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.
Owners who have an approval — from us or from another certifier — and now need someone appointed as Principal Certifier so work can start.
Builders who want inspections booked and attended without chasing, and reports that come back the same day into a file the client can see.
Anyone at the end of a build who needs the Occupation Certificate so the dwelling can be occupied, settled, let or insured.
The Principal Certifier appointment, and the notice of commencement that has to be given before work starts.
The critical stage inspections your approval requires, attended as the work reaches each point, with a written report and site photographs after each one.
A record of what is still outstanding as the build goes on, so nothing is discovered at the final inspection.
The final inspection, and the Occupation Certificate once every compliance certificate has been received.
Inspections are attended as the work reaches each stage — you book the time in the client portal as the trade gets there and we confirm it.
An Occupation Certificate is issued once the final inspection has been passed and every compliance certificate is in. In practice the timing is set by how quickly those certificates arrive from the trades, not by the assessment.
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. We send you the report, with the photographs taken on site, after each visit.
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.
Starting work before the Principal Certifier is appointed and notice of commencement has been given. Both have to happen first, and neither is a formality.
Covering work before it is inspected. A footing that is poured, a frame that is lined or a wet area that is tiled cannot be inspected afterwards, and putting that right costs far more than waiting a day.
Leaving compliance certificates to the end. Electrical, plumbing, waterproofing, glazing, termite protection, structural — each comes from a different trade, and the Occupation Certificate waits for the slowest one.
Moving in before the certificate is issued. Until an Occupation Certificate is issued the building may not lawfully be occupied, which generally also means it cannot be settled, let or insured as a completed dwelling.
Building something different from what was approved. Every inspection is measured against the approved documents, so a change made on site has to be dealt with as a change, not discovered at the end.
Keep it. An Occupation Certificate is asked for at sale, by insurers and by lenders, sometimes many years later. Every certificate we issue stays in your project in the client portal, so you can produce it without having to find the original.
Where there is a swimming pool, the pool also needs its certificate of compliance registered on the State swimming pool register, and the barrier has to stay compliant for as long as the pool exists.
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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