Starting construction after development approval

Once your development has been approved, you have five years from the commencement date in the Development Consent to start the approved works. The lapse date is also shown on the consent.

If you modify your Development Consent, the commencement and lapse dates do not change from those on the original consent.

You need to complete the following steps before construction work can begin: 

1. Choose a Principal Certifier (PC), which can be Council or an accredited Private Certifier. You can get a list of Private Certifiers from the Department of Planning and Environment.
2. Obtain a Construction Certificate from your chosen Principal Certifier. Works approved in a Construction Certificate must still be commenced before the lapse date on the Development Consent.
3. Notify Council in writing two working days prior to commencement of work, irrespective of who is your Principal Certifier. 
4. If you have conditions attached to your development approval, you may need to demonstrate that your construction will adhere to the development consent conditions, by completing a Satisfy a development consent condition form and submitting it to Council.

During construction, you must:

• get the development inspected by your Principal Certifier at each nominated stage of the construction (detailed in your Development Consent)
• each inspection must be satisfactory before you proceed with the next stage
• you may need to demonstrate you have satisfied a condition of your development consent
• a final inspection and Occupation Certificate is required before you occupy a building
• if Council is nominated as the PC, a separate application must be lodged for an Occupation Certificate.

Failure to have stages or components inspected may result in legal proceedings and Council refusing to issue a Building Certificate or allow the occupation or use of the completed building. On the spot penalties apply for non-compliance with the development consent, including failure to obtain progress or final inspections.

Standard construction hours are:

• Monday to Friday - 7am to 5pm
• Saturday - 8am to 1pm
• Sunday and Public Holidays - no work is permitted

Applicants can apply to Council for work outside of these hours, however approval is only granted in extreme circumstances, like shop fit-outs overnight or where demolition or erection of structures such as cranes or hoardings may be a risk to public safety during daylight hours.