NSW contractor licence classes: which licence covers which work
A licence covers the work its class describes, not the work the business happens to do. This is how the classes line up with a typical residential job and where they overlap.
11 min read
Topic
NSW Compliance
Articles and news about NSW Compliance for Australian builders.
NSW contractor licence classes: which licence covers which work
A licence covers the work its class describes, not the work the business happens to do. This is how the classes line up with a typical residential job and where they overlap.
11 min read
Structural engineer certificates: what builders should get in writing
An engineer’s certificate is only useful if it describes the work that is actually in the ground and on the frame, and the builder is the one who has to make that match.
11 min read
Retaining walls on residential sites: approvals and engineering
A retaining wall holds back more than soil. Here is when it needs approval or an engineer, and why drainage and surcharge cause most of the failures.
11 min read
Heritage and conservation areas: what changes for residential builders
A heritage or conservation area listing changes the scope of a residential job before a single tool is picked up. Here is how the controls reach materials, approvals and programme, and how to price and sequence the work so the client is not caught out.
11 min read
Protecting trees on a building site and when removal needs approval
A retained tree is often a condition of the approval, and it dies quietly if its root zone is cut or compacted. This article sets out how to protect it during footings and excavation, and when removal needs approval.
11 min read
Sediment and erosion controls on residential sites in NSW
Soil leaving a building site after rain is a pollution problem, a neighbour problem and a stop-work problem. Set the controls before the soil moves and check them after every heavy storm.
11 min read
Fire separation between attached homes: what builders must get right
Between attached homes, the separating wall, its penetrations and its junctions decide whether a fire stays in one dwelling. These are the details most often missed on site.
12 min read
Smoke alarms in renovations and alterations: what NSW builders must do
A kitchen or bathroom job can bring the smoke alarms for the whole home into scope. This article sets out which areas the upgrade reaches, how the alarms must be powered and connected, and what belongs in the handover file.
11 min read
Council stop work orders on residential sites: what to do first
A stop work order is a regulator’s notice, not a commercial dispute. The first steps are to stop the work, read the notice closely, establish the facts and respond in writing.
11 min read
Unauthorised building work: options when a past job was never approved
Work built without approval does not disappear when the job is finished. The route forward is an assessment, an honest disclosure and a certificate process, and the builder’s own exposure depends on how the matter is handled.
11 min read
Exempt development in NSW: what builders can skip, and what they cannot
Exempt development needs no approval, but it is not a licence to skip the rules. Here is where the boundary sits, which conditions still bind the work and why the builder carries the liability whatever the council did or did not see.
12 min read
Complying development certificates: what NSW builders must check
A complying development certificate lets work start without a full development application, but it is a set of conditions the builder has to meet. Here is the builder’s side of it.
11 min read