If you are building in Western Australia, the rules about who is allowed to do your engineering are changing — and the deadline is closer than most people realise.
Since 1 July 2024, WA has been phasing in a registration scheme for building engineers. From 1 July 2027 it becomes mandatory: an unregistered engineer will not legally be able to carry out prescribed building engineering work in the State. Between now and then we are in a transition period, which is exactly when confusion tends to cost projects time.
Here is a plain-English guide to what is changing, who it applies to, and what a builder or owner should be checking before engaging an engineer.
Building engineering work in WA sits under the Building Act 2011 and the Building Services (Registration) Regulations 2011. Registration is administered by the Building Services Board through the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DEMIRS).
Under the scheme, an engineer must be registered to carry out — or to contract with a consumer to carry out — design, construction or production work in a prescribed area of engineering for a building or incidental structure under the National Construction Code.
The important word is prescribed. This is not a blanket rule covering every engineer in the state. It targets the engineering that ends up supporting a building.
The scheme opens in stages by discipline, then becomes compulsory for everyone at the same date.
| 1 July 2024 | Registration opens for structural, fire safety and fire systems engineers |
| 1 July 2025 | Registration opens for civil and mechanical building engineers |
| 1 July 2027 | Registration becomes mandatory for prescribed building engineering work |
The gap between opening and mandatory is deliberate — it gives engineers time to be assessed. But it also means that right now, in 2026, you can legally engage an unregistered engineer for work that will be illegal to hand to that same engineer after July 2027.
If your project runs across that date, that matters.
The scheme applies to engineering work for a building or incidental structure that falls within a prescribed area of engineering. In practice, for most residential and commercial projects that means:
Retaining walls, additions, second storeys and shed or patio structures all normally rely on structural engineering, so they sit inside the scheme once they need engineered design.
Registration is not automatic on the strength of a degree. An engineer's qualifications, experience and competencies must be assessed by an assessment entity approved by the WA Government, and the application then goes to the Building Services Board.
One accepted pathway into that assessment is listing on the National Engineers Register (NER), administered by Engineers Australia. An engineer already on the NER has been through an independent competency assessment, which is why it carries weight here.
This is worth understanding, because it explains why some engineers will move through the process quickly and others will not.
Three practical consequences.
Your permit pathway does not change, but your paperwork might. You still lodge with your permit authority — normally your local government — and your building surveyor still certifies compliance. What changes is who is permitted to author the engineering that sits underneath that certification.
Long projects need to look past the start date. A subdivision or staged development beginning in 2026 and finishing in 2028 may need its engineer to be registered before the later stages are documented. Ask the question early rather than mid-build.
Cheap engineering gets riskier. As the deadline approaches, the pool of engineers legally able to do this work narrows. An unusually low fee from an unregistered practice is worth a second look — not because the design is necessarily poor, but because you may need it re-issued by someone else later.
QED Engineers is a structural and civil engineering practice whose engineers are listed on the National Engineers Register, working across Perth and Western Australia. We design footings, slabs, framing, retaining walls and drainage for residential and commercial projects, and provide the documentation your permit authority and building surveyor need.
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Do I need a registered engineer for my WA project right now?
Not yet. Registration becomes mandatory on 1 July 2027. Before that date it is voluntary, but it is a useful signal of assessed competence — and essential to check if your project will still be running after the deadline.
Does this apply to every engineer in Western Australia?
No. It applies to engineers carrying out prescribed building engineering work for a building or incidental structure under the Building Act 2011 and the NCC. Engineers working outside building work — mining or process engineering, for example — are not captured by this scheme.
Is registration the same as being a member of Engineers Australia?
No. Membership is a professional body. Registration is a statutory requirement administered by the Building Services Board. However, listing on the National Engineers Register through Engineers Australia is one accepted pathway into the assessment.
Who checks that my engineer is registered?
Ultimately the responsibility sits with the person engaging the engineer, and with the practitioner themselves. Your building surveyor may also raise it where the engineering forms part of the compliance documentation.
What happens to designs prepared before the deadline?
The scheme applies to the carrying out of building engineering work. If your engineering is completed and your permit issued before the mandatory date, that work was lawful when done. The risk sits with work still being produced after 1 July 2027.
Does WA use anything like Queensland's Form 15?
No. Queensland has a statutory certificate system with Form 15 and Form 16. Western Australia works through the building permit process, with your building surveyor certifying compliance and the engineer's documentation supporting it. Different mechanism, same underlying purpose.
This article is general information only and reflects Western Australian building requirements at the time of writing. Registration requirements, dates and prescribed areas are set by the Building Services Board and DEMIRS and can change — confirm current requirements for your specific project.
