is the bushfire consultant accountable if there are issues after approval?

Hi all,

I'd like to build a Granny flat in my property. The back of my property is next to a reserve and makes part of my backyard bushfire prone area.

I checked with several bushfire consultants to get an idea if I could build there or not. Almost all of them said I needed a setback of 20 meters from back fence to build anything, which made it impossible to build (always over the phone) None of them went on site.

In parallel a Granny flat company I was working with engaged a bushfire consultant to go on-site and verify this. They came back with a setback of 9 meters instead which makes the project possible.

At this stage I have to decide to go through the permit process or not, the cost is about 9K and the granny flat company is 100% confident that we won't have issues to get the approval.

My concern is what if this bushfire consultant that said YES was not that rigorous with the analysis? who would be accountable if anything happens such as, the council review the project and decides I should demolish or move the GF after is built?

I appreciate any comment or suggestions
Thanks!

 

Get council approval before you build.
Even if you don’t really need it, it will pay off when you come to sell in case “rules” change.
Marg

 

Thanks Marg, agree, all this is just to get the get the approval. After I get the approval, is it possible the council audits and decide the Bushfire consultant was wrong and ask me to demolish or something like that? Apologies if it's a dumb question

 

The council may decline the consultants views and determine the setback. Council is the sole determinant. Why not discuss your concerns with the council TP ? It may avoid loads of fees to get an advance idea of their thoughts. Council may require specific materials be used / avoided for the fire issues. eg not timber but brick, steel roofing etc.

Once an approval is given you are protected provided the building complies with the approvals & submitted plans.

 

Typically these type of consultants have a whole lot of clauses that limit their liability.

So they are advising only - but cannot guarantee council approval.

I guess you could always ask for a money back guarantee in regards to approval if they are that confident.

 

As part of the assessment, I think council would pass the application onto the RFS for their concurrence.

 

Thank you all for your suggestions, it helped me to get a better idea of the potential risks!