1. Public
Officials
and
Cer@fiers
–
What’s
Their
Fair
Share
of
the
Liability?
Webinar,
1
December
2011
©
Copyright
2011
Teys
Lawyers
www.teyslawyers.com.au

2. Development
Process
in
NSW
Submit
Development
Applica@on
(DA)
Obtain
Development
Consent
(usually
with
condi@ons)
Obtain
Construc@on
Cer@ficate
Appoint
a
Principal
Cer@fying
Authority
(PCA)
Obtain
Occupa@on
Cer@ficate
©
Copyright
2011
Teys
Lawyers
www.teyslawyers.com.au

3. About
the
PCA
• A
PCA
is
the
only
person
who
can
issue
interim
or
final
occupa@on
cer@ficates
• PCA
must
be
appointed
before
works
commence
• PCA
can
be
an
accredited
cer@fier,
council
or
consent
authority
• PCA
inspects
work
during
construc@on
and
at
comple@on
to
ensure
compliance
with
BCA
©
Copyright
2011
Teys
Lawyers
www.teyslawyers.com.au

4. Du@es
of
a
PCA
• PCA
should
check
builder
is
licenced
• PCA
should
ensure
HOW
insurance
is
in
place
• PCA
issues
occupa@on
cer@ficate
©
Copyright
2011
Teys
Lawyers
www.teyslawyers.com.au

5. PCA
Mandatory
Inspec@ons
• Builder
must
advise
PCA
when
inspec@ons
required
• PCA
must
advise
builder
and
person
with
benefit
of
development
consent
of
issues
iden@fied
during
inspec@on
• PCA
may
require
compliance
cer@ficates
or
expert
reports
at
various
stages
• PCA
may
rely
on
cer@ficates
but
must
always
undertake
mandatory
inspec@ons
©
Copyright
2011
Teys
Lawyers
www.teyslawyers.com.au

6. PCA
Mandatory
Inspec@ons
Cont.
For
class
2
buildings
(a
building
containing
2
or
more
sole
occupancy
units
each
being
a
separate
dwelling),
Environmental
Planning
and
Assessment
Act
Regula@ons
require:
Prior
to
covering
of
AZer
commencement
of
waterproofing
in
wet
excava@on
and
prior
to
areas
for
a
min
10%
of
foo@ngs
rooms
with
wet
areas
within
a
building
AZer
building
work
is
Prior
to
covering
any
completed
and
prior
to
storm
water
drainage
occupa@on
cer@ficate
connec@ons
©
Copyright
2011
Teys
Lawyers
www.teyslawyers.com.au

7. Other
Obliga@ons
of
a
PCA
• Duty
of
care
in
rela@on
to
advice
provided
and
ac@on
completed
• Must
sa@sfy
requirements
of
relevant
authori@es
• Must
avoid
conflict
of
interest
• Can
only
exercise
func@ons
if
covered
by
PI
insurance
©
Copyright
2011
Teys
Lawyers
www.teyslawyers.com.au

8. PCA
PI
Insurance
Requirements
• Indemnifies
against
statutory
liability
• Statutory
liability
is
defined
a
a
person’s
liability
to
pay
compensatory
damages
for
breach
of
professional
duty
arising
from
any
act
or
omission
whilst
ac@ng
as
a
PCA
• Minimum
coverage
$1m
©
Copyright
2011
Teys
Lawyers
www.teyslawyers.com.au

9. Main
Tasks
of
the
Building
Professionals
Board
• Accredits
cer@fiers
• Promotes
and
maintains
standards
• Inves@gates
complaints
and
audits
©
Copyright
2011
Teys
Lawyers
www.teyslawyers.com.au

10. Categories
of
Accredita@on
• There
are
over
20
categories
of
accredita@on:
– Building
Surveying
grades
1,
2
and
3
and
Building
Inspector
– Other
categories
typically
used
in
strata
schemes
• Accredited
cer@fier
–
structural
engineering
compliance
• Accredited
cer@fier
–
fire
safety
engineering
compliance
• Each
category
has
an
accredita@on
statement
lis@ng
the
criteria
to
be
sa@sfied
©
Copyright
2011
Teys
Lawyers
www.teyslawyers.com.au

11. Code
of
Conduct
• Code
does
not
override
relevant
legisla@on
• Code
sets
standards
of
conduct
and
professionalism
• Failure
to
comply
with
code
is
unsa@sfactory
professional
conduct
©
Copyright
2011
Teys
Lawyers
www.teyslawyers.com.au

12. Disciplinary
Case
Examples
• Building
Professionals
Board
v
Cohen
[2010]
NSWADT
62
• Dix
v
Building
Professionals
Board
[2010]
NSWADT
160
(overturned
on
appeal
to
Supreme
Court)
Both
deal
with
failure
to
inspect
©
Copyright
2011
Teys
Lawyers
www.teyslawyers.com.au

13. Thanks
for
abending
our
webinars
This
was
the
last
in
our
series
of
webinars
for
2011.
We
would
like
to
thank
you
all
for
joining
us
this
year
and
we
extend
our
best
for
the
season
to
you
all.
©
Copyright
2011
Teys
Lawyers
www.teyslawyers.com.au

14. About
The
Presenter
Chris
worked
for
many
years
in
leading
commercial
construc@on
law
prac@ces
ac@ng
for
government,
developers
and
contractors
in
disputes
in
the
building,
transport
infrastructure
and
resources
sectors.
He
has
been
involved
in
all
forms
of
dispute
resolu@on
including
li@ga@on,
arbitra@on
and
alterna@ve
dispute
resolu@on
in
a
range
of
jurisdic@ons
in
Australia.
In
the
last
few
years,
he
has
brought
his
specialist
construc@on
industry
knowledge
to
the
strata
sector
and
now
only
acts
for
owners
corpora@ons
in
a
range
of
disputes
in
various
jurisdic@ons.
TEYS
Lawyers
prac@ce
na@onally
in
strata
@tle
law
represen@ng
owners
corpora@ons,
bodies
corporate
and
apartment
owners.
The
firm’s
prac@ce
groups
include
building
defects,
management
rights,
strata
community
disputes,
by-­‐laws
and
rules
and
levy
and
fee
collec@on.
Subscribe
for
their
free
e-­‐newsleber
StrataSpace
and
find
out
more
about
them
at
www.teyslawyers.com.au
©
Copyright
2011
Teys
Lawyers
www.teyslawyers.com.au