Overview
Protection works are a statutory risk-management regime that applies where proposed building work creates a risk of significant damage to an adjoining property. For developers and subject landowners, the regime is most often engaged on tight urban sites and complex builds, including deep excavations, basements, piled retention systems, boundary-to-boundary construction, demolition, and projects that require shoring, underpinning, ground anchors or overhead protection.
The process is procedural and time-sensitive. It sits within the building permit pathway and is administered through the relevant building surveyor, with dispute and compensation functions ultimately overseen by the Building Appeals Board. It also carries a specific insurance requirement that is separate from, and often more demanding than, standard construction policies.
Protection works often becomes an unforeseen delay in many projects and is often misunderstood or not correctly applied.
This page outlines the protection works framework, the practical steps developers should plan for, and the key pressure points where clear documentation and early advice can materially reduce program and dispute risk.
What are ‘protection works’
Protection works are temporary or permanent works designed to maintain the stability of an adjoining property or protect it from damage from building work. The statutory conception is broad and includes underpinning (vertical and lateral support, protection against variation in earth pressures, and ground anchors), shoring up, overhead protection, and associated measures and equipment needed to provide, maintain and remove those works.
In practice, the regime is concerned with the interaction between your construction methodology and the neighbouring asset, not simply proximity to a boundary. A common trigger environment is a footing or basement excavation near a boundary, a retaining system adjacent to an existing structure, or demolition and rebuild scenarios where adjoining footings and walls may be affected.
When protection works are required
Protection works are only required where the relevant building surveyor determines they are necessary as part of the building permit assessment. The building surveyor’s determination is typically issued as a Form 6 ‘Determination that Protection Work is required’.
The concept of ‘adjoining property’ is expansive. It can include land and improvements situated in relation to the site as to be at risk of significant damage, and can extend to roads and other land in the vicinity where the works create a risk profile.
For developer or subject landowner planning, the best practice approach is to assume the issue will be examined where you are proposing any of the following near a boundary:
- basement excavation or significant cuts;
- sheet piling, contiguous piles, secant walls or soldier piles;
- ground anchors or tiebacks that may extend beyond the title boundary;
- underpinning or staged demolition adjacent to existing structures; or
- overhead protection and hoarding requirements where safety and falling-object risk is material.
The statutory process
Determination and identification of affected neighbours
Once the relevant building surveyor determines that protection work is required, the developer must identify the relevant adjoining owners to be served. Where ownership details are not straightforward, municipal councils may be able to disclose adjoining owner information in defined circumstances, and a title search may also be required as part of due diligence.
Serving the Protection Work Notice (Form 7)
The developer must then serve a Protection Work Notice in the approved form (commonly referred to as Form 7) on each adjoining owner and provide a copy to the relevant building surveyor.
The Notice should set out the nature, location, timing and duration of the proposed protection works, including the extent to which access to the adjoining property will be required.
As a matter of practical compliance, the Notice package is not only the form itself. It should be accompanied by key technical material, such as relevant plans, geotechnical and soil assessment and structural inputs and certifications.
The adjoining owner’s response (Form 8) and the 14-day window
The adjoining owner responds using the prescribed Response Notice (commonly referred to as Form 8). If the adjoining owner does not respond within 14 days after service, they are deemed to have agreed to the proposed protection works (subject to the statutory qualification in the Building Act 1993 (Vic)).
From a program perspective, this is often where avoidable delay arises. Where the adjoining owner requests further information or disagrees, the pathway moves into determination and potential dispute resolution.
Determination by the relevant building surveyor if there is no agreement
If the adjoining owner does not agree, the relevant building surveyor determines the appropriateness of the protection work and advises both parties. The building surveyor can request further information and make inquiries.
Where a determination is made, a party may appeal to the Building Appeals Board within the relevant statutory timeframe, and an appeal can stay the effect of the determination.
Existing conditions survey and site access
Existing conditions survey
Before commencement, the owner must make a full and adequate survey of the adjoining property. This is commonly referred to as an existing conditions survey or record. It is routinely compiled as a detailed photographic schedule with notes, and is significant because it is admissible as evidence of condition at the time the record is made.
For developers, this is not a procedural formality. It is often the foundational document in any later damage dispute, and it should be planned and executed with care, including clear identification of fences, paving, driveways, drains, retaining walls, structures, and observable cracking and movement indicators.
Entry onto adjoining land
The Building Act 1993 (Vic) provides for entry onto adjoining land to carry out the survey or approved protection work, typically during prescribed hours, with not less than 24 hours’ notice (or such other notice as may be agreed).
