All building certification services

Three things: whether the design meets the rules for the job, whether construction follows the approved plans, and whether the completed work is safe to occupy or use. First, the plans are tested against NSW planning controls and the National Construction Code (NCC). Next, the principal certifier inspects footings, reinforcement, framing, waterproofing in wet areas and stormwater at set stages, before any of it is covered. Finally, the last inspection and the completion paperwork decide whether an occupation certificate can issue. Finish quality and contract disputes are matters to settle with your builder.

The pathway decides the order. Under a complying development certificate (CDC), planning and building approval arrive in one document, so that certificate is the first and only approval. Under a development application (DA), council grants consent first, and a construction certificate (CC) then checks the detailed drawings for code compliance and against the consent conditions. On both routes, you appoint a principal certifier and give council notice before any work begins. The occupation certificate always comes last. If your lot and design could suit either route, a plan assessment will show which one applies.

No. A certifier neither designs the work nor manages the site. Your architect or designer prepares the drawings, engineers take responsibility for their own documents, and your builder carries out the work as the contract and approval require. The certifier assesses the plans, inspects set stages and issues certificates, acting as an independent regulator in the public interest. Day to day quality, the scheduling of trades and contract disputes are matters for you and your builder. Where the certifier spots work that does not comply and a direction to fix it is ignored, the matter is reported to council.

Yes. On Class 1 and Class 10 projects, one certifier can take the work all the way through. We can grant the approval, take on the principal certifier role, handle the critical stage inspections and issue the occupation certificate at the end. The only step outside our hands is a development application, which council alone decides. Staying with one certifier means the firm that approved the plans is the one checking the build, so every question is answered against the same documents. The owner, or the approval holder, signs the appointment before construction starts.

No. Our scope stops at Class 1 homes and Class 10 structures under the National Construction Code (NCC), such as houses, duplexes, townhouses, granny flats, small boarding houses, garages, sheds, decks, retaining walls and pools. Apartment blocks, shops, offices, warehouses and every other Class 2 to Class 9 building need a certifier whose registration covers that class. A mixed building, for example a dwelling above a shop, is not Class 1 either. Before engaging anyone for those projects, check their registration class on the public register held by Building Commission NSW.