It baffles me as to why you would go council vs PC. I would rather get a frontal lobotomy than deal with the council.
Good PC's are quicker, more flexible and can turnaround documentation much faster than the council.
Which council is it? Generally speaking I would go CC. In some cases its actually works out cheaper.
$2,850 could be cheap or expensive - it depends purely on the conditions of the CC.
At the end of the day - I would go through a private certifier.