E141. How council approval timeframes really work

 In Tasmania right now, a process that used to take two and a half weeks can stretch out to six or seven. Frank explains exactly why. You're not imagining it, and you're not being lied to. In this episode, Frank and Amelia pull back the curtain on what's really happening behind the scenes of your council approval, and why the timeframes you're quoted today look nothing like they did just a few years ago.

Frank walks through exactly how many separate applications actually sit behind "getting approved" for a single new home, why one extra layer in the process has created a frustrating amount of double handling, and why builders and homeowners alike are learning to hate the phrase "please allow additional time." 

Amelia and Frank also share a real client story about what happens when someone tries to shift their own start date without understanding what's actually driving the timeline, and why doing your own permit applications to save money almost never ends the way people hope.

If you're planning a build or extension and want to understand what's genuinely causing the hold-ups (and what you can actually do about it) this episode will change how you plan your entire project timeline.

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About us
Prime Design is a building design company locally owned and operated in Tasmania since 2004.  Our goal is to share as much valuable information as possible about the process of building design, extensions, and more. We will talk about a different topic each week. To suggest a topic you would like us to talk about contact us at info@primedesigntas.com.au

Disclaimer
The information provided on this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, individual circumstances, or remedy. We strongly suggest you consult a qualified professional before taking any action based on the information provided in this podcast. The views, opinions, and information provided in this podcast are those of the hosts  do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organisation, employer, or company.  All content provided on this podcast is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind. We make no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this podcast and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses,  or damages arising from its use. We reserve the right to change content or delete any information provided on this podcast at any time without prior notice.

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E141. How council approval timeframes really work 

[INTRO] (0:08 - 0:24)

Hello and welcome to the Building Design, Prime Time Podcast, focused on providing valuable information for anyone looking to undertake a new build or extension project. We'll share our tips, tricks and stories from a building designer's perspective.

[Amelia] (0:26 - 0:42)

Hello and welcome to the Building Design, Prime Time Podcast. I'm your host, Amelia. And once again, we're joined by Frank Geskus.

[Frank] (0:42 - 0:43)

Hi, Amelia. Happy Friday.

[Amelia] (0:44 - 0:46)

Happy Friday. I think I know what you're doing over the weekend.

[Frank] (0:47 - 0:47)

What am I doing over the weekend?

[Amelia] (0:48 - 0:50)

I reckon you're packing your suitcase.

[Frank] (0:51 - 1:05)

No, I'm not actually. 

[Amelia]

Really? 

[Frank]

Well, I am tonight because I've got to go to a wedding.

[Amelia]

Oh, really? Wow. 

[Frank]

I’ve got a surprise. You've got to come to a family wedding. Literally one day before I head off for my long service holiday.

[Amelia] (1:06 - 1:12)

Wow. Oh, is it for long service? I didn't realise. So how many years? 20? It’d be more than that?

[Frank] (1:12 - 1:14)

23 now.

[Amelia] (1:14 - 1:20)

23, yeah. Okay. I didn't realise the boss takes long service. I thought they just took holidays when they wanted.

[Frank] (1:20 - 1:24)

Well, when my wife has long service, you take long service.

[Amelia] (1:24 - 1:26)

Ah, that makes sense. Yeah.

[Frank] (1:26 - 1:31)

Otherwise, I'd love to hang around you guys rather than gallivanting through some beautiful European country.

[Amelia] (1:31 - 1:35)

Eating and drinking your way through some beautiful European country?

[Frank] (1:35 - 1:37)

Maybe Portugal. 

[Amelia] (1:38 - 1:39)

Oh. Yeah. 

[Frank] (1:40 - 1:41)

South of France, maybe?

[Amelia] (1:42 - 1:54)

Yes. Well, I've already done that this year, so I can't really be jealous of that. The Netherlands, maybe?

[Amelia]

Yes, that's where Friesians are from. Friesian horses. It's exciting for me, probably boring for everyone else.

[Frank] (1:54 - 1:56)

I thought Friesians were cows.

[Amelia] (1:56 - 1:59)

They are cows. They're also horses.

[Frank] (1:59 - 2:00)

Okay. There you go.

[Amelia] (2:00 - 2:02)

Yeah. There you go. Learn something new every day.

