New building laws passed through NSW Parliament this week promise faster, cheaper approvals, and Uniplan’s boss is glad to see them, even if he is not popping the champagne just yet.
“We commend the NSW Government for taking this important and long-awaited step,” said Ben Scott, Managing Director of Uniplan, a modular building company based in Armidale.
The Minns Labor Government passed the nation-leading reforms on Wednesday, 5 August, folding complex, fragmented and often duplicative approvals processes into one piece of legislation. The changes remove duplication between building and planning rules, simplify building and completion approvals, and introduce staged approvals so construction can start and people can move in as early as possible.
Minor variations to a building’s approval, such as changing the size of a door or installing an outdoor tap, will no longer need a fresh planning consent if they fit within the approval framework. The whole system will move into a single, easy-to-use digital environment, giving consumers, regulators and industry one authoritative source of truth.
But Mr Scott said the new laws alone would not be enough.
“But legislation alone will not deliver change,” he said.
The changes are expected to save the building industry significant time and money. Requiring just one set of designs for apartment buildings to gain building approval alone is expected to save an average of $327,000 in design costs per apartment block.
The Bill also sets up a new dispute resolution framework through Building Commission NSW, aimed at cutting the need for costly court proceedings. Integrity measures for certifiers have been strengthened too, with fines for breaching conflict of interest rules rising from $33,000 to $1.1 million.
Alongside the approvals overhaul, the reforms give legal recognition to Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), including modular and prefabricated housing, by defining “prefabricated buildings” and setting clear rules for their manufacture, supply, transport, delivery and installation. MMC can cut building costs by up to 20 per cent and speed up construction by up to 50 per cent, but has previously been held back by slow and inconsistent approvals.
The NSW Government has committed $32.3 million in the 2026/27 Budget to implement the reforms, including modernising the building approvals system, integrating it into the NSW Planning Portal, and piloting AI tools to speed up licence application processing.
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said the reforms build on last year’s planning changes.
“We’ve made common sense changes to drive better outcomes for the people of NSW,” Mr Scully said.
“Overhauling another fragmented, duplicative system with one clear set of rules targeted at building more quality homes faster in every corner of the state.”
The reforms sit alongside a broader push to grow MMC in NSW, including a call for experienced local and international MMC operators to partner with the government on a world-class facility to deliver prefabricated components and modular housing at scale, and nearly $4 million in grants now open to strengthen the local MMC industry.
Mr Scott said the government needed to move quickly to back up the new laws with action.
“The Government must now urgently consult with industry and put the supporting regulations in place to remove approval and certification barriers,” he said.
“This is excellent progress – but not mission accomplished.”
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