A recent Building Commission NSW inspection blitz has targeted building sites across Port Macquarie and New England, with more than 150 site inspections completed, resulting in 25 fines with a total value of $17,600.
The Commission said visits to regional areas are an important part of its work, combining compliance inspections with educational campaigns to lift standards, support local tradespeople, and better protect consumers.
During the July visits, the regulator conducted 123 general compliance inspections at Class 1 residential building sites across Forster, Nelson Bay and Port Macquarie. The inspections resulted in 21 fines totalling $14,850.
The majority of the fines were issued for unlicensed residential building works, failure to display appropriate signage on development consent work, failure of a licensee to ensure a contractor is supervised, and unauthorised plumbing or drainage work.
“Whether they’re buying a home in Sydney or the regions, residents deserve the confidence of knowing they can move in from day one without worrying about defects that shouldn’t be there,” said NSW Building Commissioner, James Sherrard.
“Where non-compliant work is detected, our inspectors will be issuing fines and orders to ensure these problems are rectified.
“Beyond compliance, these inspections give our team an opportunity to connect with local tradespeople and understand unique challenges and issues affecting them.”
Building Commission NSW also handed out 21 cautions primarily relating to non-display of site signage and unlicenced work.
While the number of fines remains similar to the two visits to the Mid North Coast in 2025, this trip did see inspectors visit around 50 more sites overall. It is also encouraging that no Written Direction Notices or Building Rectification Orders were issued, compared with last year’s visits where both enforcement actions were required to address non-compliance, said Minister for Building, Anoulack Chanthivong.
“It’s fantastic to see the Port Macquarie and North England communities engaging with Building Commission NSW to deliver high-quality homes in the region,” said Mr Chanthivong.
“Compliance blitzes like these get to the crux of why the Minns Labor Government established Building Commission NSW – and there has never been a more important time to support local practitioners in their work to build a better NSW.
“These results are very encouraging, demonstrating that the Government’s commitment to raising building standards in every corner of the state is working.”
In addition to inspections, Building Commission NSW conducted an educational trade seminar in Port Macquarie where around 50 local tradespeople were in attendance.
Building Commission NSW also visited 32 Class 1 sites across Armidale, Calala, East Tamworth, Kootingal, Moore Creek and North Tamworth in July.
Inspections resulted in four fines being issued, totalling $2,750, with two being for non-display of signage and two for unlicenced work.
