Two approvals, two different people, and plenty of confusion between them. Here's what a building approval actually is.
Private certifier, or council? In Brisbane it's a confusion almost everyone arrives with, and an easy one to have. You have a decision notice from council and assumed that was the approval. Or you have no council application at all, and now a builder is asking who your certifier is.
They're two different permissions. A development approval is council's decision about what you propose to do with the land — height, setbacks, character, demolition. A building approval is issued by a certifier.
A building approval comes after the construction drawings and the engineering, because it assesses something that has to be fully described first. I help you engage the certifier and get them what they need — none of it is yours to chase.
Council saying yes and the house being buildable are two different things.
This step produces the permission that lets work begin — a building approval issued by a certifier against complete drawings and engineering. Nearly every project needs one, including plenty that never needed council's approval at all.
This is the last gate, and there's real relief in passing it. Council saying yes meant the idea was allowed. This is the approval that means work can begin — and you get there without assembling a single form.
On your own, the building approval tends to be discovered late, after the development approval felt like the finish line. People recover from that all the time. It just costs time you'd rather have spent building.
I keep the two approvals separate in your head from the beginning, because that's the confusion that costs the most. I prepare what the certifier needs, coordinate the engineer's certificates, and answer the queries that come back. You'll know which approval you're waiting on and where it sits in your program, and you won't be the one working out what a form is for.
A development approval is council's planning decision against the city plan — height, setbacks, site cover, character, demolition. A building approval is issued by a certifier.
If you would rather start small, the First Sketch Session is two hours at your place. You keep the sketches, and there is no obligation afterwards.
