The NSW Government has on 6 May 2026 announced that they seek to introduce “nation-leading building reforms to support the uptake of MMC” which, in the current context, is said to be a welcome development to address the housing-crisis.
Recent media releases (linked below) state that the changes are expected to reduce overall costs by up to 20% and expedite construction by up to 50% and will support meeting the state’s housing needs by making it quicker and easier to resolve disputes without the need for costly Court proceedings in the first instance.
Importantly for these styles of building work (prefabricated, modular, and mobile homes) the reforms are said to recognise MMC by legally defining “prefabricated buildings”; integrating MMC into the approvals system; and guarantee consumer protections.
Certifiers are targeted, with an increase in the maximum penalty for certifiers to $1million that breach conflict-of-interest rules. Compliance obligations of contractors are also to be expanded with greater emphasis on compliance declarations and regulated designs.
The key beneficiary of the legislation appears to be the consumer rather than construction contractors, however the current publications available on the changes do note that the following benefits are to flow:
- Duplicative designs for the same building will be dispensed with;
- Introduction of staged approvals for residential works; and
- Allow minor variations to a development consent.
Currently, Baybridge is aware of some models of construction where the contractor benefits from the lack of a definition of these styles of building work, and knowing the usual stance of the state government, we would be surprised if the changes make it any easier on construction contractors.
Rather, the reforms appear to bring the construction process of prefabricated, modular, and mobile homes into the same system of oversight and governance of the National Building Code, much like the majority of the construction industry in NSW.
While the processing times of approvals and consents may be streamlined and/or staggered and thereby save time on the overall construction programme, our current take on the reforms is that they will result in:
- A more heavily regulated and document-driven construction industry;
- Expansion on compliance and certification obligations on principal contractors; and
- For all construction businesses, a trigger-point for those contractors to begin reviewing their:
- Compliance systems;
- Subcontract terms;
- Approval processes;
- Quality assurance processes; and
- Document retention practices.
In short, any contractors that were enjoying the lack of regulation and legislation relating to these specific forms of construction targeted by the bill, we pre-empt that these reforms will reduce any flexibility that previously existed.
Whatever the changes that are inevitably introduced, Baybridge is ready to draft the relevant agreement to support your works.
This article was written by Marwan Kojok, CEO and Jack Coles, Senior Associate.