[Frank] (2:02 - 2:05)

Yep. Every day, you learn something, don't you?

[Amelia] (2:05 - 2:13)

That's right. And hopefully, all of our listeners will learn something today about how council approval timelines actually work.

[Frank] (2:15 - 2:17)

This one makes me sad.

[Amelia] (2:18 - 2:22)

It makes you sad because it takes so long or just because it's complicated?

[Frank] (2:22 - 2:34)

Unfortunately, in Tasmania, right now, September 2026, oh, it's brutal.  It's disappointing from where it used to be.

[Amelia] (2:34 - 2:41)

And I guess from our point of view, because we organise a lot of permits for our clients and customers.

[Frank] (2:41 - 2:44)

And we explain how long it takes and all that.

[Amelia] (2:45 - 2:46)

And we have, guess how much control?

[Frank] (2:48 - 2:51)

Yeah, over the different entities. Yeah.

[Amelia] (2:51 - 2:52)

None.

[Frank] (2:52 - 2:56)

Oh, we have a little bit. You've got to pull a favour every now and then.

[Amelia] (2:56 - 3:03)

Yep. But it's like pulling hen's teeth and very rare, I imagine. And the timeframe is the timeframe, and that's it.

[Frank] (3:04 - 3:15)

You want to keep it in your back pocket when someone desperately needs it. And there's good reason for it. Not because they're unorganised or decide to change the bill date, as we'll talk a little bit later about.

[Amelia] (3:15 - 3:16)

Yes. Yes, exactly right.

[Frank] (3:17 - 3:40)

Yeah, look, end of the day, it is part of the process. So we're going to talk about timelines, but also process. We spoke about last podcast about building surveyors, what they do.

[Amelia]

We did. 

[Frank]

And we touched on a little bit of this as well. So this is just a simple thing to understand.

And wherever you are in Australia, you're going to have a similar process of some kind.

[Amelia] (3:40 - 3:40)

Yes.

[Frank] (3:41 - 3:52)

In New South Wales, I believe you can get a pre-start before getting all your permits, certain things too. And there's variabilities in every state. And some of them are very clever ways of doing it. So, yeah. So let's get into this. So what is actually lodging an application?

[Amelia] (3:59 - 4:02)

Well, surely there's more than one application you have to lodge.

[Frank] (4:02 - 4:19)

Yes, unfortunately. On every residence, you would have to put in an application to your building surveyor slash certifier. And as part of that, once he's finished, you then make a planning.

Planning. I did it again. Planning application.

[Amelia]

Yes. 

[Frank]

Plumbing application.

[Amelia] (4:19 - 4:19)

Yes.

[Frank] (4:20 - 4:20)

Sorry, I'm tired.

[Amelia] (4:20 - 4:21)

It's so confusing.

[Frank] (4:22 - 4:35)

So your plumbing application, which is a separate application. We touched on that last time as well. Now, depending on the type of property, you might have a wastewater septic, something like that.

And you have to go for a special plumbing application.

[Amelia] (4:36 - 4:37)

Yes.

[Frank] (4:37 - 4:53)

Now, where it gets really interesting, I'll step into the commercial space. You need to be aware of this as well. You have all of those. But then you may have fire requirements. Then you have to go for TAS Fire for approval as well.

[Amelia] (4:53 - 4:53)

Okay.

[Frank] (4:53 - 5:16)

Now, with all of these, you may have to go for an approval with our friends at TasWater or on the mainland. You have different water organisations and sewer. So if you're building too close to their infrastructure or you have a new connection, you have to apply for that as well.

[Amelia]

Okay. 

[Frank]

Oh, and then if you're too close to the stormwater, you've got to go to the council for a separate application.

[Amelia] (5:17 - 5:17)

Okay.

[Frank] (5:18 - 5:24)

Oh, need a new crossover? That's a different department in the councils for a crossover application.

[Amelia] (5:24 - 5:28)

Anything else? There's a few there.

[Frank] (5:28 - 5:35)

There's a few. Yeah. It does get a little bit messy, doesn't it? But that's why we do it for our customers.

[Amelia] (5:36 - 5:49)

Yes, because there is just so much to it. I don't think people realise. I mean, we've talked about and banged on about it so many times.

You've got your planning. You've got your building. You've got your plumbing.

