The NSW building regulator will have sweeping new powers to withhold occupation certificates for apartment and other buildings that are not up to standard, denying developers the ability to settle their projects, under new laws passing Parliament.

Building Commissioner David Chandler will require selected developers to inform him six months ahead of their planned completion date and undergo monthly inspections by an architect, engineer and builder, under terms of the Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) Bill 2020 that had its third reading in the lower house on Wednesday.