Certification opt-out review urged

The Construction Industry Council has called on the environment minister to commit to reviewing a new ‘opt out’ on statutory certification of new one-unit properties — even though the regulation only comes into force tomorrow.

Where a building owner opts out of statutory certification, the compliance documentation lodged with the local authority will no longer have to be certified by a registered construction professional, such as an architect.

The opt-out only applies for building projects that commence after September 1, and multi-unit property developments will still need the statutory certification to be signed off.