Consultant fee splits for design work in Western Australia

Two payment regimes, split by contract date

The Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Act 2021 applies to construction contracts entered into on or after 1 August 2022. Contracts made before that date stay under the Construction Contracts (Former Provisions) Act 2004.

If you invoice under a long-running engagement, check which Act its contract date puts it under before relying on any process. A stage schedule that records the engagement date up front makes that question easy to answer later.

Registration in WA

WA’s Building and Energy framework lists the Building Services (Registration) Act 2011, which provides for registration of builders, painters and building surveyors, while architects are registered under the Architects Act 2004. The Building Act 2011 introduced private certification of building permit applications by registered building surveying contractors.

The official framework we checked does not list a separate building designer registration category, so we don’t describe one.

Planning and the R-Codes

Planning is run under the Planning and Development Act 2005. For housing, the Residential Design Codes (R-Codes) are read into local planning schemes, with Volume 1 covering most single and grouped dwellings and Volume 2 covering apartments.

Because R-Code assessments decide whether a design goes the deemed-to-comply or the design-principles route, splitting the fee at that decision point keeps the client from paying for a full assessment they may not need.

Example: a Perth infill duplex

Using DrafterShare in WA

This page is general information drawn from the official sources listed below, not legal advice. Check the current law, and get advice on your own contract.

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