The Minns Labor Government has introduced legislation to NSW Parliament to modernise property laws and ensure greater consistency across building sector licensing schemes.

The Fair Trading and Building Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 (‘the Bill’) will close loopholes and give the state’s dedicated property and building regulators more powers to take disciplinary action and protect consumers.

Improving the standards across the building sector will mean young people, families and downsizers can have greater confidence when buying a home or investing in a property.

The Bill will clarify provisions around Decennial Liability Insurance (DLI). DLI provides long-term protections for homeowners against rectification costs arising from serious defects like those seen at Mascot and Opal Towers.

The Government has been working closely with industry representatives to bring DLI products to market.

As a result of this process, the Bill will clarify the required scope of coverage without compromising consumer protection giving apartment owners the peace of mind they need and raising insurance standards across the industry.

Other changes in the proposed legislation will:

• Strengthen NSW licensing by giving NSW Fair Trading and Building Commission NSW clearer powers to refuse applications or cancel licences obtained through misrepresentation, error or invalid qualifications.
• Tackle poor practice in the conveyancing sector by strengthening NSW Fair Trading’s ability to block unsuitable or irresponsible applicants, while closing loopholes that prevented the regulator from stopping professionals with a history of misconduct from entering the industry.
• Give the Building Commission NSW stronger powers to hold private certifiers accountable for misconduct even if they leave the industry, preventing them from avoiding sanctions by surrendering or letting their registrations expire; and
• Provide the Building Commission NSW with new powers to cancel specific authorities on home building related licences, such as joinery, or painting, rather than having to cancel the entire licence.

The Bill puts into action the lessons learned by NSW Fair Trading and Building Commission NSW through their extensive regulatory and compliance activity. Read the full Ministerial media release here.