Letter received from Gold Coast City council with a 'show cause' about non-compliant building works on a residential house I bought about 16 years ago. It relates to the absence of guttering on an enclosed patio that was attached to the building when I purchased. The building report at the time stated that all structures were compliant. If the structure was in fact compliant at the time of purchase, am I still be obliged to rectify this? Any suggestions on the best course of action?
Was title insurance a thing back then? Did you take it out? Who was the building report done by? Did you conveyance at the time chase it up with council? How big is the enclosed patio? Sounds a bit rich more than 16years after it's built though, the thing hasnt fallen down so far.
No title insurance. I don't believe the conveyancer followed up anything about this matter but will check the documents at the time. Size about 4m x 2 or 3m.
That sounds like it might not be big enough to need DA, check with a town planner perhaps. How much will the rectification work cost?
Haven't got to the point of costing it yet. Only received the letter a couple of days ago. Reading over the council letter again, it would seem that the whole structure was not approved. 'A building, being a roofed patio was constructed before the commencement of the Section 248 of the building act without, the approval of local government in that: a. A roofed patio was constructed at the rear of the property b. The roofed patio does not have an approved stormwater discharge system' The original building report was done by a local building inspection company that had been recommended to me at the time. If I'd had any indication that something significant wasn't compliant I would certainly have negotiated the rectification cost off the final sale price. I assume I have no recourse, and also no option but to make the patio compliant, but was hoping there was an 'out' clause because it was constructed that way before I purchased, and possibly before tighter building regulations came into place. The fact is though that there is no guttering on the downside of the roofed area (council supplied a photo - I haven't personally seen the property for years) so the water would have run off the front edge onto the grass. At the very least I assume that will need to be addressed. Guess I'll need to get the ball rolling by having a builder who can do certifications check it out and advise.
This sounds extremely odd. The council can only be be acting in a complaint as the patio is at the rear of the property and therefore not visible from the street. The only thing I can think of is that the storm water is flowing on to the adjoining property who have raised the issue with the council. Not that we have had enough rain recently to cause much of a problem!
I think there are two aspects to this; 1) The structure may or may not be compliant with the building code, this is yet to be determined. 2) Council sees the structure as unauthorised works since approval was not granted. Some people call this non compliant but it is more accurately unauthorised works which need continued use approval (some also call this retrospective approval). Any application to council will require proof (building inspection and issue of some type of certificate) that the structure is compliant to the building code in order for council to approve the structure. Stormwater has to also be considered so a plan would need to be submitted.
Thanks @Anthony416. That makes more sense to me now. Am I heading in the right direction if I contact a builder, or should it be a private certifier, or maybe I need both? I have some background to that. Some time ago the tenant let us know that a council officer had come to check about a shed that was on the property (quite a small shed that had been there since purchase as well) - neighbour's complaint perhaps, but don't know why, and why suddenly there'd be a complaint. That part was odd. Seems that when the council officer came they had no problem with the shed, but then took an interest in the enclosed patio. Didn't expect there to be an issue though.
Not sure of Qld rules but here in NSW if there are unauthorised works then a private certifier can not help, must go through council only. By contacting a builder or compliance code specialist you may be able to get an idea of cost of the cost to get the structure up to standard. Then you can decide to keep going with approval or not?
Thanks again @Anthony416. Guess I should be talking to council then to find out what their requirements are in terms of the procedure to follow, though I have had others suggest to steer clear of talking to council if possible, as, depending on the conversation, it could go on the record against me, and not to mention the issues in dealing with bureaucracy. My realestate agent knows of a builder to contact, so will try them first to see if they can advise the cost and requirements to bring it up to standard, and then check with council to see what paperwork they would need going forward. Thanks.