And then within that, it sounds like there's all those other things you've got to organise.

[Frank] (5:49 - 5:54)

You've got all sorts of fun stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And sometimes I've had to deal with a separate department with the footpaths.

[Amelia] (5:54 - 5:55)

Okay.

[Frank] (5:56 - 6:11)

Because Launceston, Hobart, we're not always flat. We've got steep sites and you change your crossovers, it means the footpaths don't work properly. So then you've got to get permission to change that to make sure it complies with the right gradients and how you transition it.

Yep. Fun times.

[Amelia] (6:11 - 6:18)

So where does anybody start with the timeframes? Let's start at the very beginning.

[Frank] (6:18 - 6:23)

So let's talk about timeframes, okay? We'll keep it simple. Just do a normal house and everything's easy.

[Amelia] (6:23 - 6:24)

Okay.

[Frank] (6:24 - 7:43)

All right. So we collate all the relevant documents, permits, planning permits, et cetera, and we do a double check, we do a checklist, and then we actually fill in the application on behalf of our customers. Once we go through a rigorous process of that, we check it against the titles and all the permits and all the wording, all the naming of the title or the name of the street and the numbers and the lot numbers all have to match on all the reports.

So then we submit that to the building surveyor or certifier and they check it against the National Construction Code (NCC). We spoke about that last time. They also look at some of the certain plumbing things that has crossover between the housing provisions for plumbing and within the National Construction Code and highlight if there's any issues there.

Once they've done their job, and generally with ours, we get very little questions or requests for more information. It goes straight through. The problem we've got, probably about five years ago, they'd be able to do this in four or five days.

Because the National Construction Code has got more complicated, they're taking a minimum of two weeks now. But on average, they're probably closer to 30 to 35 days per due to volume.

[Amelia] (7:43 - 7:44)

Yes.

[Frank] (7:44 - 7:50)

So we've gone from five days to 10 days to 30 to 35 days.

[Amelia] (7:50 - 7:58)

Is that because, and I know this is probably going down a completely different rabbit hole, but is that because there's a shortage of building surveyors?

[Frank] (7:58 - 7:58)

Oh, very much so.

[Amelia] (7:59 - 7:59)

Yeah, okay.

[Frank] (8:00 - 8:07)

And there's a lot of guys retiring. When choosing a building surveyor, you want to choose someone who knows his stuff but also can manage his time.

[Amelia] (8:08 - 8:08)

Yes.

[Frank] (8:08 - 8:19)

Like anyone in any business. So I feel that's a part a lot of people don't realise, the variability in timing. And some people just choose a building surveyor on the timing alone at the moment.

[Amelia] (8:20 - 8:22)

I can understand that to some degree.

[Frank] (8:22 - 9:06)

Yeah, and if you've got a builder good to go and they're waiting, scratching their bum waiting for a piece of paper to say, yep, put my start work notice, we're doing it. I totally understand that. So once they have done their component and they supply their CLC, it then gets collated, either we do it, some of the building surveyors do it on our behalf.

They then issue those drawings in for a building permit and then the plumbing drawings, which are incorporated, get issued for plumbing approval through the plumbing department. And they do their own checklist. Under statutory requirements, they've got 14 days.

Unfortunately, right now, we've got a few problems right through the state where the sheer volume of projects going through, they can't keep up.

[Amelia] (9:06 - 9:06)

Yeah, okay.

[Frank] (9:07 - 9:13)

So it's hard to have patience when builders bank on 14 days and they want to make a start.

[Amelia] (9:13 - 9:13)

Yes.

[Frank] (9:13 - 9:25)

So I won't change the flow right now, but I'll talk about this in a minute. It then goes to what is called the permit authority. And I spoke about these guys, which I don't think they should be there.

[Amelia] (9:26 - 9:26)

Yes.

[Frank] (9:26 - 9:45)

A whole different thing. They then send the drawings off to planning department. Does this comply with your planning or was there no permit required?

So they check that. Then they go through and check what the building surveyor has done, check the plumbing, make sure everything's coordinated. Didn't I say before that we coordinated everything and checked?

[Amelia] (9:46 - 9:47)

Yes, you did.

[Frank] (9:48 - 9:49)

So we've got double handling.

[Amelia] (9:49 - 9:50)

Yes.

