Building fines

Failing to have the required details displayed on the building in a conspicuous position before and for the duration of building works.
Failing to have a copy of any current occupancy permit displayed at an approved location within the building.
Failing to ensure that an annual essential safety measures report is prepared within 28 days of the anniversary date when the previous report was completed.
Failing register your existing swimming pool and/or spa if construction commenced before 1 November 2020.
Failing to apply for registration of your swimming pool and/or spa within 14 days after you receive a notice requiring you to apply for registration.

Pay your building fine

You must pay your building fine within 21 days. If you do not pay your building fine, there may be additional costs and legal proceedings.

To pay your building fine, you have the following options.

Telephone and internet banking - BPAY

Pay using the Biller Code and Reference number on your notice. Make payments from your credit card, savings or cheque account.

Our website

Pay a building fine online using our Online payments tool. You will need the infringement number on your notice. Credit card surcharges apply, find out more on our Pay page.

Telephone

Call us on 1300 722 151 and follow the prompts to make secure payments. Credit card surcharges apply, find out more on our Pay page.

Mail

To pay a fine by mail you will need to include:

A copy of the fine or your infringement number
A cheque or money order made payable to ‘City of Boroondara’

These can be mailed to:

City of Boroondara
Private Bag 1
Camberwell VIC 3124

We do not accept postal delays as a reason for late payment. We do not issue a receipt for payments received through the mail.

In person

Visit our customer service desk during opening hours to make a payment. For information about our office location and opening hours, visit our Contact us page.

Payment plans

To apply for a payment plan for your building infringement fine, you must fill out our Building infringements application form for appeals and payment plans. This form is available in the Downloads section on this page.

Email the completed form to [email protected] or submit the form at our offices. Find the location and hours of our offices on our Contact us page.

Appeal your building fine

To appeal a building fine, you need to submit your appeal within 21 days of the issue date on the penalty reminder notice. After this, the infringement notice will be referred to Fines Victoria to manage.

You can't submit an appeal if you've already paid your building fine.

Reasons you can appeal

You can only appeal your building fine in certain circumstances. Find out more about the reasons below and the documents to provide with your appeal.

Fine issued in error

You believe the decision was contrary to the law or a mistake of identity.

You can appeal a building fine if you believe the decision was contrary to the law. This means that you believe our decision to issue you a building infringement was inconsistent with the law, invalid, or that the officer who issued the fine acted unlawfully, unfairly, improperly or outside their authority.

You can also appeal a building fine if the decision involves a mistake of identity. For example, if you have been issued a building infringement but are not the property owner.

You will need to provide documents that show evidence for your particular case and why you believe the fine was issued in error.

Exceptional circumstances

You experienced a situation that was out of the ordinary, unavoidable or exceptional, such as being hospitalised.

You can appeal a building fine if you believe the conduct for which the infringement notice was served should be excused due to exceptional circumstances relating to the infringement offence. Exceptional circumstances include situations that are out of the ordinary, unavoidable, or exceptional.

You will need to provide documents that provide evidence of the exceptional circumstances and show dates and times. For example:

hospital admissions documentation if you were hospitalised
police statements or reports if you were involved in a police incident
travel documentation if you had to travel without notice.

Special circumstances

Your circumstances led to your fine, such as you were experiencing homelessness or family violence.

You can appeal a building fine if the offence occurred due to circumstances that were out of the ordinary, unavoidable or exceptional.

The situations that are considered special circumstances are very specific.

Situations that qualify as special circumstances are that you:

have an intellectual disability
have a mental illness or disorder
have a serious addiction to drugs or alcohol
are experiencing homelessness
are experiencing family violence (where a FVS application has not been made).

You will need to provide evidence from a qualified medical practitioner, social worker or drug and alcohol counsellor that:

confirms the special circumstances
explains how it resulted in you being unable to understand or control the behaviour that led to your fine.

Unaware of infringement notice

You did not know about the fine, having been served by mail.

Please note: We will not consider appeals due to being unaware of an infringement notice if you did not update your address with Council within 14 days of having changed address.

You can appeal a building fine if you were unaware of the notice having been served by mail.

You will need to provide evidence to support your claim that you did not know about the fine. For example:

a copy of your passport or boarding pass showing you were overseas
an invoice from a removalist showing that you moved house
an address change confirmation from VicRoads
a report about your mail being stolen.

If your application is successful, you will be granted a further 21 days to deal with your fine.

Electing to have the matter decided by a court

You have the option of electing to have the matter of your building infringement appeal heard and determined by a court. To request this, you need to submit your appeal within 21 days of the date of issue on the penalty reminder notice. After this, the infringement notice will be referred to Fines Victoria to manage.

If you choose this option, it is then the role of the prosecution officer at Council to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to take the matter to the Magistrates’ Court. If the prosecution officer determines there is sufficient evidence, you will be served a charge-sheet and summons.

If you have requested to appeal your building fine by internal review, and you then elect to have the matter heard and determined by a court, your internal review will be cancelled. This cancellation of your internal review will occur when you submit the request for the matter to be decided by a court.

Please note: If prosecuted, the penalty that can be imposed after having a matter decided by a court is greater than prescribed fine under the building infringement notice.

To elect to have the matter of your building infringement heard and determined by a court, you must fill out our Building infringements application form for appeals and payment plans. This form is available in the Downloads section on this page.

Email the completed form to [email protected] or submit the form at our offices. Find the location and hours of our offices on our Contact us page.

Submit an appeal

Make sure you fully understand the reason you can appeal above before you submit an appeal. You are only allowed to appeal once per fine (under the Infringement Act 2006).

Be sure to include all the documents you need to help your appeal, including a detailed explanation of the circumstances. The documents you are required to supply will be different depending on the type of infringement you received, and the grounds you are appealing on. At minimum, you will need to provide us with your residential address and the infringement notice number. When we review your infringement, we will contact you if we need more information.

If you submit an appeal, we will begin our internal review process and respond to you within 90 days. Once the review is complete, we will confirm whether your appeal was successful or not.

While we review the infringement:

you will not incur additional fees
you will not need to pay any outstanding amounts.

If your appeal is unsuccessful, you will need to pay your building fine.

To appeal your fine, download and complete the Building infringements application form for appeals and payment plans in the Downloads section below.

Email the completed form to [email protected] or submit the form at our offices. Find the location and hours of our offices on our Contact us page.

Download application form for appeals or payment plans

Building infringements application form for appeals and payment plans 196.28 KB [PDF] 9 September 2022

Building fines

On this page

Pay your building fine

Telephone and internet banking - BPAY

Our website

Telephone

Mail

In person

Payment plans

Appeal your building fine

Reasons you can appeal

Fine issued in error

Exceptional circumstances

Special circumstances

Unaware of infringement notice

Electing to have the matter decided by a court

Submit an appeal

Download application form for appeals or payment plans

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