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Building Permits

building Under State legislation a building permit is required before commencement of most building work. The definition of 'building work' in the legislation includes new building, demolition and/or alteration. In many cases the builder or architect/draftsperson obtains the permit on behalf of the property owner.

For information about which work requires a building permit and which does not, we recommend referring to the wording of the exemption allowances of the Building Regulations or checking the 'building permits' page at the Building Commission's website.

If building work is proposed it is wise to check whether a planning permit from Council's Planning Services Unit is also required, as a building permit cannot be issued unless any relevant planning permit has been issued.

Building permits are issued by building surveyors. An application for a building permit may be made to the Municipal Building Surveyor (Council's appointed official) or a private building surveyor (a registered person privately appointed by or on behalf of the owner, having no connection with Council). Note the Municipal Building Surveyor carries out building permit and inspection functions only with respect to land within the municipal district.

Fees

In the case of applications to the Municipal Building Surveyor, fees for building permit applications are determined under delegation from Council - refer our fee schedule below. Private building surveyors set their own fees.

Connected with a building permit are supplementary functions for which the relevant building surveyor will be responsible:

inspection of the building
work enforcement of building
standards occupancy permit functions.

Fee Schedule* for Building Permit Applications to the Municipal Building Surveyor - inspections included (Current 1 July 2011)

Fences - minimum $572
Carports - minimum $605
Demolitions - minimum $1,089 ($583 per additional storey)
Dwelling additions - minimum $660 (cost of work to $10,000)
Dwelling additions - minimum $1,111 (cost of work to $50,000)
Dwelling additions - minimum $1,287 (cost of work over $50,000)
New dwelling - minimum $2,172
Commercial building - minimum $2,172 (cost of work up to $50,000)
Commercial building - minimum $2,452 (cost of work over $50,000)
Final inspection of lapsed permit -$305

Fee Schedule* for Occupancy Permit Applications to the Municipal Building Surveyor

Class 1 (new houses) - $343
Other Classes - $536.40
Places of public entertainment - (Minimum $969.90)

* Fees include GST.

GST

The GST applies to building permits. It applies in addition to the statutory levies for the Building Administration Fund administered by the Building Commission.

Click to view A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) (Exempt Taxes, Fees and Charges) Determination 2006 (No. 2)

Other Costs

In addition to application fees are statutory levies applied by the Building Commission and a lodgement fee required to be charged by the Council. These must be paid before any building permit can be issued. At the time of writing these amounts are:

Levy

(also see Building Commission webpage on the Building Levy)

$1.28 cents per $1000 of the cost of work over $10,000 (note the additional so-called HIH levy of 32c per $1000 for domestic work was repealed on 30 June 2010) - plus

Lodgement Fee (Current 1/7/11)

$34 set rate for all work of more than $5000 needing a building permit

For a specific quote from the office of the Municipal Building Surveyor, please call 8290 3525.