Building Permit Information House Relocation About private Building Surveyors Until about 1992 all building permits were issued by Councils. This function was then privatised, and while many Councils still issue building permits, the majority of building permits issued in Victoria are issued by private building surveyors, such as myself. The role of the Council where a private building surveyor is used is limited to provision of certain statutory information, town planning control and as a central record keeper (hence the lodgement fee mentioned below). The private building surveyor issues the permit under his/her own letterhead and is responsible for all inspections and statutory processes to ensure the building work complies with regulations. Communication and Submission of Documents We communicate by email or telephone. Please do not text us we do not monitor text messages. In providing documents, please give us a single complete package of documents do not drip feed them to us over a period of time. What's required to remove and relocate a house: A Word of Caution: Before committing to a house for removal it is strongly recommended that you first contact an experienced House Removal Contractor, preferably who own their own special equipment such as house floats and prime movers, who is registered as a practitioner with the Building Commission of Victoria. Registration details can be checked at the Commission website at http://www.buildingcommission.com.au House Removal: Note: This section is relevant to you if you are arranging for removal of the house from its existing location. If you are buying the house direct from a builder such as Kilmore House Removers, they will generally have already arranged for the removal, and you can skip to the next section covering re-erection. Condition report. Before issuing a permit we must be satisfied that the building is suitable for relocation and can comply with the regulations. If the builder engaged to do the work is known to us, their emailed comments are often adequate. Otherwise a site visit by us or a formal report by an independent expert is required. Copyright 2011 M G Webster & Associates Pty Ltd Page 1 of 7
Council consent to the removal - Section 29A of Building Act. This is to ensure that no Planning Permit is required to remove the house and that there is no heritage classification on the house. The Council fee for this is about $56.00. We obtain this consent as part of the process of issuing a permit, if engaged for that part of the work. Very rarely is there an issue with this step. If so, it will take extra work. Asset Protection Permit. This is a common Council device to protect their footpaths etc. If the Council requires it, you normally arrange it, in discussion with the current owner of the house. Building Permit to remove the house. If engaged for this part of the process, we issue this permit once the above is dealt with. There are some documented procedures and insurance details that we need also, these are provided by the house remover, we talk to them directly to get them. we need a completed Building Permit application form for this. Re-erection: Planning Permit - If you have a Planning Permit for the house please let us know. We will need a copy of it, including any endorsed plans, as we are required to ensure the development complies with any Planning Permit. If you don't have a Planning Permit we need to know whether you need one - you may have already done this. If you are in a Residential zone or Township zone you generally won't need a planning permit. This can be checked with the Council or we can do it for you. Bushfire Risk Assessment: From March 11 2009, the site of any new project must first be assessed under the new standard for Bushfire Attack Level (BAL). If the rating is LOW, then no special measures are required. If the rating is above LOW, then special construction detailing is required, of increasing complexity as the rating increases. The regulations apply anywhere in Victoria, even Melbourne suburbs, and applies to projects including a new house or extension to a house or new outbuilding within 6m of a house. In residential areas the rating will nearly always be LOW and will be a simple sign off by the assessor. A simple way to get a feel for whether this will be an issue is to look around the house site and ask 2 questions: Is there a stand of native vegetation bigger than 2500m2 (about half an acre) with canopy encroaching within 20m of the house? Is there a stand of native vegetation bigger than 1 hectare with canopy encroaching within 100m of the house? If the answer to either question is YES, then it is likely you will need to modify the house with some form of bushfire protection, to be determined by a detailed rating of the site. Note regardless of how you answer these questions, a sign-off is required by a suitably skilled bushfire risk assessor before your building permit can be issued. Let us know if you need contact details of experienced assessors. Copyright 2011 M G Webster & Associates Pty Ltd Page 2 of 7
Documentation: Copy of title - the search statement as well as the plan, also copies of any encumbrances or caveats on the title. We are required to ensure that any covenants etc are complied with. You can get this online for about $25.00, or we can do it for you. https://www.landata.vic.gov.au/tpc/tpc_home.aspx If the title is not in your name, we need proof of your entitlement to apply for the permit, eg. copy of contract to purchase. Copies of: Soil report. This contains recommendations for footing design. Council information. You need to get property information from the council. This is the legal point of discharge for stormwater discharge (usually from the assets/engineering department) and whether the land is in a declared termite or flood area (from the building department). The fee for each of these requests is about $55.00. Most Councils have application forms on their web sites or you can phone them. Site plan, drawn to scale with a north point and show the house location with setback distances from boundaries, as set out below. It is best if this is professionally pepared. Below is an extract from Building Regulation 303(2) talking about the site plan. Copyright 2011 M G Webster & Associates Pty Ltd Page 3 of 7