[Frank] (9:50 - 9:56)

That was a great idea, putting permit authority in. Anyway, and that can be another seven to X amount of days.

[Amelia] (9:56 - 9:57)

Woo-hoo.

[Frank] (9:58 - 10:02)

So you can see where it can blow out to six, seven weeks quite easily.

[Amelia] (10:03 - 10:03)

Yeah.

[Frank] (10:04 - 10:06)

This used to be a two and a half week process.

[Amelia] (10:06 - 10:07)

Yeah, right.

[Frank] (10:07 - 10:37)

So what we're doing in some cases now to speed it up, and this gets a little bit more complex, we submit for plumbing approval not long after we get our planning approval. Okay. So if they take longer with that, that's fine.

And then the building surveyor does their bit, and then the plumbing permit is sitting there. Old building permit comes along, hooks on, goes to the permit authority, they do their thing, and off they go. Now, this is for full building approval.

Remember that.

[Amelia] (10:38 - 10:38)

Okay.

[Frank] (10:38 - 10:40)

Cat four.

[Amelia] (10:41 - 10:47)

Yes, category four. And if you don't know what we're talking about, you need to listen to the previous podcast episode.

[Frank] (10:47 - 11:18)

But simply, it's a full building permit. 

[Amelia]

Yes. 

[Frank]

It's as simple as that.

Category three is called notifiable works, and basically the council, when it comes to the building approval, don't have a say on the building approval. It's notifiable works, and the builder can proceed on that basis. Problem you've got is that the permit authority still has a level of, all they have to do is just get the plumbing permit, and off they go.

And I spoke last week that certain permit authorities decide to make their own rules and mess up the system. So essentially a builder can start as soon as they're given notifiable works, they're just notifying the council.

[Amelia] (11:19 - 11:21)

Okay. So they don't need a start work notice.

[Frank] (11:21 - 11:30)

No, no, still a start work notice has to be done, and that builder goes, yes, I of so-and-so with my building licence, da-da-da, I am starting work.

[Amelia] (11:30 - 11:30)

Okay.

[Frank] (11:31 - 11:48)

So they keep track of when it starts. So notifiable works is always a much better way to go, because the building surveyor takes control of it. Unfortunately, you still have to pay the council money for certain fees for permits that, because the council collects the money on behalf of the government.

[Amelia] (11:48 - 11:48)

Okay.

[Frank] (11:49 - 11:52)

Because you've got to pay for your industry training levy. Don't give me started.

[Amelia] (11:52 - 11:54)

Oh, dear. 

[Frank] (11:55 - 12:10)

Don't give me started! Now, I know one building surveyor in particular, he is just sick of the permit authority, sick of all these guys slowing it up, messing it up, that they are now going to become their own collection agents for the government. So you don't have to pay the council anymore. You just pay them.

They send it off.

[Amelia] (12:10 - 12:13)

Oh, really? 

[Frank]

Yep. 

[Amelia]

And you can do that?

[Frank] (12:13 - 12:15)

Well, he's organising it because he's sick of them.

[Amelia] (12:15 - 12:18)

So technically, other building surveyors could do that too?

[Frank] (12:19 - 12:23)

Certainly, if they want to deal with all that money, yeah.

[Amelia] (12:23 - 12:25)

That's a big responsibility.

[Frank] (12:25 - 12:58)

If you run a big enough business, it's easy, because you just build systems. So, yeah, so that's essentially how all these options you can do for building approval. And you can see why people would chop and change to make it quicker, because it's taken so long.

Time is money. If a builder needs to start and all he wants to do is start doing, get the site and the slab going, and he's waiting six, seven weeks, or let's just say he's expecting it in four weeks, because he's programmed it that way. Oh, shit, it's six weeks.

Two weeks, that's a long time for a builder.

[Amelia] (12:58 - 12:59)

It is. That's two weeks.

[Frank] (13:00 - 13:00)

No production.

[Amelia] (13:00 - 13:11)

Yeah, losing money. That's frustrating. And it's outside of everyone else's control.

[Frank]

Yep, yep, yep. 

[Amelia]

The designer can't do anything. The client can't do anything.

[Frank] (13:11 - 13:41)

Yep. Now, there's another part I mentioned before, getting TasWater approval. 

[Amelia]

Yes. 

