This is a concept website · Enquire about this domain

buildingcertificate.com.auA guide published by Dotto

Before a house in New South Wales covers its building work up, a certifier has to look.

For a house, New South Wales names six occasions for it, and the occupation certificate follows the last. For a building already standing, the owner or a buyer under a contract of sale can apply to the council for a different document: the building information certificate.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

A house being built: six inspections, then the certificate

The regulation sets these occasions for class 1 and 10 buildings. 1 Building Commission NSW describes those classes as houses, duplexes and the like, with garages and sheds. 2

  1. The footing

    After the ground is dug out for a footing, and before the footing is placed. 1

  2. The concrete

    Before reinforced concrete is poured in place. 1

  3. The frame

    Before the frame of a floor, wall or roof is covered. 1

  4. The wet area

    Before the waterproofing in a wet area is covered. 1

  5. The stormwater

    Before the stormwater drainage connections are covered. 1

  6. The final inspection

    After the work is finished and before an occupation certificate is issued. 1 This one has to be the principal certifier’s own. 1

  7. The occupation certificate

    It authorises the occupation and use of a new building. 3 Before issuing it, the principal certifier has to be satisfied that the work was inspected on the occasions the regulation requires. 1

A building already standing: the council’s certificate

The owner may apply for one, and so may the buyer under a contract of sale. 4 The application goes to the local council, and the certificate may cover the whole of a building or only part of it. 4

  1. The building information certificate

    For a building that is already standing. It states that the council will not make certain orders or take certain proceedings: it stops the council ordering the building repaired, demolished, altered, added to or rebuilt over matters that existed before the day it was issued, and for seven years it does the same over deterioration that is fair wear and tear alone. It does not stop a fire safety order or a building product rectification order. 4

This is a guide published by Dotto, not a government page. It is general information only, and every rule on it is stated for the state or territory whose law makes it.

The document that signs off a new building, by its name in each place

  • NSW occupation certificateissued by a registered building surveyor; a public official, registered by the Building Commissioner 2
  • VIC occupancy permit or certificate of final inspection 5
  • TAS Certificate of Occupancy 6
  • ACT certificate of occupancy 7
  • QLD final inspection certificate (Form 21)for a detached house; a certificate of occupancy (Form 11) for multi-storey apartments and townhouses 8
  • WA no occupancy permit for a housethe builder’s notice of completion (BA7) sets the end date of the permit 9 10
  • SA Certificate of Occupancyfor houses whose building consent was lodged on or after 1 October 2024; issued by the council or the building certifier 11 12
  • NT occupancy certificationat its fullest an occupancy permit, granted by the building certifier 13

The clocks: when each state starts counting

  1. NSW Time to commence proceedings for a breach of statutory warranty

    from completion of the work 6 years, major defects
    from completion of the work 2 years, all other defects

    Building Commission NSW’s time limits table runs from completion of the work: major defects, 6 years, and all other defects, 2 years. 14

  2. VIC The statutory building warranties

    from the date the occupancy permit or certificate of final inspection was issued up to 10 years

    Consumer Affairs Victoria: the warranties apply for up to 10 years after the date the occupancy permit or certificate of final inspection was issued, even if the property sells several times. 5

  3. TAS The statutory warranties

    from the date of practical completion 6 years
    or, where that date cannot be shown, from the grant of the occupancy permit or of the approval for the work 6 years

    Building Standards Tasmania: the six years are measured from practical completion, and where nobody can establish that date, they are measured instead from the grant of the occupancy permit, or of the approval for the work. 6

  4. QLD Queensland home warranty cover

    from the earliest of the premium paid, the contract entered into, or the start of the work 6 years and 6 months

    The QBCC: the cover lasts 6 years and 6 months from the earliest of the three events named at the bar’s left end (it can be extended by 6 months if the work took more than six months to complete). 15

  5. SA Building indemnity insurance claims

    from the date the building work was completed up to 5 years, usually

    SA Government: this insurance protects the owner and future owners if the builder dies, disappears or becomes insolvent, and defective works claims can usually be made up to 5 years from the date the building work was completed. 16

  6. WA Home indemnity insurance cover

    from the date of practical completion 6 years

    Building and Energy WA: the cover runs six years from practical completion and responds if the builder dies, vanishes or is insolvent. 17

Seven guides

  • What it is called where you live

    Each state’s and territory’s name for the document that signs a new building off, and the state where a house needs none.

  • Who may sign it

    The classes the laws name, the one they forbid, and the register a reader can check.

  • What has to be in place

    The staged inspections and upfront fees, and the declarations, levy and bond for regulated buildings, each at the point its own page puts it.

  • What it changes

    Possession, settlement, the first lawful use of a pool, the copy a tenant is owed, and the order that can stop it.

  • When protection starts

    The periods, and the far more useful part: the event each state starts counting from.

  • A report is not a certificate

    A note on reports: what a pre-purchase report is, what it is not, and who may write one.

  • Buying with no certificate

    NSW’s building information certificate, and the ACT, Victoria, Queensland and SA rules for work that has no approval.