The certifier responsible for the building work from the first inspection to the final certificate. We can take this on whether or not we issued the original approval.
Every building project needs a Principal Certifier, appointed by the owner before work starts. The Principal Certifier carries out the critical stage inspections during construction and decides, at the end, whether an Occupation Certificate can be issued.
It is a role with real consequences. A Principal Certifier who is not on site at the right moments cannot certify what is buried behind the next stage of work, and an inspection that was missed cannot be done retrospectively without opening the work back up.
You do not have to appoint the certifier who issued your approval. If your CDC or Construction Certificate came from somewhere else, we can still act as your Principal Certifier.
Inspections are mandatory at set points in the build, and they have to happen before the next stage covers the previous one. For a typical residential project that means the footings before the pour, the reinforcement in place, the frame once it is up, the wet area waterproofing before tiling, the stormwater drainage, a pool barrier where there is one, and the final inspection.
The exact schedule depends on what is being built and what your approval requires. We set it out for your project at the start, so your builder can plan around it rather than discover it.
You book each inspection yourself in the client portal and we confirm the time. The report, and the photographs taken on site, go straight back into your project file where you can see them.
The Occupation Certificate is the last certificate, and the one that matters most at the end. Until it is issued, the building may not lawfully be occupied — which also means it cannot be settled, let or, in most cases, insured as a completed dwelling.
It is issued once the final inspection has been passed and every compliance certificate has been received. In practice that is the longest list of the whole project: structural, waterproofing, glazing, termite protection, smoke alarms, electrical, plumbing and drainage, the BASIX commitments, the pool barrier where there is one, and the survey confirming what was built matches what was approved.
Missing paperwork at this stage is the most expensive kind, because the build is finished and everybody wants to move in. We keep the list live in your portal from the beginning of the job, so it is being collected as you go instead of assembled in a panic at the end.
No. Until an Occupation Certificate is issued the building may not lawfully be occupied. It is also generally required before a property can be settled, let or insured as a completed dwelling.
Yes. The owner appoints the Principal Certifier, and that appointment is separate from who issued the CDC or Construction Certificate. We regularly take on projects approved elsewhere.
It depends on the stage. Some work can be certified by other means, such as an engineer's inspection or certification, but work that is covered up may have to be opened for inspection. Tell us as early as possible — the options narrow the longer it is left.
Send us the address and the plans and we will come back to you with a fixed fee and what the certification will involve. Or call (02) 8772 4022 and we will talk it through.
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