliament—Building (Approvals and Practitioners), NSW Parliament—Fair Trading and Building Legislation Amendment

Not every operational requirement applies immediately. Commencement dates, regulations and supporting guidance will determine how parts of the new frameworks operate in practice. Builders, developers and construction professionals should therefore prepare for the direction of change while continuing to monitor the final regulatory detail.

Ten-year protection changes the quality conversation

The NSW Government describes Decennial Liability Insurance, or DLI, as insurance covering serious defects in apartment-building elements for ten years on a strict-liability basis. The protection remains with the building, including where the original developer or builder is no longer operating.

The latest legislation does not mean that DLI is already universally available or mandatory across every project. It enables prospective insurers to have their policies assessed and endorsed as the market develops. NSW Government ministerial release

The implications extend beyond insurance.

In Adecore’s view, ten-year defect protection will increase the importance of reliable evidence demonstrating:

• What was designed and approved
• Which version of a design was constructed
• Who performed and supervised the work
• Which products and materials were installed
• When inspections occurred
• What evidence supported certification
• Which issues were identified
• Who accepted responsibility for rectification
• Whether corrective work was completed and verified

Insurance may provide protection when serious defects arise. It does not replace the systems, behaviours and accountability required to prevent defects and demonstrate construction quality.

Building compliance is becoming a continuous discipline

The Building (Approvals and Practitioners) framework restructures building approvals and practitioner oversight. It also gives prefabricated and modular construction clearer legislative recognition, including manufacturer declarations and documentation concerning compliance, transport and onsite erection.

Certifiers will operate within a framework of increased accountability, stronger conflict-of-interest expectations and greater regulatory oversight. The reform also anticipates more approval and compliance activity being conducted through digital systems. Bellrock Advisory’s industry analysis

For builders, this means compliance can no longer be treated primarily as a collection of documents assembled at the end of a project.

The evidence must follow the work as it happens.

Designs, variations, inspections, declarations, photographs, certificates, non-conformances and corrective actions must remain connected to the relevant project, asset, participant and decision.

A document repository alone is not enough. The organisation must be able to understand what the evidence relates to, who is responsible for it, whether an obligation remains open and what changed over time.

What builders can do now

While detailed regulations continue to emerge, builders can begin strengthening their quality and compliance environments.

Establish an obligation register

Translate legislative, contractual, design and quality requirements into identifiable obligations. Assign an accountable owner, required evidence, due date and acceptance authority to each material obligation.

Strengthen design and variation control

Maintain a governed record of approved designs, regulated designs, compliance declarations and subsequent variations. Site teams must be able to identify the current approved version and understand who authorised a change.

Capture evidence at the point of work

Inspection results, photographs, test records, product details and field observations should be connected to the relevant location, trade, building element and construction milestone when the work occurs.

Govern non-conformances and corrective actions

Recording a defect does not resolve it. Each exception requires classification, accountable ownership, a response date, supporting rectification evidence and authorised closure.

Preserve the building record

Quality information should remain intelligible beyond project completion. Builders, owners, certifiers, regulators and insurers may require different forms of authorised access over the life of the building.

Review the operating model—not only the software

Technology can make evidence visible, but it does not create accountable conduct by itself. Roles, workflows, decision rights, training, escalation paths and assurance responsibilities must operate alongside the platform.

How Adecore is supporting the sector

Adecore is developing shared data infrastructure for construction oversight and quality assurance.

The objective is to connect builders, developers, certifiers, inspectors, subcontractors, owners and authorised government stakeholders around a more coherent project and assurance record—while preserving each participant’s responsibilities and access rights.

Depending on the project and agreed scope, the environment can support:

• Organisation and practitioner registers
• Licensing and accreditation records
• Project and asset registers
• Approved designs and document control
• Inspection and assessment workflows
• Mobile field-evidence collection
• Certification and declaration records
• Construction milestone tracking
• Quality-assurance plans
• Defect and non-conformance management
• Corrective-action ownership and verification
• Risk-based alerts and escalation
• Oversight dashboards
• Regulatory and management reporting
• Historical records and audit visibility
• Integration with existing industry and government systems

The platform is not presented as proof that a project complies. Compliance remains the responsibility of authorised people and institutions.

Its purpose is to create the governed evidence environment through which obligations can be understood, work can be examined, exceptions can be managed and accountable decisions can be made. Adecore Quality Assurance Platforms

From retrospective compliance to visible quality

The NSW reforms should not be understood solely as additional administration.

They represent an opportunity for responsible builders to make quality more visible—to regulators, insurers, owners and their own project leadership.

The strongest response will not be to collect more disconnected documents. It will be to establish a reliable chain between requirement, responsibility, work, evidence, assurance and acceptance.

That is the infrastructure Adecore is working to help the construction sector build.

Preparing for changing construction and assurance requirements?
Speak with Adecore about developing a governed quality-assurance and project-evidence environment for your organisation.

This article provides general information and is current as at 27 August 2026. It does not constitute legal, regulatory, insurance or professional advice. Organisations should obtain advice appropriate to their projects and monitor commencement proclamations, regulations and guidance issued by the NSW Government and Building Commission NSW.

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