Building permit number, levy and prescribed events reporting
The BPC is responsible for issuing building permit number before a relevant building surveyor (RBS) can issue a building permit. Once RBS issues the building permit, they are required to report events prescribed under Regulation 47 (Building Regulations 2018) that have occurred for each building permit during the month to BPC by 7th of the following month.
Requesting a building permit number
Under section 18AA of the Act, an RBS must give us the information needed to start the BPN application process. Once we have received all information and payment of the levy, we have five days to issue or refuse to issue a BPN.
Building surveyors will need all required information before applying for a BPN. There are a number of required fields and, depending on your answers to the required fields, you may need to provide information for several ‘conditionally required’ fields. For example, if you have advised us that someone else will pay the levy, details about the nominated payer are considered ‘conditionally required’.
Individual BPN applications will be submitted through BAMS via a single online portal, while multiple applications will be made in bulk through a CSV file upload. After the levy payment has been made (via credit card, debit card or BPAY), the RBS will be notified of all issued BPNs via email. The RBS can then issue the building permit to the applicant.
Management of staged building permits within BAMS
For staged building permits, you must apply for a BPN for each stage. BAMS allows building surveyors to input their Project ID/ Name during the BPN application process. This Project ID/Name field will be used for all stages of the one project and will act as the identifier to group the staged permits.
Updating information after the building permit has been issued
Building surveyors are required to ensure the building permit is up to date by providing the information following the issuance of the building permit. This information has been categorised into prescribed events and amendments.
Updating the building permit number record and notification of amendments to a building permit’s details
Building surveyors must ensure the BPN record is up to date by providing information following the issuance of a building permit.
The BPN record should be updated whenever there are new details that relate to a BPN application, corrections to existing data are supplied, or when there have been amendments to a building permit's details.
Updates can be done at any time and should be completed through the online portal or by uploading a CSV file. An example of this is where there has been a change of builder or owner.
If you submit updates via the bulk upload process, you will use the same CSV file template as the BPN application.
Reporting prescribed events relating to building work (regulation 47)
Throughout construction, an RBS must report ‘prescribed events’ under regulation 47 of the Building Regulations 2018.
An RBS will need to report up to 22 prescribed events, depending on the type of building work. Examples of a prescribed event include:
issuance of a building permit
final inspection; and
mandatory notifications, such as completion of the framework.
Prescribed events must be reported within seven days after the end of each month when the event occurred. If you submit prescribed events via the bulk upload process, this is done using a different CSV file template to BPN applications/updates.
The first prescribed event reportable is the issuance of a building permit. At this stage of the process, the RBS is expected to complete two activities:
Notify us of the issuance of a building permit.
Update the BPN record by providing any outstanding optional and/or conditional fields that were not provided with the BPN application. This information will be provided using the update/amend process.
Advising changes to the cost of the building work (205KA)
Variations to the building work during the life of a building permit are likely to result in cost of the building work increasing or decreasing from the amount initially calculated, which may change the levy applicable.
Once a building permit is issued, the owner should monitor and maintain records of the cost of the building work, which includes the contract price or agreed amount to be paid to the builder or estimate (for owner-builder only), the cost of chattels and the cost of any prescribed excluded items.
The owner has a duty to notify the BPC of a change in any of the above amount within 28 days of becoming aware of the change if:
the building permit is not a staged permit and
there will be an increase or decrease in the cost of the building work of $15,625 or higher.
If the change relates to an amendment of the building permit, the applicant is required to notify the BPC of the change. The applicant and owner can notify the BPC by completing the form:
For building permit applications accepted on or after 26 November 2025, and the change relates to an amendment of the building permit, the owner/applicant is not required to notify the BPC of the change. Instead, the RBS is required to notify the BPC of the revised cost of the building work.
Penalty levy may apply if:
the owner fails to notify the BPC of a variation to the building work that resulted in a change of the building cost or
the owner gave false or misleading information to the RBS or the BPC which resulted in the cost of the building work being calculated incorrectly.
The owner can notify the BPC by completing the form:
For staged permits, the BPC may contact the owner at the end of the building work and request information about the final cost of work and supporting documents.
Things to consider when using BAMS
BAMS works best in Chrome or Firefox. Please consider installing either of these browsers.
Consider which application method suits your business – single portal or bulk uploads.
If you decide to use the bulk upload method, determine how frequently your team needs to upload the BPN application CSV file (e.g. daily, twice a day, once a week).
Consider whether you will request the applicant to pay the levy and whether any internal processes need updating.
If you will pay the levy on behalf of the applicant, ensure you have one of the payment methods available – BPAY or credit card.
How BAMS impacts you
Industry group
High-level impacts relating to BAMS
Relevant building surveyors (RBS) no longer determine building permit numbers (BPN) or send through levy payments in a monthly levy return.
There are two options for supplying information via the BAMS portal – an individual application or bulk upload of applications. The method chosen depends on the volume of transactions and software used.
The RBS will need to ensure that the applicant or agent acting on their behalf is aware that they will receive an email notification requesting them to pay the building permit levy via a secure payment gateway, and that their building permit will not be issued until the BPN has been received by the RBS.
Payment can be made via BPAY or credit card. Cheques are not accepted due to processing times delaying the issuance of a BPN.
The RBS will need to notify us of the prescribed events relating to the building permit through the BAMS portal.
The RBS will be required to notify the Commissioner of State Revenue in certain circumstances where the estimated cost of building work carried out under a building permit increases.
Builders need to provide the applicant with all information required to ensure the correct information is provided to the RBS.
Builders need to be aware that the RBS is not allowed to issue a building permit until payment of the building permit levy has been made and the RBS has received the BPN.
The RBS will inform the applicant or their agent that they must pay the building permit levy directly to us before the BPN and subsequent building permit can be issued.
The speed at which a building permit is issued (and work can begin) depends on whether the applicant or agent pays the permit levy in a timely manner.
An RBS may ask the applicant for a building permit (or their nominated agent) to make payments directly to us instead of to the building surveyor.
The applicant will need to understand the importance of paying promptly, so there is no unnecessary delay in issuing a BPN and, in turn, no unnecessary delay in the building surveyor issuing a building permit.
The property owner must notify us of any variation to the building work following the issue of a non-stage building permit, if that variation has resulted in an increase to the estimated cost of works of $15,625 or more.
We may require the owner to pay an additional building permit levy amount when it has been notified or become aware of an increase in the cost of building work.
Working with the industry
BAMS enables building surveyors to apply, amend and report on building permit information using two methods:
CSV file upload – BAMS will only import CSV files with the correct formatting prescribed. Using this method, you can apply for one or more building permit numbers.
Online Portal Application – BAMS enables online applications to apply for one building permit number at a time.
For building surveyors uploading CSV files, it is suggested that you either have a third-party software provider or an in-house provider who can ensure the CSV file is correctly formatted, so that it validates with BAMS.
More information
Please refer to our Frequently Asked Questions for general information about the Building Activity Management System.
