Building under, illegal height ?s

[silentC]

I've had a final inspection done as an OB in Sydney and I used the council's inspector. The guy who came out looked about 18 years old (OK, probably 22). All he wanted to see was that we had installed smoke detectors and that we had a glazing certificate. He looked at the downpipes and asked if they were connected to the storm water drains, I said yes and that was it. He had a copy of the plan in his hand but he never looked at it.

Yes you're probably right, at least you know that he's been thorough.

Haven't had the final done on the current house yet, will be a fair way off yet. We're using the council inspector for that too. If I see him with a tape measure in his hand, I will buy myself some ice skates

[ausdesign]

One of the 'spin offs' from the introduction of the private certifiers or building surveyors I believe is a better deal across the board & possibly more so for OB's, with more 'affability' as the inspector is more in the mindset of working for you to achieve an outcome. Not that all 'council' inspectors weren't approachable prior to privatisation, but there was times where ' you do it my way sunny jim' was an anticipated result of a confrontation.

(- It's only early in the week & I have a number of aquaintences & respect for their knowledge within local government so be kind !)

[silentC]

I'm quite happy to use the local inspector. We know we have done the job properly and I'd be more than happy for someone to go over it with a fine tooth comb.

For this bloke though, finer details like ceiling heights don't factor in much to his way of thinking. If it looked low, he would probably ask the question, might even borrow a tape His big thing was tie down and bracing during the frame inspection. If the ceiling height was 2370 I doubt he would knock it back. It's more about the intention of the code, rather than policing it to the letter.

But then you get others who would measure it and knock it back if it was 20mm under. They are right according to the book, but whose interests does it serve to make you pull it all down and start again over 20mm?

But yes, I agree on the whole that taking some of the power away from the local council is ultimately a good thing, even though we have had a good relationship with our local inspectors for years.

[ausdesign]

. . . and I think thats probably the crux of it - a good relationship.
He knows your workmanship & you know his particular quirks.
As builders or chippies we all (or I did when building) want to get through an inspection without being bought undone.
Even though we know it's done right there's always the . . Grahams doing the frame inspection - check that the bracing is spot on, or Davids doing the inspection double check the double stud under the girder truss.
In an owner builder one off situation it's not hard to envisage the building inspector pulling up, opening the file & thinking 'what can I find wrong here' and proceeding to try & find something.
This possibly also holds true for a private certifier to an extent but I still feel that they are, with the open market, more inclined to work with you rather than tell you what you must do to meet their 'quirks' before they'll pass the inspection.
But yes overall I agree with what you said John

The long & the short of what i'm long windedly trying to say is that possibly from a builders point of view that now if you can't get a rapour with the inspector because he's 'got it in for you' that you now have alternatives that weren't previously available.