WA Building Act

On the 22nd June 2011, the State Government passed legislation inclusive of a new Building Act which saw the separation of the process of certifying compliance with the building standards from the traditional administrative process of Local Government issuing permits.

The Building Act sets out the process for setting building standards and ensuring these standards are met through a system of certifying compliance, granting building, demolitions and occupancy permits, and inspecting building work. It also regulates work affecting other land and standards that apply to existing buildings, and provides for enforcement of standards and processes by permit authorities.

Local government remains the permit authority for most buildings under the Act. For Crown projects, the State Government is also able to act as a permit authority where all buildings (including those owned by the State) must now comply with the Building Code.

Under the legislation, it allows a suitably qualified private Building Surveyor to certify compliance of the documentation against the BCA as part of the submission package to Council. Prior to building works starting on site, if all of the information is complete when submitting for approval, a permit Authority will issue a Building Permit within 10 working days (14 days) of receipt of the information. A similar process occurs at the end of the construction and prior to occupation, where the Permit Authority issues an Occupancy Permit.

For a commercial development – the Building Application fee to Council will be 0.09% of the estimated construction value + statutory fees.

Our scope would generally include – the issue of 2-3 BCA compliance reports during the design phase, followed by a ‘Certificate of Design Compliance’ which would accompany the ‘Application for Building Permit’. Inspections throughout the Contract Administration / Construction phase including the issuance of the ‘Certificate of Construction Compliance’ at construction completion, which would accompany the ‘Application for Occupancy Permit’, prior to occupation.