If you want to work in the building industry

If you hold a registration as an individual under the Building Act on 30 June 2021, you will be automatically deemed to be registered and endorsed under the Professional Engineers Registration Act.

You will not have to take any action or pay a fee to be issued with a deemed registration and endorsement by the BLA. Your new registration under the Professional Engineers Registration Act will replace your registration under the Building Act.

Your new registration and endorsement will be equivalent to your registration under the Building Act.

Professional engineers registered and endorsed in the area of civil engineering will also be able to provide professional engineering services in the area of structural engineering. See the Guidelines on the areas of engineering (Word, 109KB).

Your deemed registration and endorsement under the Professional Engineers Registration Act will be until the date your registration under the Building Act would have expired. You will then be required to apply for registration under the Professional Engineers Registration Act.

After your first registration under the Professional Engineers Act you must renew your registration and endorsement every three years.

The BLA will send you a notice before your registration and endorsement expires under the Building Act. You will also be given instructions on how to apply for registration and endorsement via our myCAV online registration system. View more information in About myCAV.

The same process will apply when it is time to renew your registration and endorsement under the Professional Engineers Registration Act.

As engineering companies are not required to be registered under the Professional Engineers Registration Act:

• the registrations of existing companies under the Building Act automatically expired on 1 July 2021, and
• no new company registrations will be issued.

Therefore, you are not required to renew your company registration under the Building Act.

Yes. If your registration renewal was due prior to 1 July 2021 you must have submitted your application to the VBA by the due date to protect your company registration from expiry.

If your company registration expires it cannot operate as a registered building practitioner in Victoria. For more information on registration renewal, visit Renew your registration - VBA.

As a nominee director of registered companies, your registration under the Building Act automatically transferred to a registration and endorsement as an endorsed building engineer under the Professional Engineers Registration Act on 1 July 2021.

Any employees currently working under a company registration and who want to continue to certify building work and to provide professional engineering services after 30 June 2021 when company registration under the Building Act ends, must be registered.

You had the option of applying for registration under the Building Act before 1 July 2021.

After 1 July 2021, you can apply for registration under the Professional Engineers Registration Act.

A registration granted under the Building Act and current on 30 June 2021 automatically transferred to a registration and endorsement under the Professional Engineers Registration Act.

From 1 July 2021, new applications for registration and endorsement to work as professional engineers in the building industry must be made to the BLA via myCAV and meet the requirements for registration under the Professional Engineers Registration Act.

To be eligible for registration and endorsement under the Professional Engineers Registration Act you will need to meet certain qualification and experience requirements.

The qualifications for registration are:

• a Washington Accord qualification
• a qualification that is equivalent to a Washington Accord qualification, or
• certification that you have demonstrated substantial equivalence with the competencies and outcomes of a Washington Accord qualification.

For a list of the Washington Accord qualifications, visit the Accredited Engineering Program Directory - Engineers Australia.

The experience required for eligibility for registration is five years of engineering experience in the relevant area/s of engineering gained in the last 10 years, of which at least four years must be post-graduate experience. A shorter period of experience may be considered in exceptional circumstances.

If you transferred to registration under the Professional Engineers Registration Act because you were registered under the Building Act on 30 June 2021, you will have five years, if needed, to meet the qualification and experience requirements for registration and endorsement under the Professional Engineers Registration Act.

This five-year transition period will not be affected when you apply for your first registration and endorsement under the Professional Engineers Registration Act or if your registration and endorsement is renewed during that period.

To continue to be registered after this five-year transition period, you must provide the BLA with a report from an assessment entity that you have met the qualification and experience requirements. Details of assessment entities will be published on our website later in 2021.

To be eligible to renew your registration and endorsement, you must have completed 150 hours of continuing professional development over the last three years.

However, if you were deemed to be registered under the Professional Engineers Registration Act because you were registered under the Building Act on 30 June 2021, you will be exempt from completing CPD for three years commencing on 1 July 2021.