Browse Forums Renovation + Home Improvement 1 Mar 09, 2011 7:38 am Hi all, Currently in the early stages of home purchase, have building/pest reports, have not signed contract. Concerned about a deck extension to rear of home (house is pole home, rear deck approx 3m above ground level) which may not be DA-approved. A search of local council online listings found nothing. Vendor denies knowledge of any issue. Building report mentions several points of possible non-compliance of deck. Worried on several counts and would like some advice from anyone who has been here before: * If I ignore it and purchase, what are the odds of it being detected by Council and would this generally be covered by title insurance? * If I ignore it, and later want to build an extension to fill in under the deck, would any DA approval process likely bring to light possible non-approval of earlier extensions? * I suppose another option is to request vendor to get a retrospective council approval - anyone had any experience with this? Non-compliance of the deck is a concern. Would appreciate any and all advice and comments! Cheers. Re: Advice re possible non-DA approved extension 2Mar 09, 2011 7:51 am I believe if the extension is older than 7 yrs, then it shouldn't be a problem. What does the Council say? You should be able to find out under FOI. After 4 years - we're in! Re: Advice re possible non-DA approved extension 3Mar 09, 2011 8:17 am Thanks, I'd heard the 7 years timeframe mentioned also. I'd be surprised if the deck was not older than this. A search of the council's online DA approval database found nothing at the address concerned. Rang and spoke to someone who did a quick search at their end (probably same database) and found nothing also. Re: Advice re possible non-DA approved extension 4Mar 14, 2011 6:07 pm While in real estate, when we were selling homes with THINGS attached that were not supposed to be there, you can ask for the current owner to get it checked before you sign the contract. If they want to sell, they do it. Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com 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 5500 From a pure legal perspective, if you've signed the variation, it is a very high bar to have it set aside. No-one can give you legal advice on a forum, but you would need… 3 5473 Thanks. There are plenty of builders around my suburb. I'll make sure to do some door-to-door knocking, or note their building details on the temp fence. 4 4737 |