Where access is sensitive, developers should anticipate practical constraints such as security, occupier availability, site safety controls, and the need to coordinate with contractors and adjoining property managers.
Costs and compensation exposure
The protection works regime also contemplates cost shifting and compensation concepts. The approved Form 7 expressly identifies that the owner must:
- pay the adjoining owner costs and expenses necessarily incurred in assessing proposed protection work and supervising the carrying out of the protection work, consistent with the statutory framework; and
- compensate an adjoining owner or adjoining occupier for inconvenience, loss or damage suffered in connection with the carrying out of protection work, including as may be ordered by the Building Appeals Board.
In development settings, these issues often intersect with contractor responsibilities and superintendent administration, particularly where the protection works scope changes due to design development, value engineering, unexpected ground conditions, or authority conditions.
Insurance requirements for protection works
Section 93 insurance is a separate and critical compliance step
Insurance is not optional. Section 93 of the Building Act 1993 (Vic) requires that, before any protection work is commenced in respect of an adjoining property, the owner must ensure a contract of insurance is in force. The insurance must cover:
- damage by the proposed protection work to the adjoining property; and
- liabilities likely to be incurred to adjoining occupiers and members of the public during the carrying out of the building work and for a period of 12 months after that building work is completed.
This effectively involves two types of insurance:
- a “first party” style cover for the adjoining owner against damage to the adjoining property from the proposed protection work, with the adjoining owner able to claim directly; and
- a liability cover for the owner against liabilities likely to be incurred to adjoining occupiers and members of the public during the building work and for 12 months after completion.
Amount of cover and agreement mechanics
The Building Act 1993 (Vic) does not prescribe a minimum amount of insurance. The practical requirement is that the amount should be agreed with the adjoining owner, and if agreement cannot be reached, the dispute can be determined by the Building Appeals Board.
Documentation, renewal, and the common compliance traps
Recurring pitfalls that frequently cause non-compliance include:
- incomplete documents served as part of the Notice package;
- relying on general contractor insurance that does not meet section 93 requirements;
- providing only a certificate of currency without the policy and schedules;
- commencing work before insurance agreement; and
- failing to ensure cover is maintained for at least 12 months post completion.
The key commercial implication for developers is that section 93 responsibility sits with the owner, even if the contractor arranges insurance on the owner’s behalf. If contractors change during the project, continuity of compliant cover should be actively managed.
Projects adjoining roads or land controlled by DTP
Where an adjoining ‘property’ includes a road reserve managed by the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP), developers may need to serve a Form 7 notice on DTP if DTP is listed as an adjoining owner in the building surveyor’s determination (Form 6).
Where any part of the protection work is in, on, under or over a road reserve, separate consent under the Road Management Act 2004 (Vic) may be required, and that agreement under the Building Act 1993 (Vic) is not, of itself, consent to work in the road reserve.
This interface can introduce program risk on infrastructure-adjacent sites and is typically best dealt with early, with a clear technical package and a defined approvals pathway.
Developer-focused risk areas
Program and procurement risk
Protection works obligations frequently sit on the project construction critical path. The notice, response and determination stages, and the need to finalise compliant insurance before commencing protection work, can affect demolition dates, excavation start, piling schedules and temporary works procurement.
Design maturity and temporary works strategy
Authorities and adjoining owners respond best to a coherent technical position. Developers should expect that incomplete temporary works design, unclear sequencing, or inconsistent geotechnical assumptions will lead to requests for further information and increase dispute probability.
Evidence discipline
Existing conditions surveys, project correspondence, and clear records of methodology are central in managing post-event damage allegations.
Contract administration alignment
Protection works should be aligned with:
- project timing and staging (if possible);
- principal contractor obligations;
- temporary works design responsibility;
- insurance procurement, endorsements and renewal tracking; and
- cost allocation and variation pathways if adjoining owner requirements affect scope.
Best Hooper Lawyers’ experience
Best Hooper Lawyers’ Property Team advises developers, builders, and landowners on the protection works regime across Victoria, including the Building Act 1993 (Vic) procedural pathway, adjoining owner negotiations, insurance compliance under section 93, Building Appeals Board processes, and the management of cost and compensation exposure where projects interface with sensitive neighbouring assets or infrastructure corridors.
General information only
This page is general information only and is not legal advice. It is not intended to be relied on as a substitute for obtaining advice specific to your circumstances, project or transaction. Laws, policies and regulator practices can change, and the application of the law depends on the particular facts.
