Query re. Council Powers to deny us access to our Home

Hi,

Long-time lurker, first time poster.

We are building in Meredith, Vic, within the borders of the Golden Plains Shire Council. We have an official hand-over date of 15th March. Our septic system went in early last week and yesterday we received the following from the Shire:

HOW LONG UNTIL I RECEIVE MY CERTIFICATE TO USE?
Your Certificate to Use will be issued as soon as possible, however please allow up to 10 business days from the date of this email (this may be delayed further if the final inspection reveals that further works are required - an Environmental Health Officer will contact the applicant/installer directly to discuss in such circumstances). Due to other workload commitments and in fairness to other applicants we are unable to give your application special priority. Any requests to deviate from this policy will not be looked upon favourably so please do not waste time doing so. For new dwellings do not book in removalists or give notice for current living arrangements until your ‘Certificate to Use’ and ‘Occupancy Permit’ have been issued.

(The red bold is the Council's font).

We had already booked our removalists before we received the above email. We can continue to live where we are currently for a while longer, so we don't have a problem with not moving in until we get the nod from the council, but all our possessions are in storage (with expensive daily rates if it's not for a full month), so we'd like to get them moved in if we could.

What could be the repercussions of us moving our stuff in before we get the Occupancy Permit?

Why is council involved? Who is your relevant building surveyor? Has the plumber lodged paperwork for completion? Has your builder applied for occupancy permit or are you OB
I would be asking rbs what is the penalty for moving in and is it likely that you will be prosecuted if you do? What if you just move your stuff but not live in it until op.
In any case you will probably have to wear 10 days wait

We are first-time builders, so don't understand the reasoning behind a lot of what's going on.


Yes, our builder submitted our septic tank system plumbing certificate of compliance to the council, which resulted in us receiving the email containing the above excerpt.

Who/what is rbs?

I MOVED in 5 months before occupancy certificate, i took the attitude, how would they know,they cant stop you working in your premises with no loud noises as per bi laws and if they asked i would of said, working around the clock to complete my build.

Nsw is different to victoria. But we need a occupancy certificate or a temporary one to move in. It’s generally given by a private certifier although I believe council can also do it.
This simply stops you from living there. You can furniture delivered, work on the garden etc. good luck it sounds like your not far off

Well, Joker was building as Owner Builder, it would certainly have worked this way, unless inspectors come on Sunday or in the late evening to check.

Crisis averted.

The council issued the certificate yesterday; 4 working days after telling us it would be a minimum of 10 working days! Everything else seems to be slotting together nicely for the hand-over this Friday.

We built with Twomey Homes in Ballarat. It has been a 100% stress-free build. I cannot rate them highly enough!