Saturday 23 February 2013

Occupancy Permit Issued - a quick note about this permit

Officially, our double storey dwelling and garage is safe and suitable for occupation. The Occupancy Permit was issued on Friday and signed by the relevant building surveyor.

The Occupancy Permit does not necessarily mean that the building work is:
a) Complete: in fact a number of items still remain, including replacement of the scratched glass and the addition of mesh sliding doors. In the end our SS was good enough to arrange for our garage floor to be painted which was greatly appreciated. The downside to this is that the paint colour they used (a light grey), highlights the cracks in the garage floor. We bought a concrete filler product from Bunnings to try to fill the cracks, but there are a couple that remain (right at the lip of the garage entrance - a high traffic, and load bearing section of the garage floor) that we will need to discuss with our SS on Monday. These will need to be rectified.
b) Compliant with the Australian Standard or the NCC/BCA. That is to say, “An occupancy permit is not evidence that the building complies with the provisions of the Act and Building Regulations.”    
This surprised us, but it is indeed true. Our building inspector informed us of this when we were discussing our concrete slab issues. So this is just a note to all readers to not blindly rely on the fact you will get an occupancy permit as evidence that all aspects of your building and the way it has been build are compliant!

Where to from here?

On Monday we have a meeting with our SS and our administrator on-site to do a final inspection and to settle and handover. We hope all issues identified in our pre-handover inspections (both the one with our private building inspector and then the one with our SS) - save for the glazing issues (which we have agreed can be done post handover) - will have been rectified satisfactorily. In this case, we will make our final payment by bank cheque, and receive the keys to our home. Same day, CG will arrange to have all of our appliances installed and will ensure everything works as it should. We understand that the heating/cooling company will also attend to commission the heater and evaporative cooling.

From there, we will need to coordinate landscaping and the installation of blinds. Behind the scenes, we have also been dealing with council regarding our crossover and have already been issued with a vehicular crossover permit. The crossover will be reinstated at the same time as our driveway being installed. Some bays in the footpath will also need to be repaired.

6 comments:

  1. more and more, it seems you have to be an expert in all areas of building a new home, permits, etc, or else there is a real tendency (?likelihood?) of being ripped off.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It certainly pays to ask questions and to not accept any old response. At the end of the day, the builders know about compliance and regulations, and the good builders will be responsible and help to resolve while the not-so-good ones will blame, shirk and bend the truth. You don't need to be an expert, you just need to care.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Could you please give a bit more details about crossover permit? Did you apply for it separately or it was a part of the Asset Protection Permit?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Vehicular Crossover Permit is separate from asset protection permit. Our council charged a fee for both. If the crossover is damaged, you will need to re-instate it. You need a permit to do so, presumably so that council can ensure it's constructed in accordance with certain specifications.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi there your blog has been so informative thank you. Can I ask who is responsible for repairs to the footpath

    ReplyDelete
  6. Robyn, here's the deal with the footpath. The builder (in this case CG), accepts financial responsibility for any footpath bays they break during construction, however, the owner is the one who arranges rectification works. CG then reimburse the owner $113 per square metre for the foothpath works. Our advice is to take photos and make notes egarding the foothpath before the builder starts on site and then again at completion.

    ReplyDelete