Can I move in before the occupation certificate?

"Can I move in before the occupation certificate?" is the question this line was drawn for, and the answer the pages give is not one sentence: it depends on the state and on what kind of move it is. Possession of a new house, possession of an off-the-plan apartment, settlement of an apartment purchase, the first use of a pool and the copy a tenant is owed are five different switches, held by four different rules.

Possession of a new house in Tasmania

Tasmania states the rule from the buyer's side, and it names both conditions in one line: for a new house, an extension or an addition, the permit conditions have to be satisfied and the Certificate of Occupancy has to be received. 1 Two things have to be true, and the certificate is the second of them. It is the receipt of the document that the page names as the switch, not the building being finished.

Possession of an off-the-plan apartment in Victoria

Victoria states the rule from the vendor's side, and it is a prohibition rather than a permission. For an off-the-plan apartment, the vendor may neither ask the buyer to take possession nor allow it, until the permit exists for the lot, or for that part of the building that holds it. 2 The rule is written so that neither asking the buyer to move in early nor allowing them to do it is open to the vendor.

Read beside the Tasmanian rule, the Victorian one shows why this site exists. Two states, one event, and the same document is doing the same work in both: it is the switch. Tasmania's page describes the switch from the person walking in; Victoria's describes it from the person who must not open the door.

Settlement of an apartment purchase in New South Wales

New South Wales uses the certificate as the boundary of a different power, held by the developer on the sale side. Building Commission NSW says the Act it calls the RAB Act is focused on the construction phase of a residential apartment building (class 2), before an occupation certificate is issued, and the page gives the reason: once an occupation certificate is issued for a building, the developer can require purchasers to settle their purchases. 3 The switch is not about who may walk in. It is about when the buyer's money can be called for.

The pool, and the first lawful use

New South Wales ties the first use of a new pool to the same certificate, in a rule that reads as a plain list item under a plain lead-in. When building or installing a new pool, you must not allow the pool to be used by anyone until an occupation certificate has been issued. 4 For a new pool, the certificate is the end of the waiting and the start of the swimming, and the rule covers every person who might use the water, not only the owner.

The pool brings a second switch, on the renting side. When a residential tenancy agreement is entered into for a property with a swimming pool or spa pool, the landlord or real estate agent must provide the tenant with a copy of the certificate of compliance or occupation certificate. 4 The document travels: the certificate that gated the first swim becomes a paper a tenant is owed a copy of.

The order that can stop the switch being thrown

The line's second red mark is on the rule itself, in New South Wales for a residential apartment building. If there are defects, an order can be given to prohibit an occupation certificate, or for building work to be rectified, or for building work to stop. 3 All three are named in the one rule, and the first of them acts directly on this guide's subject: the certificate can be prohibited while the other two work themselves out.

What the switch is not

One thing does not switch on, and the same New South Wales page says so in terms: the certifier does not manage or supervise builders or tradespeople, and does not certify that the builder has met all the requirements of the applicant's contract with the builder. 5 The certificate is not a statement about the building contract, so it cannot be read as one, and a dispute about the contract is not settled by the signature. What a pre-purchase inspection report is, and is not, is set out in the guide to reports.

The five switches, side by side

TAS · possession of a new house: Switches on receipt of the Certificate of Occupancy, with the permit conditions met. 1
VIC · possession of an off-the-plan apartment: Switches on the occupancy permit for the lot, or for that part of the building that holds it: until then the vendor may neither ask for possession nor allow it. 2
NSW · settlement of an apartment purchase: Switches on the occupation certificate: once it is issued, the developer can require purchasers to settle. 3
NSW · first use of a new pool: Switches on the occupation certificate: until then, when building or installing a new pool, you must not allow the pool to be used by anyone. 4
NSW · the tenant's copy: Owed when a tenancy agreement is entered into for a property with a pool or spa pool: the landlord or agent must give the tenant a copy of the certificate of compliance or occupation certificate. 4

And the one switch that can be refused: in New South Wales for a residential apartment building, an order given where there are defects can prohibit the occupation certificate itself. 3

Which states this guide draws

Every switch above is a rule of Tasmania, Victoria or New South Wales, because those are the states whose pages state one for the pages this guide is written from. Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory are not drawn here. Their rules exist and their own regulators publish them; this guide leaves the space empty rather than borrowing a neighbour's rule to fill it.