Questions raised at City of Newcastle council meeting about private certification process

Developments that receive approval in NSW must have a principal certifying authority appointed. This can be a registered private building surveyor, the local council or a registered body corporate.

Certifiers inspect the construction to ensure building standards are met and once the build is complete, issue an occupation certificate as long as requirements are satisfied.

Private certification was introduced in NSW by the Carr government in 1998. It allowed developers to hire their own certifier to inspect work and provide certificates, rather than the relevant council.

Newcastle Labor councillor Carol Duncan said while introducing private certification may have seemed like a good idea to help councils dealing with development backlogs, it had the potential to go wrong.

"This is not the only private certifier issue that I am dealing with for a Ward 2 resident at the moment," she said at a council meeting.

NSW Fair Trading regulates private certifiers. The department's certifier disciplinary register shows various private certifiers who have been penalised on multiple occasions - including one who appears on the list 15 times.

City of Newcastle CEO Jeremy Bath said councils had "been tearing their hair out for years pleading for reform to the state government's hands off approach to private certifiers".

"Not only does the government's Environmental Planning and Assessment law prevent councils from appealing an occupation certificate issued by a private certifier in the Land and Environment Court, but they are also denied basic powers to act against dodgy developers," he said.

"Councils for example can't issue penalty notices when a developer fails to pay their development contribution or refuses to provide the information needed for a council to issue a construction certificate."

However the Association of Australian Certifiers website points out council and private certifiers "work under the same planning codes, perform the same inspections, and issue the same occupation certificates after considering the same factors in NSW".

"Council Certifiers and Private Registered Certifiers are there to serve the public, and act in the public interest. They are both bound by the same code of ethical practice."

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