LEGISLATIVE ROLE OF A VICTORIAN BUILDING SURVEYOR
Victorian Building Surveyors have the authority to inspect buildings and building works to guarantee safety, accessibility, and energy efficiency. We are empowered to:
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Assess and approve applications for building permits (if appropriate).
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Inspect buildings and building works.
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Assess and approve applications for occupancy permits or issue certificates of final inspection (if appropriate).
We can also enforce the requirements of the building legislation by:
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Giving directions to fix non-compliant building works;
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Giving building notices; and
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Issuing or removing building orders.
BUILDING PERMITS EXPLAINED
A building permit is an important document issued by a building surveyor for proposed building works, allowing the construction process to begin. Its purpose is to ensure that building works adhere to the Building Act 1993, Building Regulations 2018, National Construction Code (NCC), and relevant Australian Standards.
For more information about building permits, please contact us or click the link.
INSPECTION OF BUILDINGS & BUILDING WORKS
Part 12 of the Building Regulations 2018 outlines the minimum required inspections that must be conducted during the construction process. It is up to the building surveyor overseeing the project to decide if additional inspections are necessary. The Building Act grants us the authority to do the following:
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Cause inspections on the mandatory notification stages and /or carry out inspections of building works to verify if the building works comply with the building permit, the Building Act 1993 and building regulations.
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Prepare a written record of building work inspected and document details of identifying non-compliant issues.
For additional information on building inspections, please don't hesitate to contact us or click here.
ENFORCEMENT OF SAFETY AND BUILDING STANDARDS
If a mandatory inspection has been carried out and permitted works are not deemed to comply, then the appointed building surveyor of the work is empowered to:
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Give and enforce directions to fix non-compliant building work after an inspection of the building work.
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Cause a building notice to be served.
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Make a determination to cancel a building notice.
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Make a determination on issuing a building order.
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Inspect building work required by a building order.
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Make a determination on cancelling or amending a building order.
For further details on our safety and building standards, please do not hesitate to contact us or click the link here.
CERTIFICATES OF FINAL INSPECTION AND OCCUPANCY PERMITS
An occupancy permit or certificate of final inspection must be obtained after completing building work authorised by a building permit.
Before issuing an occupancy permit or a certificate of final inspection, we ensure all relevant items of compliance are resolved and that a building is suitable for occupation.
For further details on certificates of final inspection and occupancy permits, please don't hesitate to contact us.
DETERMINATION ON PROTECTION WORK
Protection work is work done to safeguard a neighbouring property. It can be performed on the adjoining property or at the construction site where the building work is happening, or both.
As part of the assessment for a building permit or during the construction phase, we evaluate if protection work is necessary. Our building surveyor is responsible for determining if protection work is required and taking the following actions accordingly.
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Considers the matters set out in Regulation 112 of the Building Regulations 2018.
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Determine whether the owner needs to perform any protection work.
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Make a determination under section 87 of the Building Act 1993.
If you need more details regarding the protection work process, kindly get in touch with us or click the link provided.
EXEMPTION FROM, OR CONSENT TO PARTIAL COMPLIANCE WITH, REQUIREMENTS IN REGULATIONS
We are authorised to exempt or consent to partial compliance of buildings, places of public entertainment, and certain building work from requirements in the Building Regulations 2018.
For further details on how to be exempted from or consent to partial compliance with regulations, kindly get in touch with us.
THE DETERMINATION THAT COMBINED ALLOTMENT IS ONE ALLOTMENT
Under the Building Act, a building surveyor has the authority to declare that a combined allotment is considered as a single allotment. To do so, the surveyor must take into account the factors specified in regulation 64(2) of the Building Regulations 2018 and then issue the determination.
If you would like more information on this subject, please don't hesitate to contact us.