[Frank]

You know, council approval for, you know, close to pipes, need new connections. Crossover, getting new crossovers or adjustments to the crossovers, fixing the footpath, a few things like that. 

[Amelia]

Yes. 

[Frank]

So, TasWater. Now, here's the trick. Your designer should be applying for any new connections, or if you're building close to infrastructure, almost a week or two after you get your planning permit.

[Amelia] (13:41 - 13:45)

Okay, so that takes a long time is what you're saying. It can.

[Frank] (13:45 - 13:57)

To be fair, TasWater have been very good. They're sticking there two weeks. They're sticking to it, and they're doing a good job of it generally.

If you've got something really complex, well, that's why we do it early.

[Amelia] (13:57 - 13:58)

Yeah, fair enough.

[Frank] (13:58 - 14:00)

A lot of other people I know do it right at the end.

[Amelia] (14:01 - 14:01)

And, yeah.

[Frank] (14:01 - 14:03)

And that could be one of those things that could delay.

[Amelia] (14:04 - 14:04)

Yes.

[Frank] (14:04 - 14:16)

And we say, do you realise you can't do this because under the pipeline act, blah, blah, blah, and that can slow the whole thing down. So, a good designer, good architect will organise all these infrastructure components really early.

[Amelia] (14:16 - 14:25)

Yes, and it's one of the, well, I know there's a lot of them that we have to do, different checks, but we do the majority of them fairly early on.

[Frank] (14:25 - 14:31)

Yep, definitely. So, I mentioned before about commercial buildings.

[Amelia] (14:31 - 14:31)

Yes.

[Frank] (14:31 - 15:01)

So, fire, TAS fire, we try and do that really early as well because we need to get feedback. Is our design compliant? You know, we're pretty confident it's compliant, but sometimes they’ll say, look, due to usage, we want you to put an extra fire hose here or we don't think the spray from the hose from the hydrant is sufficient.

Fine. Then we can make the adjustment to suit before we go for the approval. We've just had one of those just recently.

So, it's good if they stick to their timeframes.

[Amelia] (15:01 - 15:01)

Yes.

[Frank] (15:02 - 15:10)

And they've had trouble with staff there too and they were taking such a long time, but they've improved that. So, these are the things that you don't see.

[Amelia] (15:11 - 15:21)

That's right. So, I guess from a client's point of view or anyone coming off the street, all they see is they're still waiting.

[Frank] (15:21 - 15:21)

Yep.

[Amelia] (15:22 - 15:28)

And I can see that maybe sometimes, you know, if you're not communicating regularly with a client…

[Frank] (15:28 - 15:57)

Well, you've got to put in an email and explain what the timeframe's going to be. Look, we've got a really interesting situation that we had just recently and we were just going along our timeframes as per usual, nothing special, it was just perfect. And then the client sent an email to one of the designers over their project and says, look, we're going to start at the end of October, but I want to push now to the start of September.

So, you're changing that timeline by two weeks. Sorry. Months.

[Amelia] (15:57 - 15:57)

A month.

[Frank] (15:58 - 16:00)

Two months. End of October, start of September.

[Amelia] (16:00 - 16:02)

Oh, yeah. That's true. Eight weeks.

[Frank] (16:03 - 16:07)

And they explained how long it was going to take, up to six weeks.

[Amelia] (16:07 - 16:07)

Yeah.

[Frank] (16:08 - 16:12)

And the owner got a little bit upset.

[Amelia] (16:12 - 16:15)

Well, they've completely changed the timeframe.

[Frank] (16:15 - 16:27)

Because it's about them not understanding and not reading what we provide. And this is a constant problem where people think they can just change the timeframe and we change with it.

[Amelia] (16:27 - 16:28)

It doesn't work like that.

[Frank] (16:28 - 16:31)

Unfortunately, it doesn’t. If I could get stuff through quicker, we would.

[Amelia] (16:32 - 16:34)

We have no control over it, though.

[Frank] (16:34 - 16:43)

We don't have control of these different organisations. Like I said, you might ask a favour and they go, I'm sorry, I've got 100 in front of me. Who do you want me to push out of the way?

[Amelia] (16:44 - 16:44)

Yeah.

