“complaint means a complaint about the conduct of a licensed building practitioner made under section 315 of the Act

“inquiry means an inquiry by the Board into the conduct of a licensed building practitioner in accordance with subpart 2 of Part 4 of the Act and these regulations”.

“complainant means a person who makes a complaint”.

“3A Transitional, savings, and related provisions

• The transitional, savings, and related provisions set out in the Schedule have effect according to their terms.”

“Part 1
“Complaints”.

• “(2) The Registrar must provide a copy of the complaint to the licensed building practitioner and ask him or her to provide—

  • “(a) his or her response, in writing; and

  • “(b) any relevant information; and

  • “(c) any evidence that he or she wishes to provide.”

“10 Board’s action after receiving Registrar’s report

• “(1) When the Board receives the Registrar's report, the Board must decide—

  • “(a) to proceed no further with the complaint because regulation 9 applies; or

  • “(b) to proceed with the complaint.

  “(2) If the Board decides to proceed with the complaint, it must hold a hearing.”

• “(2) Regulation 11 applies, with all necessary modifications, to a consolidated hearing.”

“14 Nature of hearing

• “(1) The Board, when exercising the power under section 284 of the Act to regulate its own procedure for making decisions, must be guided by the principle that it should avoid unnecessary formality.

  “(2) Subclause (1) does not limit section 283 of the Act, which includes requirements for the Board to comply with the rules of natural justice and give written notices of, and reasons for, its decisions.”

“Part 2
“Inquiries

“16 Overview

• This Part provides for procedures in relation to inquiries on the board’s own motion into matters about the conduct of licensed building practitioners.

“17 Application

• “(1) This Part applies to an inquiry into a matter about the conduct of a building practitioner raised by the Board’s own inquiries.

  “(2) This Part also applies to an inquiry into a matter about the conduct of a building practitioner raised by a complaint where the Board carries on an inquiry into that matter on its own motion after the complainant decides not to proceed with the complaint—

  • “(a) as if every reference to a matter raised by the Board’s own inquiries included a reference to the matter raised by that complaint; and

  • “(b) with all modifications necessary to take into account that there is no need for the Board to repeat any process already undertaken as part of the investigation of the complaint under Part 1 where a substantially equivalent process may be, or is required to be, undertaken as part of an inquiry under this Part; and

  • “(c) with any other necessary modifications.

“18 Board may request Registrar to prepare report

• If a matter about the conduct of a licensed building practitioner is raised by the Board’s own inquiries and the Board has reasonable grounds to suspect that the conduct of a licensed building practitioner may come within any of the grounds for discipline, the Board may request the Registrar to prepare a report on the matter and provide that report to the Board.

“19 Registrar’s preparation of report to Board

• “(1) If the Board requests the Registrar to prepare a report on a matter, the Registrar must—

  • “(a) collect information in accordance with subclauses (2) to (4); and

  • “(b) compile a report as described in regulation 20; and

  • “(c) provide the Board with the report; and

  • “(d) send a copy of the report to the relevant licensed building practitioner.

  “(2) The Registrar must—

  • “(a) provide the licensed building practitioner with—

    • “(i) the details of the conduct that the Board is inquiring into, including all evidence that the Board has in support of its request for the Registrar’s report under regulation 18; and

    • “(ii) the grounds for discipline to which the conduct that is the subject of the inquiry may correspond; and

  • “(b) ask the licensed building practitioner to provide—

    • “(i) his or her response, in writing; and

    • “(ii) any relevant information; and

    • “(iii) any evidence that he or she wishes to provide.

  “(3) The Registrar may—

  • “(a) make any inquiries that are reasonably necessary to determine whether the conduct of the licensed building practitioner comes within any of the grounds for discipline; and

  • “(b) without limiting paragraph (a), invite any person to provide further information relevant to the inquiry.

  “(4) The Registrar may ask any special adviser appointed by the Board under section 322(1)(d) of the Act to provide his or her comments, opinion, or advice on any information supplied or collected under subclauses (2) and (3).

“20 Contents of Registrar’s report to Board

• The Registrar’s report to the Board must—

  • “(a) contain the details of the matter inquired into, including—

    • “(i) whatever information and evidence the licensed building practitioner provides under regulation 19(2); and

    • “(ii) whatever information is collected or provided under regulation 19(3); and

    • “(iii) the special adviser’s response, if any, under regulation 19(4); and

  • “(b) contain the Registrar’s summary of facts as agreed and as disputed by the licensed building practitioner; and

  • “(c) indicate whether, in the Registrar’s view, regulation 21 applies to the matter.

“21 Matter not warranting continuation of inquiry

• A matter does not warrant the Board continuing an inquiry into it if—

  • “(a) it does not come within any of the grounds for discipline; or

  • “(b) its subject matter is minor or trivial, or both; or

  • “(c) there is insufficient evidence to continue the inquiry; or

  • “(d) continuing the inquiry is—

    • “(i) not practicable; or

    • “(ii) unnecessary; or

    • “(iii) not possible (for example, because the licensed building practitioner has died or cannot be located).

“22 Board's action after receiving Registrar's report

• “(1) When the Board receives the Registrar's report, the Board must decide—

  • “(a) to discontinue the inquiry because regulation 21 applies; or

  • “(b) to continue the inquiry.

  “(2) If the Board decides to continue the inquiry, it must hold a hearing.

“23 Application of regulations 11 to 15 to inquiry

• Regulations 11 to 15 apply to an inquiry as if,—

  • “(a) in regulation 11, ‘whether or not the complainant or the licensed building practitioner attend it’ were replaced with ‘whether or not the licensed building practitioner attends it’; and

  • “(b) in regulation 12, ‘the complainant and’ were deleted; and

  • “(c) in regulation 13,—

    • “(i) each reference to a complaint or to complaints were a reference to an inquiry or to inquiries; and

    • “(ii) in paragraph (b), ‘all parties to each complaint agree to the consolidation’ were replaced with ‘in respect of each inquiry, the licensed building practitioner whose conduct is the subject of the inquiry agrees to the consolidation’; and

  • “(d) in regulation 15,—

    • “(i) ‘must inform the complainant and the licensed building practitioner’ were replaced with ‘must inform the licensed building practitioner’; and

    • “(ii) in paragraph (a), ‘complaint’ were replaced with ‘inquiry’.”