Building fines

Failing to prominently display the necessary details on the building before and during construction.
Failing to display a valid occupancy permit in a designated area inside the building.
Not finishing the safety measures report within 28 days of the yearly date when the last report was finished.
Failing to register your pool/spa with us on time.
Not lodging a Certificate of pool and spa barrier compliance (Form 23) by the due date.

Pay your building fine

You must pay your building fine by the due date on the notice. There may be additional costs and legal proceedings if it's not paid by the due date.

BPay: use phone or internet banking to pay with your credit card, savings or cheque account. Use the Biller Code and Reference number on your infringement notice.
Online: pay on our website using our Online payments tool. You’ll need the infringement number on your notice. Credit card surcharges apply, find out more on our Pay page.
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.
Visit our customer service desk during business hours to make a payment. Find location and opening hours at our Contact us page.
Pay by post, including a copy of the fine or your infringement number and a cheque or money order made payable to ‘City of Boroondara'. Post to: City of Boroondara, Private Bag 1 Camberwell VIC 3124.
- We don’t accept postal delays as a reason for late payment.
- We don’t issue receipts for payments posted to us.

Apply for a payment plan

Download and complete a Building infringements application form for appeals and payment plans from the bottom of this page.

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

Reasons to appeal a building fine

You may appeal your building fine only on certain grounds. In each case, you must give proof to back up your claim.

Find the acceptable reasons below and which documents you need to give to support 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:

our decision to fine you is unlawful or invalid
that the officer who issued the fine acted unlawfully, unfairly, improperly or outside their authority
the infringement involves a mistake of identity (for example, you were issued the fine but you're not the property owner).

You must provide evidence and explain 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 that unexpected and exceptional circumstances, like being hospitalised, led you to breach the Building Regulations.

Provide evidence (which includes dates and times) of the exceptional circumstances. For example:

a hospital admissions document if you were hospitalised
police statements or reports if you were involved in a police incident
travel documents 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 there were special and compelling reasons for your offence.

Situations that qualify as 'special' include one of the following:

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

You’ll need to show proof from a doctor, social worker or drug and alcohol counsellor to:

confirm the special circumstances
explain how these contributed to the behaviour that led to your fine.

Unaware of infringement notice

You did not know that the fine was mailed to you.

You can appeal a building fine if you didn't know that it had been mailed to you.

Note: if your postal address has changed and you failed to inform us of this within 14 days of it changing, you can’t appeal on this ground.

You’ll need to provide evidence to support your claim that you weren’t aware of 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’ll be granted a further 21 days to deal with your fine.

Appeal your building fine

You can ask us to review your fine if

you satisfy one of the 4 reasons listed above
you 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.

Download and complete a Building infringements application form for appeals and payment plans, below. Email the completed form to [email protected] or submit it at our offices. Find the location and hours of our offices on our Contact us page.

Under the Infringement Act 2006, you can appeal once per fine.

Also, you can't appeal a fine if you've already paid it.

In your submission, include:

documents to support your appeal, including a detailed explanation of the circumstances
your residential address
the infringement notice number.

We'll contact you if we need more information.

We'll review your appeal and tell you within 90 days whether it has been successful. In the meantime:

you won't incur additional fees
you won't need to pay any outstanding amounts.

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

Choose for a court to hear your appeal

You can choose to have the Magistrates Court hear and decide on your building fine appeal. Please be aware that the penalty you receive from the court may be more severe than the building fine.

Download and complete a Building infringements application form for appeals and payment plans (below).

Email your completed form to [email protected] or submit the form at our offices within 21 days of the date on your penalty notice, otherwise the fine will be referred to Fines Victoria to manage. You can find the location and hours of our offices on our Contact us page.

If you previously asked us to review your fine and you later choose to have it heard and determined by a court, we'll cancel your internal review.

Download

Building infringements application form for appeals and payment plans 285.29 KB [PDF] 29 May 2025