THINKING of a renovation or building a new home but you are not sure what or who you need to get approvals from before you start?
Engaging a professional builder is always a great start. A Housing Industry Association builder can help you find your way through the often-complex approvals process that varies widely, depending on the local government that controls it in your area.
However, one of the continual frustrations for the building industry is that there is no single process, or place, or form that it can use.
The building approval and planning system in WA is complex.
The Building Code of Australia ensures that buildings in Australia are constructed to minimum standards. The code is reviewed annually by the Australian Building Code Board and is updated. Most amendments are adopted by the WA State Government, through the Department of Housing and Works and changes are written into WA legislation.
So far, this is a pretty straightforward process. However, the system gets more complex because the assessment and issuing of building licences under the code is the role of local government authorities.
This means that if your house or vacant land is in the City of Stirling, then the application for a building licence is submitted and assessed by Stirling staff only.
Most local government authorities and their staff interpret the code slightly differently and each local government has placed slightly different emphasis on different elements.
Consequently, there is little consistency between local governments. Each requires slightly different bits of information to assist it assess the proposed new home or renovation.
On top of this, local government is by and large also responsible for interpreting and administering the residential design codes, or R-Codes.
The R-Codes are a tool developed at a State Government level by the Department for Planning and Infrastructure and the WA Planning Commission. Similar to the building code, the R-Codes are interpreted and administered by local government.
Once again, the interpretation and forms developed to assess applications have been interpreted differently by each local government.
Some insist that each application for a building licence obtains prior planning approval, some have their own planning policies that override aspects of the R-Codes, and some applications have to comply with developer design guidelines prior to the local government approving them.
Therefore, a builder needs to understand the specific requirements of the local government processes that apply in the street where the house or block of land is located.
The system does not need to be so complex.
A consistent application process, and consistent interpretation of the various tools, would greatly simplify the system and remove the problems that the industry refers to as “red tape”.
For example, an electronic lodgement system that could be used by all local governments and builders would be logical.
However, it appears that many local governments are developing their own systems in isolation.
Red tape creates delays, which adds to the cost of construction, and is therefore adding to the housing affordability crisis affecting WA.
Confused? The clear message is that there are some simple actions that would help reduce delays and significantly improve the approvals processes for new housing or renovation projects to properties in WA.
Some consistency and streamlining of the approval processes by local governments would greatly assist in reducing red tape and, therefore, some of the costs.
It requires commitment on behalf of all involved.