Building compliance
Gone are the days of buying a block and simply applying for a building approval.
Unfortunately the red tape associated with council by-laws and covenants can make building a house extremely complicated and quite daunting for a lot of people.
Whether it is inner city re-builds, master planned estates or environmentally sensitive zones, the list of overlays and zonings is ever increasing.
This is not only be confusing for those building a new home, but time consuming and stressful to try to tackle on your own. It is extremely important to address these building compliance issues prior to or as part of the architect design process.
A small list of things outside a normal council building approval include:
Material change of use applications- Demolition control precincts
- Character code areas
- Vegetation protection orders
- Fauna protection areas
- Development approvals
- Bush fire zones
- Site slippage zones
- Heritage corridors
- Estate covenants including colours, specifications, landscape design
- Small lot code
- Flood reports-minimum floor levels
- Overland flow
These are just a few that we encounter on a daily basis. Mix some overlays in such as:
- Biodiversity
- Waterways
- Wetlands
- Airport environs
- Critical infrastructure
- Streetscape
- Ecological corridors
- Sulphate soils
- Noise corridors
and no wonder the approval process is a mess. Only a brave person would try to tackle it alone.
So our tip for the day is?
Get a professional on board. Until our governing authorities get practical and simplify the application process making it easier for everyday people to navigate this minefield, leave it to the experts.
A good custom home builder will have the experience and knowledge to look after the DA approval process for you. Most of the issues to address go hand in hand with the home designs, making it easier for an architect/builder to negotiate solutions relating to compliance on your behalf. A good custom home builder will already have an arsenal of professionals around them to go into battle to achieve the best outcome for all concerned. Town planners, certifiers, engineers and general industry professionals may all be required to have input in an application.
