Help please – building permit problems

What state are you in? I may be able to give you some advice. If you want to speak to someone face to face go and see a local building inspector (private not the guy at council) and he will set you and most likely the council employee straight.

Julie Fisher
Daryl Fisher Homes

I can see you are in Victoria. I will make the assumption that the builder who did the slab and frame organized a building permit and warranty insurance for his work as a slab and frame would have cost more than $12k? He should also have signed a contract with you if his work was over $5k . No warranty insurance can be issued in Vic prior to having a signed contract detailing the amount, stages and details of the work and the two parties. If he didn’t provide you with warranty insurance for the slab or frame (many deliberately don’t for owner builders as you have to pass the cost back to the owner and the owner often doesn’t want the extra cost) then you are then on your own if there is a problem with either down the track. However if he has also not organized a building permit he could be in trouble (unless you told him that you had one) as then he has obviously not called you or the building inspector to organize the inspections on the footings, mesh and frame. The frame inspection can still be done if you haven’t lined the inside of the shed but you will to seek advice from a building inspector on what can be done about the 2 inspections that should have been done on your slab.

In our council which is also in Vic we have to supply the building inspector (private or council) 3 copies of the plan, 3 copies of soil reports/footing details, 3 copies of any computations by and engineer, 3 copies of specifications, building permit application form and a copy of the title of land that the structure is to be built on. A building inspector asks for the title to make sure that the person is building on their own land and not someone elses by mistake. If you are building on your grandmothers land, she may be able to put in writing that the construction on her land is known to her and has her permission and that the eventual bequest of that land will be in your favour. I would think that she will legally own the house on the land while the land is in her name if nothing is put in writing (you may need to visit a solicitor as well).
The 12,000k refers to warranty insurance. It shouldn’t be something that council need to worry about for a owner builder unless you are selling the home. Any tradesman or person supplying ‘structural’ work/materials in excess of $12k has to provide the owner with warranty insurance. This would typically include a concretor, carpenter, bricklayer or a builder if he organized a couple of those trades on your behalf. If a builder does the job he has to provide you with warranty insurance to protect you from faulty workmanship or materials in his work. If you are an owner builder you do not have to supply this insurance unless you decide to sell the home within 6.5 years of the certificate of occupancy being issued and then it is only pro-rata on the time left to serve.
A plumber and an electrician are governed by seperate authorities so do not supply warranty insurance as such. A plumber will supply and ‘Certificate of compliance’ and an electrician will supply an electrical certification as well. Neither of these have the $12k limit to warranty. A plumber has to supply his certificate for work over $500! Not sure on the electrician.
I would say that your contact at the council knows less than you do or you have misunderstood his instructions. I would put everything in writing with as many dates, details of discussion and talks and contact times as possible. I would initially contact a private building inspector if you have one in your area. He may be able to argue on your behalf and educate you on the situation. One of you will then need to speak to building inspector at the council who is higher up the ladder and present your case to him and explain that you have done everything the council staff member has told you to and now his inexperience has led to the serious situation you now find yourself in. Make it clear you were acting under a council representative’s instructions and that you place the blame in their lap. It may seem harsh but if there have been no inspections on this property and no building permit issued then the council are within their right (at the discretion of the inspector) to ask you to pull it down and start again. You need to make it clear that the staff member who instructed you was ultimately responsible thus removing the blame (as much as possible) from yourself. You could also contact the builder and ask him who he arranged to inspect the slab before the concrete was poured. For your information not every carpenter is a builder; a builder is someone who is licenced to provide warranty insurance to clients in a limited way (such as a demolition builder or a pool installer) or and unlimited way (such as a residential home or commercial property builder). Unfortunately some carpenters call themselves ‘builders’ when they are not. You could also call the Building Commission in Victoria for advice. Just make sure that you call a private building inspector before you make any calls and get some independant advice relevant to your council and situation. Good luck[angry2]

Hi Lozjas,

I’m a bit confused by the issue/s here. I’ve done a similar thing to you recently where we got a builder to build to a bit past lockup, then finished the internals, fitout, plastering, painting, bathrooms, kitchen, plumbing and electricals as owner builder in Victoria. We faced a myriad of difficulties, bureaucratic inefficiency and contradictions, but didn’t come across anything like what you face. That said… thinking out loud…

Am I correct in understanding that the main problem is that you can’t owner-build on another person’s property?

Would a creative work-around be to amend the applications such that your grandmother is listed as the owner-builder (actually I doubt this – you can only owner-build if you plan to live in the new building, and clearly she wouldn’t)? Otherwise you might need to acquire the property title or co-ownership.

This $12,000 issue has me worried.

If you are owner-building, and the total cost (including contractors/plumbing/electricals/connections) between taking over from the builder and gaining the Certificate of Occupancy is greater than $12,000, you need to get a ‘Certificate of Consent’ from the Building Commission in addition to the normal Building Permit. Note – this is to the best of my understanding, but we were required to do this. More details can be found here:

http://www.buildingcommission.com.au/www/html/284-choosing-to-be-an-owner-builder.asp

It’s a fairly basic application, and seems like an excuse for just another stupid layer of bureaucracy as the building permit is much more detailed. I think we waited about a month for consent.

Back to the beginning, and a summary. To complete as owner-builders, you will need to:

– Make sure you are allowed to build on this property – you may have to get your name on the title.
– Make sure you have a planning permit if required
– Make sure you have a certificate of consent
– Make sure you have a building permit (or permits if applicable)
– Make sure you keep all quotes, invoices and certificates from tradespeople.
– Make sure you get all required building inspections done
– Make sure you get a CofO before moving into the property.

I probably should add “get all advice from the council in writing”, but I think you’ve learnt that lesson. You need to understand that the building inspectors normally operate independently of the council planning department and aside from the planning permit, they are the ones you need to worry about.

Your alternative might be to get a friendly and flexible licensed builder to quote to finish the job to CofE (via a major building contract) with the understanding that you will complete a list of tasks (those that don’t require a license). This will be more expensive as he/she will want to make some profit and cover the various insurances he/she must pay. Might be worth asking for a quote though…

I don’t know if I’ve helped, but anyhoo. Don’t take my word as gospel either, this stuff can be pretty confusing!

F. [cowboy2]