Principal certifier for your build

How are certifiers registered?

In NSW, certifiers hold registration under the Building and Development Certifiers Act 2018. Building Commission NSW handles registration, audits and discipline. Registration classes include building surveyor unrestricted, building surveyor restricted to all building classes, building surveyor restricted to Class 1 and 10 buildings, building inspector and swimming pool inspector, among others.

Each class limits the work a certifier may do. Certifiers must also hold professional indemnity insurance and complete ongoing training every year. They are bound by a code of conduct as well as the Practice Standard for Registered Certifiers. Compliance with the Practice Standard is a registration condition.

Checking a certifier's registration

The public register of building certifiers tells you if a person or company holds current registration, and in which class. Search with the status set to registered and choose the class your project needs.

Building Commission NSW also publishes a Certifier Disciplinary Register. It lists action taken against current and former certifiers.

Conflicts of interest explained

Certifiers cannot inspect or issue certificates where a reasonable person would see a private interest clashing with their public duty. Examples include being the applicant, having worked on the design, or having a family, personal, work or business link with someone who has a private interest. Building Commission NSW notes penalties of up to $33,000 for breaking these rules.

A certifier may explain the legal requirements. But they must not advise how to change plans to comply, or propose design options such as a performance solution (a custom way of meeting the building code). For Class 1 and 10 buildings there is a narrow exception. The certifier may advise on meeting the building code's standard (deemed-to-satisfy) rules.

Dealing with non-compliant work

Sometimes a private principal certifier finds work that does not follow the approval or approved plans. NSW law then requires a written directions notice to the person responsible. It describes the problem, the fix needed and the time allowed. Problems found during a critical stage inspection are handled through that inspection instead.

After the deadline, the certifier returns to check and records the result. If the direction was not followed, they must notify council and the land owner and send them the notice. Further action, such as an order, then rests with council. Private certifiers can no longer issue those.

Replacing your certifier by agreement

Owners can replace the principal certifier part way through a job. The quickest path is agreement between the owner, the existing certifier and the incoming one. The incoming certifier must tell the existing certifier and the council, and can only be appointed after that notice has been given.

Once appointed, the replacement sends a notice of the change to the council, and to the consent authority where that is a different body, within 2 days. A new certifier does not have to accept the job. Before agreeing, they should go through the approval and the inspection history and raise any problems with the outgoing certifier, so the CC or CDC can be reissued correctly if needed.

When agreement is not possible

If the existing certifier will not agree, the owner applies to Building Commission NSW for approval to replace them. The application has to explain why, for example alleged negligence or incompetence, or conduct that falls short of the rules certifiers must follow, with the events, dates and places set out. No new certifier can be appointed until the application is approved, and the council and the former certifier must then be told.

Building Commission NSW puts its average assessment time at six to eight weeks, and longer when it needs more information. Allow for that gap in your build program. A builder cannot make this application, even with the owner's written support. The only exception is an owner-builder.

The same application is used when your certifier's registration expires, is suspended or is cancelled. In that situation the certifier must tell you immediately.

Your certification contract

Before any certification work starts, the certifier needs a contract signed by the approval holder. A government information sheet explaining the certifier's role and your own responsibilities must come with it. Read both, because together they set out which inspections are included and what you must supply along the way.

Some contracts include termination clauses. Even so, NSW law deals with replacing a principal certifier rather than simply ending the role, and finding the replacement is the applicant's job. A new certifier still has to take over through one of the two processes above.

Complaining about your certifier

Start by speaking with the certifier, and contact your council as well. Councils have power to deal with non-compliant development whenever it arises, including ordering rectification. Keep notes of each call and copies of every email. If the council decides not to act, ask it for a formal response giving its reasons, as that becomes useful evidence later.

Building Commission NSW takes complaints through an online form. You will need a written account of no more than 350 words, the certifier's registration number, photos and records of contact, and copies of the approval, plans, any OC and the principal certifier appointment.

If the complaint is proven, the certifier may face disciplinary action. That action is published, though your name is not. Your complaint may be passed to the certifier. You can ask to remain anonymous, although that can make the allegations harder to prove.

What a complaint cannot achieve

Building Commission NSW has no power to halt a building site, as stop-work orders come only from councils. Nor can it pay compensation, cancel a CC, CDC or OC, even one issued improperly, or sort out civil issues like fencing, easements and encroachments.

Urgent safety problems, such as a dangerous excavation or a pool left without a compliant barrier, should go straight to the council. Disagreements with a builder over defective or incomplete work follow a separate dispute resolution path, since the certifier does not supervise the site or ensure the quality of the work.