Late last year, MEA was invited to contribute to South Australia’s Building and Construction Industry Review, where we advocated strongly on a range of issues important to electrical contractors, including:
- Security of payment and unfair contract terms
- Continued professional development
- Matters relating to electrical licences
- And more!
The consultation has now progressed into targeted phases, with Phase 1: Tougher Penalties finalised and passed by Parliament on 1 December 2025.
Key changes include:
- New Offences & Increased Penalties
- New offences for unlicensed work, hiring unlicensed subcontractors to undertake licensed work, using another contractor’s licence number, and otherwise falsely holding out to be licensed or registered.
- Significant increases to maximum penalties (up to $150,000 for individuals, $550,000 for companies for repeat offences).
- Expiations introduced or increased for many offences (for example $5,000 for key breaches).
Court & Enforcement:
- Magistrates Court can impose penalties up to $550,000 for offences under the Building Work Contractors Act and the Plumbers, Gas Fitters and Electricians Act.
- Prosecution timeframes extended from 6 months to 2 years (up to 5 years with ministerial approval).
- Many offences can be dealt with by infringement notice for faster enforcement where appropriate.
Insurance Reforms:
- Minimum Building Indemnity Insurance (BII) cover rises from $80,000 to $250,000 for new policies commenced from 10 November 2025.
- Threshold value of minor domestic work, for which BII policies must be initiated, increases from $12,000 to $20,000. This means formal contracts are needed for work costing $20,00+ and deposits requested for those must be no more than 5 per cent.
- Failure to take out BII can incur a $20,000 expiation and the Magistrates Court can impose penalties up to $500,000.
Other Amendments:
- Higher penalties for false or misleading information to regulators or consumers, contract breaches, and advertising violations.
- Stronger disciplinary action provisions.
MEA will continue engaging closely with the SA Government as further phases of the review roll out and will keep members informed of developments that affect your business and licensing obligations.
You can read more about stage one changes here.
