Do You Need an Owner Builder Permit?

“Do You Need an Owner Builder Permit?”

Well… it depends on who you ask!

There have been a few interesting situations brought to our attention recently by some prospective Owner Builders who thought they were on the right path, only to find out at the last minute that they were not: Consequences: Lost time and Lost $$

The general scenario…

A prospective Owner Builder in Queensland contacted the BSA to ask if they needed an Owner Builder Permit to carry out some work on their home. After answering some questions the prospective Owner Builder was told that they don’t need a permit. In this particular instance the Owner Builder was using a builder under contract to construct the house to lock up stage and then the owner was going to complete the remainder of the project.

So they got their plans into council and waited for the approvals to come back. Whilst all this was happening they got their contracts organised with the builder and pretty much all of their ducks were lined up waiting to go.

Then the call came from council: “We have approved your building application and we are ready to release the documents, but where is your Owner Builder Permit?”

The customer explained that they don’t need one as they have a builder under contract. Not so, according to the council.

So now the owner had complete the owner builder course, get their certificate of completion, submit their application to the BSA Qld and then with Owner Builder Permit in hand, go back to the council. This added another four weeks to the wait… frustrating and costly!

The moral to this story is:

No matter what your situation is, consider yourself an Owner Builder unless you are advised otherwise in writing by both the council and the BSA Qld. Having this attitude will save you alot of time and hassles later down the track, and if you find that you do not need the permit after all you can always apply to have it rescinded.

This goes for every state by the way, not just Queensland.