Exempting temporary construction activities from the EREP program

Temporary construction activities, that meet the conditions of the Notice of Exemption issued by the EPA on 28 March 2008, are exempt from complying with the EREP Regulations.  EPA consulted with sections of the construction sector prior to issuing this notice.

Go to the Notice of Exemption.

Construction activities that are anticipated to finish within two years following a “trigger year” and meet the conditions of the Notice of Exemption, do not need to register in the EREP program, prepare an EREP or report to EPA on resource efficiency.  A trigger year is the first financial year, from 2006-07 onwards, in which the construction activity used more than 100 terajoules of energy and/or 120 or more megalitres of water. 

To qualify for an exemption, these temporary construction activities must have already assessed resource efficiency and waste minimisation opportunities when designing and planning the construction activity and must also have an active plan and/or management system in place for the efficient management of energy, water and waste for the life of the activity.

Why exempt construction activities?

Construction projects are temporary and dynamic, so activities on site change considerably over the life of a short-term project.  As such, resource use assessments and resource efficiency actions do not remain relevant over a project’s life.  The EREP Program has been designed to increase the resource efficiency of ongoing operations at commercial and industrial sites, rather than at sites with short-term projects.

Why are there conditions attached to the exemption?

Addressing resource efficiency during the planning, design and works approval (where relevant) stages of a project can lead to greater resource efficiency gains than if an assessment was completed after a year of construction. To be eligible for an exemption, temporary construction activities need to have been assessed in the design and planning phases for resource efficiency opportunities and efficient resource management should occur during operations.

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