Browse Forums Building Standards; Getting It Right! 1 Apr 28, 2010 3:07 pm We bought our house last August. The council have sent out an inspector because there was an open building application that lapsed Sep 2008, almost a year before we bought. The issue is that the stuff on the application hasn't been approved - this includes the extension and deck and carport, as well as a couple of little things. The previous owners were builders and did it themselves. Everyone keeps telling us it is approved (real estate agents, previous owners etc). RE was given power to get it approved when house went on the market and told previous owners that it was done. No documentation can be found though. We believe that the RE agents and/or council have covered it up. There's more to the story, it's complicated, but I'll stick to the main points. We are supposed to get a few things certified which will cost $100s. Some windows may need replacing (probably a few $1000) and the carport may or may not be within our boundaries and it's going to cost at least $750 to find out. Our building inspector didnt pick up any of this at the pre-sale inspection. So, my question is this. If the building application was still open does that mean that the renovations would technically be unfinished? If so, we should have been issued a notice from the previous owner because it would be within 6 years. If not, we're screwed. Can anyone recommend a solicitor who deals with this type of thing? We're southside Brisbane. Thanks. I hope this makes sense. Re: Complicated: renos not approved looking for advice 2Apr 28, 2010 11:50 pm OMG cant help but wishing you lots of luck. That sounds like a complete nightmare. Re: Complicated: renos not approved looking for advice 3Jun 28, 2010 6:45 pm Hi - that is really tough ... here are my non-lawyer thoughts: We recently purchased a house that had a development application and it is still valid however the owners had started to do work on it without a construction certificate. In NSW (may be different in your state) you have to get a development certificate and then get a construction certificate before you can do structural work ... so first question to you is: 1) Did the previous owners get a construction certificate to do the work? If yes, then there will be a certifier involved and you can probably use this person to validate the work that has been done to date which may satisfy council. 2) Was the work the previous owners did structural or non-structural? It sounds structural but some of it may not be ... If it was non-structural then you shouldn't have to change anything (ie - changing a window isn't necessarily structural in NSW you have to increase the opening by a certain percentage before it becomes structural). So try to get really specific with Council about what they would've needed a construction certificate for. 3) In the event that some work has been done but no construction certificate has been sought then in NSW you can get the Council to do a Building Certificate which is what we got from Council in lieu of the construction certificate for the work the previous owners had done. If you explain the situation to Council then they may be sympathetic to this course of action. 4) When you purchased normally a lawyer does a check of the files related to the property and this should've come up then ... did you mention the open DA that had lapsed to the lawyer? If it were me I would go down to Council and request a copy of your property file - by law all correspondence should be in the folder and accessible by you the owner. 5) In NSW if you have commenced substantial works then the DA doesn't ever close ... but you need to have proof that you have done substantial works and it needs to be inspected along the way which is where the construction certificate comes in. 6) Did you get it in writing from anyone that this work had been signed off? In my mind the real estate agent would never have the authority to get these things signed off by Council ... If yes, it is in writing that these building works were approved then I would go to a lawyer and pursue this with them. In NSW there are a few free legal aid centres you can phone about things like this. All the very best luck ... If your patio is going to be 35 sqm then that's going to need Council Approval. The fact that they previously approved your 25sqm patio will be irelevant 1 5508 Versaloc is a mortarless besser block system that still needs a properly engineered footing. If you just do a 400x200 footing it will fail in time. At 17m long you need it… 1 17951 Hi team, Im looking for a second hand sd4b monitor preferably white. 0 8923 |