Frequently Asked Questions

For most building work, yes. A Principal Certifier has to be appointed before construction starts, oversees the mandatory inspections, and issues the Occupation Certificate at the end. See Principal Certifier Appointment for how we run the role.

Yes. We issue Complying Development Certificates where a project qualifies, and Construction Certificates where it already has DA consent. If you’re not sure which pathway fits, we’ll tell you before the clock starts – see Complying Development (CDC).

A registered private certifier performs the same statutory functions as a council certifier – assessing applications, issuing certificates and conducting mandatory inspections – usually with faster turnaround and a single point of contact.

Before construction starts. The PC must be appointed and a CC or CDC issued before any building work commences on site.

Yes – our registrations cover residential dwellings through to commercial and industrial buildings across Sydney and regional NSW.

After development consent and before any building work starts. Building without a CC is unlawful and can jeopardise your Occupation Certificate later.

Typically approved DA plans, construction drawings, specifications, BASIX certificate (residential), structural details and levy payment evidence. Our checklist tells you exactly what applies, once.

With complete documentation, straightforward residential CCs are typically days, not weeks. Complex commercial work varies – we commit to a timeframe up front.

A CDC is a fast-track combined approval available when your proposal fully complies with pre-set development standards. A DA is a merit assessment by council that permits variation but takes substantially longer.

A private certifier can determine a CDC within 20 days, subject to a complete application. DA timeframes routinely run months.

Depends on zoning, lot characteristics and the proposal. Send us your address and concept – we’ll tell you quickly.

No – occupying without an OC is an offence and can void insurance. If your timeline is tight, talk to us early; where a building is being completed in stages, a Partial Occupation Certificate for the finished part may be an option.

It lets you occupy a completed part of a building while the rest is still under construction – for staged projects, where each stage can be released as it’s finished. NSW removed the old ‘interim’ and ‘final’ OC distinction for consents granted from December 2019: there’s now a single Occupation Certificate, issued for a whole building or a completed part. A Partial OC confirms the completed part accords with the consent and is safe to occupy, and carries a condition that an OC for the whole building follows within five years.

Typically the fire safety certificate, inspection records, BASIX completion evidence and trade compliance certificates. The pre-OC checklist tells you exactly what applies.

Yes. Each consultancy service stands on its own, and plenty of clients use them alongside another certifier. The advantage of our doing both is that the advice is grounded in what a certifier will actually accept.

It depends on what’s holding the project up. A compliance question on a design starts with Building Code of Australia (BCA) Consulting; a regulatory question without a clear answer, Strategic Regulatory Guidance. Tell us the problem and we’ll point you to the right one.

A structured assessment of your design or building against the applicable BCA provisions, identifying non-compliances with practical options to resolve each one.

The BCA is Volumes One and Two of the National Construction Code (NCC) – the NCC’s third volume covers plumbing separately. We focus specifically on BCA matters, which is why you’ll see us use that term rather than NCC.

Yes – that’s the core of the work: design amendment, a performance solution, or a staged upgrade strategy for existing buildings.

A statement the owner must submit each year certifying that every measure on the building’s fire safety schedule has been assessed by an accredited practitioner and performs to standard. Penalties accrue weekly.

A consultant covers compliance strategy, schedules, reports and audits. A fire engineer designs performance-based solutions. Many projects need only the former – and when you need an engineer, we scope the brief so the right expertise gets engaged.

The list of fire safety measures that apply to a building, with the standard each must meet – set at development approval or by upgrade orders.

New building work and most upgrades or changes of use trigger the Premises Standards and BCA access provisions. Existing premises also carry ongoing DDA discrimination risk even without building work.

An assessment of a design against the applicable access provisions (BCA Part D, AS 1428 series, Premises Standards), typically required with development and construction certificate applications.

BCA Consulting assesses a specific design or building against the code. Strategic Regulatory Guidance operates a level up – which pathway, which interpretation, which position to take when the rules don’t answer cleanly.

Developers with complex or contested approvals, government and institutional clients, and firms that want a senior regulatory sounding-board before committing to a position.

It depends on your council’s DCP triggers – typically trip generation, parking shortfall or access changes. Send us the proposal and we’ll tell you what’s actually required.

A statement is a short-form assessment for lower-impact proposals; a TIA is a full technical study with modelling. Councils specify which they’ll accept – scoping this correctly saves weeks and thousands.

Depends on zoning, proposal and site constraints. We assess both pathways at concept stage – the wrong choice costs months. See our CDC page for the comparison.

Yes – from feasibility and SoEE through lodgement, RFIs and negotiation to determination. See Development Application Preparation.

Typically minor works – decks, fences, garden structures, some internal alterations and small business signage – subject to strict size, siting and zoning standards.

Then you’ve found out before building unlawfully. We’ll point you at the right pathway – usually complying development or a DA – with the redesign options that get you there.

Before you buy the site or lock the design. Most expensive planning problems are baked in at acquisition or concept stage – advice after that is damage control.

Yes – we advise the design team on controls and pathway constraints as the design develops, rather than marking it down afterwards.

Varies by council and proposal complexity – routinely months. What we control is avoiding the additional months caused by incomplete documentation and slow RFI responses.

Often, yes. We diagnose what’s actually blocking it – missing documents, an unresolved objection, an officer concern nobody has addressed head-on – and negotiate a path through.

Almost every DA requires one. Larger or more sensitive proposals may need a full Environmental Impact Statement instead – we’ll tell you which applies.

It must genuinely assess the proposal’s impacts against the applicable controls. Template SoEEs that skip controls or contradict the drawings get DAs rejected at lodgement or stalled in RFIs.