At present, a Construction Certificate (CC) can only be issued if it is ‘not inconsistent’ with the relevant development consent. This means the development consent taken as whole, as the conditions of a development consent sometimes modify the approved drawings.
Currently, an Occupation Certificate (OC) can only be issued when the design and construction of the completed building is ‘not inconsistent’ with the development consent. The approval of plans and specifications by a construction certificate in itself modifies a development consent.
From 1st December 2019, development consents granted requiring the issue of any CC will need to satisfy a new, stricter test. The new test requires that the plans and specifications are consistent with the development consent.
Any consequent OC can only be issued if the design and construction of the new building is consistent with the development consent.
The current ‘not inconsistent’ test anticipates that adjustments to approved plans and specifications are inevitable. However, this change in the law on 1st December 2019 to replace the ‘not inconsistent’ requirement with a ‘consistent’ requirement will change the situation. Certifiers will now need to apply a stricter approach.
PLANNERS NORTH, Town Planners, Northern Rivers, NSW