If your business provides civil, structural, mechanical or fire engineering services for buildings in WA, the business must be registered at the relevant level as a building engineering contractor.
A building engineering contractor (BEC) must employ at least one registered building engineering practitioner (BEP) to supervise and manage the work. It is advisable for a registered building engineering contractor to have:
- At least one nominated supervisor registered as a BEP in each of the areas of engineering that the BEC provides building engineering work in; and
- Sufficient engineers registered as BEPs in each area of building engineering work to supervise the work being done.
- However, employees who carry out building engineering work under supervision need not be registered practitioners.
Building engineering contractors are registered by level only (professional, technologist or associate) based on the level of the nominated supervisor. This means that a multi-disciplinary engineering business does not need to specify the areas of building engineering in which it intends to work and will not need to apply for an amended registration if its areas of practice change, for example due to staff changes.
Building engineering contractors must:
- Be solvent (if previously insolvent must demonstrate financial capacity); and
- Have an appropriate level of professional indemnity insurance.
You must also comply with the Building Services (Registration) Act 2011, Building Services (Complaint Resolution and Administration) Act 2011, Building Act 2011, Building Regulations 2012, Building Services (Registration) Regulations 2011, and Building Services (Complaint Resolution and Administration) Regulations 2011.
Individual
Show moreBefore you apply
1. You'll need
- 100 points of identity
- Building practitioner registration number or have submitted your Building engineering practitioner registration.
- Professional Indemnity Insurance
2. Complete application form
- Download the PDF application form: Form 91 – Building engineering contractor individual registration.
How to apply
Partnership
Show moreBefore you apply
1. You'll need
- 100 points of identity for each partner
- Professional Indemnity Insurance
2. Complete application form
Company
Show moreBefore you apply
1. You'll need
- 100 points of identity for each director
- Company’s directors and company secretary details (date of birth, director ID, postal address)
- Professional Indemnity Insurance
- Nominated supervisor details
2. Complete application form
- Download the PDF application form: Form 93 – Building engineering contractor company registration
Continuing Professional Development
Show moreAfter 3 years, to renew your registration, you must have completed the required hours of continuing professional development (CPD).
There are two ways to meet the CPD requirements:
- Keep a record of your CPD hours, showing that you comply with the policy.
- Maintain membership of an approved CPD scheme provider.
The Building Commissioner has approved the following industry organisations as CPD scheme providers:
Class of registration | CPD scheme providers |
|---|---|
| Building engineering practitioner, structural – professional |
|
| Building engineering practitioner, structural – technologist |
|
| Building engineering practitioner, structural – associate |
|
| Building engineering practitioner, fire safety – professional |
|
| Building engineering practitioner, fire systems – technologist |
|
| Building engineering practitioner, fire systems – associate |
|
| Building engineering practitioner, civil – professional |
|
| Building engineering practitioner, civil – technologist |
|
| Building engineering practitioner, civil – associate |
|
| Building engineering practitioner, mechanical – professional |
|
| Building engineering practitioner, mechanical – technologist |
|
| Building engineering practitioner, mechanical – associate |
|
Download the Registered building engineering practitioner approved CPD requirements document.
Professional Indemnity Insurance
Show moreTo be approved as a building engineering contractor, you must have an appropriate level of professional indemnity insurance (PII), as determined in accordance with the Building Services Board Policy for PII.
There are two ways to meet the requirement for adequate PII:
- Assessment of appropriate PII
An applicant can assess their own business risk and determine an adequate level of PII coverage. The policy sets out the process to do this. When applying for contractor registration you will need to provide the PII policy certificate number. - Membership of a Professional Standards Scheme
If you are a member of a professional standards scheme that requires PII as a condition of membership, providing evidence of this will meet the PII requirements to be registered.
BSB Policy – Professional indemnity insurance requirements:
Already have a licence in Australia or New Zealand?
Show moreIf you are registered or licensed as a building engineer elsewhere in Australia or New Zealand and want to carry out building engineering work in Western Australia, you can find out more information about having your licence recognised in WA.
Scope of work
Show more- A Building engineering contractors’ scope of work is limited by the level of contractor registration they have.
| Registration class | Scope of work |
| Contractor (Individual, Partnership, Company) – Professional | Professional or technical engineering work for any building |
| Contractor (Individual, Partnership, Company) – Technologist | Technical engineering work for medium-rise buildings |
| Contractor (Individual, Partnership, Company) – Associate | Technical engineering work for low-rise buildings |
| Contractor (Individual, Partnership, Company) – Fire systems – Technologist | Technical fire systems engineering work for any building |
| Contractor (Individual, Partnership, Company) – Fire systems – Associate | Technical fire systems engineering work for medium-rise buildings |
- If a contractor has a nominated supervisor who is registered at a higher level than the contractor, the scope of work is limited to the contractor level, not the practitioner level.
- For example, a registered engineer – professional employed in a technologist contractor organisation may only do technical engineering work on medium or low-rise buildings.
Specific activities
- Enter into contracts to provide building engineering services undertaken by registered building engineering practitioners.
- Appropriately supervise the work of any unregistered person employed to do building engineering work.<\/strong>
