VCONST08550 | ‘Approved alteration’ of a ‘protected building’ (rules prior to 1 October 2012): incidental alterations

Incidental alterations to the fabric of a building that result from carrying out repair or maintenance work are excluded from being ‘approved alterations’. The word ‘incidental’ should be given its ordinary meaning as ‘happening or likely to happen in connection with or subordinate to something more important’.

The change was designed to introduce clarity in determining what ranks as an approved alteration where a building is altered in the process of being repaired or maintained. It is intended to extend what is implicit in the wording of the legislation that alterations that are repair or maintenance are not approved alterations, by further excluding alterations that are not an integral part of the repair or maintenance but arise as a result of the repair or maintenance.