House plans and elevations from each of the 4 sides, with a stump layout plan. septic tank permit. (If you are not on a sewered lot) Building Permit application we need a completed Building Permit application form. Our quoted fee includes all inspections, issue of certificates and Occupancy Permit, checking of plans and other related duties. Council Costs When the permit is issued it is lodged for record purposes with the Council. The lodgement fee charged by the Council is about $34.00. Copy of relocater's warranty insurance for the project. If you are using Kilmore House Removers we liaise directly with them for this. They are required to provide a warranty on the part of the work they do for you. Building Commission Consent as an Owner Builder. This covers the part of the work to finish the building that your relocator doesn t do, assuming you will finish the job as an owner builder. If you engage another builder to finish the job, and your contract with them is more than $12,000, then they will have to provide a warranty insurance for their work. If the value of the work remaining to complete the project is more than $12,000, then owner builder consent is required. This value includes cost of plumbing, septic tank (if required), plaster, painting etc., so it is unusual for the value to be less than $12,000. Downloads of the owner builder kit and application form are available at www.buildingcommission.com.au follow the links through consumer information to owner builder. The fee is about $90.00, they take about 2 to 4 weeks generally to issue the consent. You should put on the form that you are re-erecting a dwelling. The classification for a single detached dwelling is 1ai. Energy Efficiency The Energy Efficiency measures of the Building Code applies to relocated houses. This is not too drastic as the Building Commission recognises the problems in making a relocated house fully compliant, and the things you will need to do are all good value anyway. A review of these requirements is attached at the end of this document. In short, the relocated house does not have to have a 5-star rating, but some measures are required. Government Levies You also need to allow for Government levies which we will invoice you for and we then forward to the Building Commission. These are $1.28 per $1000 value, so for a typical $100,000 project this is $128. Security Deposit The Building Commission requires a security deposit against completion of the house which they hold in trust and refund to you on completion. The maximum deposit is $5000. We request $3000, as a cheque payable to the Building Commission. We will provide you with a copy of their confirmation letter once we have lodged the deposit with them. Copyright 2011 M G Webster & Associates Pty Ltd Page 4 of 7
Terms The security deposit of $3000 payable to the Building Commission is required prior to issue of the building permit. We invoice you for the remaining costs when we issue the permit to you, with payment in full within 7 days or prior to the first inspection, whichever comes first. This document is a work in progress. Please tell us if you see any omissions or potential improvements. M G Webster & Associates Pty Ltd April 2011 Copyright 2011 M G Webster & Associates Pty Ltd Page 5 of 7
Appendix 1 Residential Sustainability Measures Part 1 of this paper contains a discussion on the current regulations, sourced from Building Commission Practice Note 2008-55. Part 2 contains the interpretation proposed for re-erected houses by M G Webster & Associates. Part 1 - Discussion From 1 May 2008, relocated houses are subject to the same provisions of the Building Code of Australia (BCA) as other houses. There are clearly some practical difficulties in achieving 5 star energy ratings with an existing house, this is recognized in the Building Commission s Practice Note 2008-55, issued in May 2008. Section 8 of the practice note deals with relocated homes. Key elements of this section are as follows: An existing dwelling moved from one allotment to another is considered to be an alteration to the dwelling exceeding 50% of the volume of the dwelling for the purpose of the BCA. The relevant Building Surveyor has discretion under regulation 608 to allow partial compliance with the BCA. The practice note says it is recognized that there are sometimes limited opportunities to improve the thermal performance of an existing building where it is being relocated in its original condition The practice note also says wherever possible, compliance with the Deemed to Satisfy provisions should be achieved. As a minimum, required levels of insulation should be installed in ceilings, walls and floor if there is access to do this. Sealing of windows and doors should be undertaken and if windows are to be replaced, then thermally efficient windows should be provided. Section 11 of the practice note recognizes that the requirements for a rainwater tank or solar hot water system do not apply to relocated previously used dwellings, although they do apply to new relocated dwellings. The practice note also says that the best practice principals outlined in Section 8 should be applied to a home that is re-erected. Section 8 gives guidance as to what is reasonable in terms of allowing partial compliance with the regulations. The key element of the discussion here is the question is it cost effective? Copyright 2011 M G Webster & Associates Pty Ltd Page 6 of 7
Part 2 Interpretation The Building Surveyor s discretion is limited they must comply with Commission Practice Notes in requiring energy efficiency measures. Measures which are cost effective must be carried out. This will include the following, which generally can be retro-fitted to existing buildings (provided access is available) with no more difficulty than new houses: Sub-floor insulation (R1 summer, R2.5 winter) Ceiling insulation (R3.5 bats or equivalent) Reflective foil to underside of roof sheeting Gap sealing doors and windows Draft stopping devices to exhaust fans, where available Thermally efficient windows where these are new or replaced Sealing of wall vents where these exist Insulation to wall cavities will not be required where this would involve removal of cladding solely for the purpose of placing the insulation. Where access is available to significant portions of the wall cavity as part of the re-erection process, insulation should be placed in the cavity during that process. Water tanks and solar water systems are not technically required, however it is strongly recommended that these are installed. Mark Webster BS1491 Copyright 2011 M G Webster & Associates Pty Ltd Page 7 of 7