[Frank] (16:45 - 17:06)

Which I could answer that. So just because you've got a date that's changed because maybe the builder or the excavator driver or someone can start early doesn't mean it can change. And when you're doing your future projects, you can't move that start date earlier.

[Amelia] (17:06 - 17:07)

No.

[Frank] (17:07 - 17:17)

It's just not possible. Like a classic example, though. People want, oh, I want a deck for Christmas.

I want a pool for Christmas. I want to move my house before Christmas. And poor old builders cop this.

And this is the type of thing that people think it's easy to do.

[Amelia] (17:18 - 17:28)

It's really not. And the amount of times that we, from about September through to Christmas, it's almost like a race to the finish line because everyone's like, oh, I want Christmas lunch in my new house.

[Frank] (17:28 - 17:30)

Yeah, feel sorry for some of the builders in the South East.

[Amelia] (17:31 - 17:33)

Yeah, so much pressure to try and get it all done.

[Frank] (17:33 - 17:51)

Now, just be aware, you can actually do your own application to a building surveyor. This is at the end of the project. You can do your own planning.

You can do your own building surveying. You can actually take it to council, make your own plumbing application. TAS water application.

You can do them all yourself. 

[Amelia]

Yeah, but. 

[Frank]

What but?

[Amelia] (17:51 - 17:52)

Yeah, there's a but.

[Frank] (17:52 - 17:53)

You're doing the but.

[Amelia] (17:53 - 18:00)

Yeah, but there's a but. Who in their right mind would take a complex process like that and try and do it themselves?

[Frank] (18:00 - 18:18)

It's funny. We've had quite a number of people thought, no, I'll save some money. I'll go do that myself.

They're back in two weeks. 

[Amelia]

Yeah, it doesn't work. 

[Frank]

But that makes me sad.

You should be able to do that. Now, I understand the lingo is different. But it's like when you go for a bank application, your head's just spinning reading it.

[Amelia] (18:19 - 18:19)

Yeah.

[Frank] (18:19 - 18:25)

You know, and that's why you need your broker or the bank to actually explain all the bits or you get a lawyer to read over it for you.

[Amelia] (18:25 - 18:26)

That's right.

[Frank] (18:26 - 18:45)

So the real thing is, yep, you can do it, and some people have done it, but it is a complex load of paperwork you've got to apply and use the right jargon and refer to the right part of the Tasmanian legislation, and you've got to fill out the right forms because there's a specific form for everything.

[Amelia] (18:45 - 18:46)

That's right.

[Frank] (18:46 - 18:53)

So, yeah, you can see where it gets complex in so many different directions, and every state is different.

[Amelia] (18:54 - 19:03)

Yeah, I guess that's the disclaimer here is we're sort of talking about Tasmania and how Tasmania works, but it may be a little bit different if you're somewhere else in Australia.

[Frank] (19:04 - 19:18)

Oh, yeah, considerably. But, you know, it's really fascinating. All around Australia we're using the same codes, same standards, have all these different, you know, water authority, sewer authority, stormwater, you have all the same problems everywhere.

[Amelia] (19:19 - 19:19)

Yes.

[Frank] (19:20 - 19:24)

And it's all complex. And when it becomes complex, who pays for it?

[Amelia] (19:25 - 19:27)

The client pays for it in the end. 

[Frank]

The client pays for it. 

[Amelia]

Yeah.

[Frank] (19:28 - 19:30)

You know, I wish it was so much simpler.

[Amelia] (19:31 - 19:34)

And it used to be, to be fair. 

[Frank] (19:34 - 19:41)

It used to be, yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. I was talking to my brother accountant, and he says it's like all these new rules are put in for anti-laundering.

[Amelia] (19:42 - 19:42)

Yeah, okay.

[Frank] (19:43 - 20:03)

And his whole industry, and people still don't understand all the legislation and stuff he said, but everyone is floundering and making all these things really complex. You know, the government keeps putting people within the government, and whether it's the government legislation or whatever, putting stuff together makes life so much more complex.

[Amelia] (20:03 - 20:03)

Yeah.

[Frank] (20:03 - 20:05)

And nothing's getting simpler.

[Amelia] (20:06 - 20:09)

No. I mean, you've got to have some certificate just to go off the ladder these days.

[Frank] (20:10 - 20:11)

Working at heights.

