So you have had a bit of DIY around the house and that little project that should’ve taken a day to complete has become a full blown construction project; before you know it, your humble home has become a construction site with things getting out of hand without you realising. The thing about it all is that you didn’t have the correct development consent to be completing these works; either through your local council or a Certifier. There is a fine line between fixing things up around the house and the requirement to obtain approvals for your works. Development typically fall in three different categories: exempt development, complying development & local planning. These are quite detailed and extensive and something we will cover in a different post. For now, let’s talk about that notice of order.

A notice of order is issued by your local council and has most likely been issued because a curious neighbour has made a complaint or query about the work or noise being undertaken on your property and following a council inspection, a ranger notes no approvals have been acquired for the work. Certain council’s where unauthorised works are common and rampant will conduct their own inspections at random to try and catch out offenders.

The notice of order is quite simply a warning letter given to the home owner. There is construction work that has been completed without the necessary authority to do so and this is illegal. The council needs to ensure that there are no detrimental environmental impacts as a result of the development and a PCA needs to ensure that the work is completed correctly and to applicable standards. This letter you received is a chance for the owner to respond to council; whether through writing or otherwise, to either explain themselves or give an intention of how they will address the issue at hand. The letter will clearly state how long you have to respond, 14 days is the norm for this situation. Act quick, 14 days is not a very long time especially if you must coordinate between multiple agencies or consultants. It’s often better to appoint one consultant who can be your point of contact and let them do the work for you. This is a specialty for Crearte.

If you have approvals for the work you have completed and the notice of order has been issued incorrectly, simply present it to the local council to show the work has approval and you are working to plan and specifications. Be sure you are always working to plan and no additional improvements have been made.

If you have not obtained approval, seek professional help to assist in consulting with council and preparing the necessary packages to rectify this issue.

While each process is a little different, generally speaking, the best point of contact will be an architect who is experienced with unauthorised works. For the purpose of understanding, lets say Crearte. Plans will need to be prepared showing the work that was existing, the work that has been completed and any of the work that you had planning to be completed but were stopped before doing so. The initial stage will be to get an approval via a Development Application (DA) for project in its entirety. This is the planning stage of the project and is the opportunity for you and council to assess the works to be completed to determine the environmental impact and it’s compliance with planning controls. Although you may be in trouble at the moment, Think of it as getting forgiveness for what you have done and permission to do what you want to do. You may be familiar with the DA process and think it may be long and drawn out, but it doesn’t have to be when you engage an experienced professional. The key to this stage is to ensure you don’t have to do any major rectification works to what may have already been constructed.

Once the DA is approved its time to acquire the building certificate. The building certificate is the confirmation that the works were completed to applicable Australian Standards and the National Construction Code (NCC). It ensures the construction has been done properly without corners being cut and that the structure is safe. Think of this as the safety checkpoint. Aspects such as foundations or termite control beneath slabs may be difficult to prove after the fact, however if you have documentary evidence such as drawings, diagrams or even photos these may assist is getting compliance. Certain tests may be carried out or the contractors who conducted the works may be able to provide compliance certificates for these elements. It is the responsibility of council to issue out the building certificate.

Depending on the council, the Construction Certificate (CC) may not be issued without the Building Certificate being granted. This might be a condition of your consent. Let’s say things went well, and you have your Building Certificate. An application for the CC can be issued via local council or through a Private Certifier. Your CC is the permission you need to continue with your construction works and ensures you have all necessary compliance, specifications and approvals ready to continue with your works. With Crearte, all the background work is done for you and simply wait for us to hand over the CC to commence with construction.

So, let’s recap this after being issued with a building notice:

1. Stop Works
2. Apply for & obtain DA consent
3. Apply for & obtain a Building Certificate
4. Apply for & obtain a CC Otherwise, call Crearte and we will take out the mess from this process and make it as simple and speedy as it can be because you only deal with the best.