WA: When do you need council approval and licenced builder?

[Ergophobia]

I am about to embark on some pretty major renovations to a 2x1 1960s double brick house in WA.

• adding internal walls to create another bedroom.
• replacing the kitchen
• renovating the bathroom
• enclosing the back patio to make another living area
• changing an external window to an opening to this new living area
• bag render and paint external walls

I am confident of doing the work myself as I have grown up renovating houses with my father, and a mate of mine is going to give me a hand who is a carpenter and licenced builder in NSW and Tasi.


My question is, when does a renovation require local council approval? and when do you need a licenced builder?

 

[Aaron Sice]

i think the cut off is $20k in value - used to be $12k. remember kitchen / bathroom renos dont require council approval unless you're adding a new toilet (as in, the number of toilets not a replacement) and can be removed from the official renovation cost as seen by the council.

you can always apply for an owner builder in excess of this, but there's the 7 year's indemnity insurance that's the killer - and it IS expensive.

depending on the council, changing the front elevaton may require planning approval - however, if you ask them they'll want the planning appl. i would say do it and then if needed get a retrospective one.

so you could easily remove the render and paint from the "cost" as well.

sectioning off rooms generally doesn't require planning approval, but may need to be shown on the building license because it constitutes a change in use - some councils require this regardless, others will only need an application if that change is use is non-habitable > habitable or reverse. the light and ventilation requirements are the same for all habitable rooms (7.5% floor area).

enclosing a patio for a living room will require the patio to have a water proof floor, min 7.5% light and vent and a min 2.4m ceiling height with all openings a min of 2.0m in height as per the BCA. if the patio is double brick, the roof (along with the entire existing roof) will need to be R3.0 insulated and the walls can remain exempt from EEMs as they are over 220kg/m². if the walls are framed, you will need insulation a well, remember it's best to use R3.0 as well, because a chain is only as good as it's weakest link.

if you are adding externally to the home, it will normally require a building license.

a change of windows to a room generally requires one, but if you stick to the 7.5% rule, you will pass even a retrospective BL if requested.

remember, a license for works is just "proof" that the works comply. now, not having a BL and completed works may affect your resale and insurance, so it's in your best interest to get one regardless of how unnecessary it may seem considering your experience.

 

[Ergophobia]

Thanks Aaron, will be well under 20k -kitchen and bathrooms

 

[Cartoon]

Think you should check the cost out, from memory (as i was super suprised when i learnt this at tafe) if the cost including materials and labour is over $2,000 then you need

1 -A qualified builder
2 - An owner builder approval

Double check but yeah when i learnt that i was like WTF

 

[Aaron Sice]

$2000? i think there may be a zero missing there. :?

 

[Cartoon]

http://www.kithomes.net.au/becoming-owner-builder

we were both wrong lol

 

[Scott No Mates]

These are the latest updates for NSW: Fair Trading

As for the DA requirement: if you are erecting a wall (load bearing or not) you will need a DA - 2 cents or $2Million.

 

[Ergophobia]

http://www.kithomes.net.au/becoming-owner-builder

we were both wrong lol

So it's 12k in WA... That's gona be close... Perhaps I can stage it in sub 12k chunks

 

[Ocean Architect]

I think some people on this thread are a bit mixed up (which is understandable because the law is also a bit mixed up).

Councils are concerned with whatever planning scheme is in force in your area.

Building boards are concerned with the Building Act.

So, to clarify - if you make a change to a structure that changes its use (eg turning a verandah into an enclosed living area) then that's a council thing. The main reason for this is because councils measure boundaries (distances to your property line) in funny ways, with different rules depending on what you use the area for. For example, in the NT (where I am), a bedroom without windows may be 1.5m from the boundary. As soon as you put a window on that same room, it must be no less than 3m from the boundary.

Lots and lots of ridiculous rules apply that vary from council to council, planning scheme to planning scheme - and they change all the time.

To further clarify - if you build any structure that is equal to or greater than 1m in height, you need a building permit. Building permits are issued by engineers/certifiers. Whether or not the structure is indoors or outdoors doesn't matter, so it can be an internal wall, or a fence, or even a tall BBQ. This is all building board stuff.

As for the price limit stuff, that determines when you need a builder. Technically, if it weren't for that, you never need a builder - all you need is a certifier to make sure the work is done properly and signed off. As soon as it is a certain type of structure (eg a building over x meters in height/number of floors), or a certain cost (from memory it is $17 000 and up) then you need either a builder, or be an owner builder.

Then you have all of the lovely stuff where it gets even more mixed up, depending on land zoning. For example, in some rural areas, on one block of land, you may have 1 house, 1 granny flat, and as many sheds as you like. However, as soon as you put a kitchen and bedroom in one of your sheds, the shed becomes a granny flat, and is hence illegal. Then of course you can argue that it is a caretakers residence, but let's be honest - building boards and councils are full of beaurocrats and muppets who love nothing more than do your head in with ever changing rules and regulations that strangely change according to how dumb/smart they are and if they're having a good day or not.

The only way to know for sure is to call a local certifier.

If you are silly enough to call the council directly, be sure to have large doses of tranquilizers close at hand so that they don't give you a heart attack, or a gun, to kill them all.

 

[spridget]

Does this all mean that if I turn one bay of my two bay garage (built under the house) into bedroom space, I will need council permission, a certifier etc? You see two story homes all over where the garage has obviously been built in when, as in our case, a garage or car port has been added to the property.

 

[Ocean Architect]

Does this all mean that if I turn one bay of my two bay garage (built under the house) into bedroom space, I will need council permission, a certifier etc? You see two story homes all over where the garage has obviously been built in when, as in our case, a garage or car port has been added to the property.

Technically, yes, because you are changing the use of that area.

In every planning scheme (that varies state to state) you have specifically zoned land (land for single dwellings, versus multiple dwellings versus commercial properties etc) that have specific regulations that pertain to car parking. For example here in the NT you must have 2 car parking bays per dwelling unless you have special circumstances and get permission.

In addition, there are other regulations in the Building Codes of Australia (which are also legal guidelines) about bedrooms eg bedrooms must have a certain amount of natural light and ventilation. Kitchens may not be placed in areas where a toilet door opens directly into them etc etc.

There are usually ways around things though, because you have different agencies working at the same time - for example, council may not approve of a metal car parking roof that is very close to the boundary and will only let you have shade cloth, but if you install shade cloth so as to satisfy council and get your occupancy permit and then go to the building board later to erect a metal roofed carport, then the building board will also give you an occupancy permit.

The only way to know for sure, as I said earlier, is to chat to a certifier in your area.