[Amelia] (20:11 - 20:11)

That's right.

[Frank] (20:12 - 20:15)

Getting under a floor. Oh, confined space. 

[Amelia] (20:16 - 20:16)

Yeah. All that.

[Frank] (20:16 - 21:09)

Yeah. And it's for people's safety, I get it. But, wow, it's like we're all wrapped up in cotton wool a bit, aren't we?

One thing that will delay, look, there's a number of things that can delay if you want to do stuff yourself. One thing, if your applications are not done correctly. So that's why people pay us to do it.

Missing reports. Because I've seen people try and do it themselves, right? They don't add all the reports.

The classic example, we finish, oh, this is totally after the fact, right? Mm-hmm. So you've got all your permits, happy days, start work notice.

And we give an outline to the customer, what have you got to do? Right. You send all your documents to the builder.

They are required to have all stamped documents on site. It still happens now that they hand the builder, not the stamped drawings, but a preliminary one or the planning drawings. And they mix it up and they break up the email.

[Amelia] (21:10 - 21:11)

Oh, no.

[Frank] (21:11 - 21:21)

Oh, I'm not joking. Or they send a preliminary engineering and, yeah, it's so painful. Grab Dropbox, send to builder.

Done.

[Amelia] (21:21 - 21:21)

Yep.

[Frank] (21:21 - 21:25)

The builder requires all this legally to have it on site with him.

[Amelia] (21:26 - 21:26)

Okay.

[Frank] (21:26 - 21:38)

All stamped documents. So this is really important. I would encourage, if you're going to use a designer, an architect, make sure they do all this paperwork for you.

[Amelia] (21:38 - 21:39)

Yes, I agree.

[Frank] (21:39 - 21:49)

And if they don't and they want you to do it, I'd certainly consider. Mind you, I've had people come and ask for help. Said, hey, can you do an application for me?

Said, yeah, sure.

[Amelia] (21:50 - 21:50)

Yeah.

[Frank] (21:50 - 22:03)

Because if you submit to the building surveyor, it will just sit there until all the right information. And it sits there, does nothing. And you talk to the building surveyors, and they've got stuff they're seeing for five months because it's incomplete because the designer and the architect didn't organise something.

[Amelia] (22:03 - 22:03)

Yeah, right.

[Frank] (22:04 - 22:04)

Yeah.

[Amelia] (22:04 - 22:08)

That's why it's important, I guess, to double check everything, make sure it's all there.

[Frank] (22:08 - 22:12)

Oh, yeah, yeah. You know, it's the legal documents.

[Amelia] (22:12 - 22:12)

Yes.

[Frank] (22:13 - 22:19)

And you're about to spend X amount of hundreds, thousands of dollars doing some work. You kind of want it to be right, don't you?

[Amelia] (22:19 - 22:20)

Oh, definitely.

[Frank] (22:20 - 22:32)

And it's built to those specifications. So surveyor can be your friend. There's no doubt about it.

But also doing the paperwork right, and so you don't have reduced amount of delays. 

[Amelia] (22:33 - 22:39)

Yes. And the timeframes are the timeframes. At the end of the day, I mean, you don't really have a lot of control. No.

[Frank] (22:40 - 22:44)

That's why we advise a lot of customers, allow six weeks for it.

[Amelia] (22:44 - 22:44)

Yep.

[Frank] (22:45 - 23:03)

You know, and we're not making that up. It is what it is, you know. For some people, they won't use us because our timeframes are too long because we actually openly state with the timeframes, oh, I'll go to someone else to get it done quicker.

[Amelia]

Yes. 

[Frank]

And that's happened plenty of times. And there's also been a number of times where they've come back and they've sacked them.

[Amelia] (23:03 - 23:06)

Because their timeframes weren't what they promised or…

[Frank] (23:06 - 23:06)

Exactly.

[Amelia] (23:07 - 23:07)

Yep.

[Frank] (23:07 - 23:16)

You know, and that's very important. Time is as important as money.
 
 

[Amelia]

Yes.

[Frank]

You know. So to set that expectations up. So be well prepared.

[Amelia] (23:17 - 23:22)

That's right. What a great place to wrap up. Thanks for listening to the Building Design, Prime Time Podcast.

[Frank] (23:22 - 23:23)

Catch ya’s later.

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