Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020

Professional engineers working on Class 2 buildings in the following areas of engineering may be required to register under the D&BP:

• Civil engineering
• Electrical engineering
• Fire safety engineering
• Geotechnical engineering
• Mechanical engineering
• Structural engineering

From July 1, eligible professional engineers working on Class 2 buildings must register via the Service NSW portal. Following 7 July, you will need to stop doing professional engineering work until you have submitted your application.

From 1 July 2021, designers working on Class 2 buildings or a building with a Class 2 component will need to register under the D&BP if they plan to make compliance declarations or lodge declared designs.

The eligibility requirements vary for each class of design and practitioner. You can view the specific eligibility requirements (skills, experience, qualifications, and so on) in the D&BP regulations.

Registering as a Design Practitioner – Body Corporate & as a Principal Design Practitioner – Body Corporate:
A design firm that is a body corporate can register as a Design Practitioner or Principal Design Practitioner. If the firm itself is registered, it must also have an individual who is a registered Design Practitioner to make the compliance declarations on behalf of the firm.

Registering as a Building Practitioner – Body Corporate:
Developers, building businesses and body corporates can register their organisation as a Building Practitioner. Organisations that register as a Building Practitioner need a nominated individual to make building compliance declarations. This nominated individual will be an employee of the company and must be registered under the category of ‘Building Practitioner – Body Corporate Nominee.’

Note: A company is not required to be registered as a body corporate under the D&BP. It is the choice of each company.