Advice needed from Tassy Owner builders

Hi all
I'm after any info from Tasmanian owner builders on council regulations and rules.
I seem to be finding some conflicting rules from the Huon valley council (who I will be dealing with)
in regards to needing to do my owner builders course, they say I need to do it the people running the course say I don't .
any advice would be great.

Would love to find some members that have worked with this council to pick there brains.

Any advice and comments from OB's in tassy would be great i'm sure i can learn alot
thanks
Jay

Hi Jay, I got my compliance certificate to OB in early 2012 -- not sure if it's changed, but I certainly didn't need to do a course (I believe that's only in NSW, maybe Vic?).

The only issue may be that the Huon Council has its own requirements (I'm with Hobart City Council, so I'm not sure). It seems Tassie Councils can make things up to suit themselves -- just wait until you get to the bushfire regulations!

Hi Johnson
Thanks for that buddy I did have a feeling that HVC was making rules to suite themselves.
Yeah like your build mine is in the bush but even more so, I do have 5 acres so i intend to clear alot of ground around the site before I submit for the permit. I can imagine them telling me that I need to remove trees in one breath and with the next telling me i need a permit to do so.
For comparison roughly how much did the HCC sting you in fees?
Cheers
Jay

Just looking at the spreadsheet, total monies paid to Council (so not including the environmental report, engineers assessment, lawyer's drafting fees, and all that guff) was $3506.

The bushfire regs are an absolute bastard to get through... not only do you have to stipulate every single material and construction method, and clear a massive area around the house, but the Council will probably force you to get a lawyer to draft a Part 5 Agreement, which indemnifies them of any risk if your house burns down. I had to get that drafted twice (I changed my BAL rating after excavation) so it was lots of dollars. The Agreement will be bound to your Title, so you're stuck with it forever.

All this is completely ironic, as Tasmania hasn't official adopted any bushfire Standards. It's up to the Councils to determine what they'll allow and, of course, they opt for the most difficult they can to cover their arses.

*steps off soapbox*

Well so fare HCC is around $2k chraper than my council so lets just hope that since i'm paying more they are easier going with the bush fire reg's (yeah right )
What the hell,, so they are telling you what to build with and making you report every detail but at the same time getting you to pay a lawyer to draw up a legal document that makes them not responsible if the house does get burnt to the ground? Gee i'm not looking forward to dealing with it all.
I am assuming though that they don't tick off all your BAL reg's until the final inspection ?
I'm very interested to know this bit of info as i do have a plan

Also if any Tassy members have some good info on suppliers of good's and services please let me know below is a list of the things i am most interested in

Soil Testing
Septic tank suppliers
roofing iron suppliers
Concrete batching plants
Rainwater tank suppliers

Any help and or leads would be good.
Cheers

checkout the wormfarm system septics, as they can use zero electricity to run.

Yeah, sadly I can't think of anyone I'd actually recommend wholeheartedly. I bought my OzziKleen septic off MG Roberts and they seem okay, but hard to get in touch with. Roofing was by Raymark, and they were pretty ordinary at sealing gaps (I have a nasty feeling my building surveyor is going to point out the gaps that are >3mm, which don't conform to fire standards).

Tassie is simply 1) too expensive, and 2) not competitive or hungry enough for work. My best advice is talk to as many people as you can, get recommendations, then get 4-5 quotes on each job. It's a struggle, but could be worth it.