Who is accountable for building quality? The ACT's developer licensing changes explained
A defect might become obvious at handover. The decisions behind it can be months old. Could it have been avoided?
Who approved the design change? Who checked the substitution? Who made sure the people doing the work received the revised detail? If those answers disappear between the developer, builder and consultants, the owner inherits more than a building. They inherit a search for responsibility and the task of working out who is blaming whom.
That makes the ACT's developer licensing reforms a construction story worth watching. On 24 September, the ACT Government announced further amendments, ahead of mandatory licensing from 1 October 2026. The important distinction is that the existing scheme's commencement and the newly proposed changes are not the same thing.
What starts on 1 October?
The ACT scheme concerns regulated residential projects involving three or more dwellings, including relevant mixed-use developments. It is not a blanket licensing requirement for every house or renovation. Single houses and dual occupancies are outside the stated scope.
Licensing requirements are linked to particular activities and approval stages, including development applications, arranging building work and off-the-plan sales or advertising. Transitional arrangements matter. An earlier approval is not a safe shortcut to assuming every later activity is exempt. Check the project's circumstances against the ACT Government's scheme and transition guidance.
For an affected team, the immediate task is to establish which entity needs the relevant licence, for which activity, and when. Do not rely on a trading name, a project brochure or somebody saying the paperwork is being handled.
What did last week's Bill propose?
As checked on 28 September, the Property Developers Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 is before the Assembly. It is not enacted law.
One licence attached to a project: proposed changes would streamline arrangements where the landowner, development applicant and person arranging building work are different people.
Insurance and director exposure: a proposed amendment to section 52 would prevent the registrar making a rectification order against a director under that provision where qualifying latent defects insurance is in place and meets the prescribed requirements.
Those are summaries of proposals, not permission to restructure a project or assume a director is protected today. The insurance provision is not a general release from every liability. The Bill's explanatory statement sets out the detail, including the conditions attached to the proposed insurance pathway.
The Property Council welcomed the proposed amendments, while reiterating its concerns about the original framework's effect on housing delivery. That is an industry position, not evidence that the amended scheme has already improved building outcomes.
The important bit is how the project is run
A licence number cannot inspect a waterproofing junction or resolve a conflicting drawing.
The Code of Practice commencing on 1 October goes beyond registration. Its requirements include quality assurance and risk-management systems appropriate to the development, continuing oversight, reasonable checks on the people engaged, and communication of decisions affecting their work. It also addresses complaints and retention of specified records.
Our practical reading: treat this as a prompt to examine how decisions reach site, not simply where a licence number appears on a form.
Consider a hypothetical product substitution. A purchasing decision is made, the revised specification reaches one contractor but not another, and the next inspection still refers to the earlier detail. Each person may believe they followed instructions. The missing piece is a controlled decision and a clear handover.
That is the sort of gap a project team should be able to identify before work is covered up.
Five questions for the next project meeting
The following is a practical review prompt, not a complete statutory compliance checklist:
Who owns the decision? Identify who can authorise design changes, substitutions and departures from the agreed documents. Keep unresolved technical questions with the appropriately qualified person.
Which information is current? Agree where approved drawings, specifications and change records live, and how superseded information is withdrawn from use.
What must be checked before it disappears? Coordinate inspection and evidence requirements before finishes or later work conceal the relevant construction.
How does an issue become a closed issue? Record the concern, responsible person, proposed response and evidence of completion. A forwarded email is not the same as a verified outcome.
What survives handover? Organise the approvals, relevant records and unresolved matters so the next person does not have to reconstruct the project from disconnected inboxes.
Builders can use these questions to clarify instructions. Designers and consultants can use them to tighten the path between advice and implementation. Trades can use them to raise uncertainty before proceeding. The point is clearer coordination, not moving every responsibility onto one participant.
An ACT change, with a wider lesson
This is ACT-specific legislation, not a nationwide developer licence or an NCC edition change. Projects elsewhere still need their own jurisdiction, approval conditions and applicable NCC edition checked.
The broader lesson is worth carrying across borders: accountability works best when it is visible while decisions are being made, not discovered after a defect appears.
Start with one live project this week. Trace one recent change from approval to site instruction, inspection and record. If the trail breaks, there is a useful improvement to make now.
For the technical side of that conversation, explore the free BuildCompass microlearning catalogue. For practical industry updates, subscribe to Industry Insights and The Friday Detail.
General industry information checked on 28 September 2026, not legal advice or a project-specific compliance assessment. Confirm current legislation, commencement and transitional arrangements with the ACT regulator and obtain qualified advice for your circumstances. Proposed amendments may change before enactment.
