Stratas and subdivisions

Timeframes for the City of Hobart to process an application for a Certificate of Approval are specified in section 31 of the Strata Titles Act 1998 as are the lodgement requirements for the applicant.

The City, must within 30 business days after the day on which it receives the application, issue, or refuse to issue, a certificate of approval in relation to the application.

Applicants are required to lodge with the application evidence, satisfactory to the City, that is sufficient to enable the City to be satisfied as to the matters specified in section 31 (3) of the Act, as the City must do before issuing a certificate of approval.

The City is able to request further information in order to determine the application within a 15 business day period and a 'stop clock' mechanism in relation to the further information request is applicable.

Once the further information has been provided to the City, the City then has eight business days to decide that the information is satisfactory or notify the applicant that the information is not satisfactory and send a further information request.

Applications for a Certificate of Approval will need to be lodged through PlanBuild as a Strata Plan. Strata plans should be lodged as a Strata Title Application.

Lodgement of strata plans is in two Strata Application Types:

New Buildings

The New Building category is for when all building and plumbing works have been issued with an occupancy permit and certificates of completion for building and plumbing within the previous 12 months of the date of submission of the strata plan for a council certificate of approval.

A site inspection of the property and buildings may be undertaken by officers from the Surveying Services Unit, Development Planning Team, Development Engineering, and Plumbing Compliance Unit as required by the circumstances of the strata plan under assessment.

Council will rely on the issue of the building and plumbing approvals and completion certificates as the means of determining compliance with the building and plumbing requirements of subsections 31 (3) (b) and 31 (3) (d) of the Strata Titles Act 1998. However, Council will reserve the right for Council’s appointed Building Surveyor to undertake a site inspection if Council deems this to be necessary.

Existing Buildings

If the issue of the occupancy permit and certificates of completion for building and plumbing is more than 12 months prior to the date of submission of the strata plan for a council certificate of approval, the Existing Building category is to be selected.

Council will undertake an assessment and review of the property (including past permits, building works and a site inspection by Council’s appointed Building Surveyor). 

Should outstanding matters need to be addressed, your Building Surveyor or Plumber may need to provide additional information during the strata application assessment to enable the application to proceed.

Outstanding matters could also mean that Council is unable to provide a certificate of approval for the strata plan until such time all outstanding building and plumbing matters have been resolved to Council’s satisfaction.

Applicants should consider engaging the services of a private building surveyor to assist in determining building matters that could impact on the strata-titling of existing buildings.

A site inspection of the property and buildings may also be undertaken by officers from the Surveying Services Unit, Development Planning Team, Development Engineering, and Plumbing Compliance Unit as required by the circumstances of the strata plan under assessment.

For applications involving Staged development schemes or Community development schemes lodge the Application into either the New Building or Existing building category depending upon the circumstances of the occupancy permit and certificates of completion for building and plumbing.

Applicants will no longer be required to submit the Strata Title Application Forms S1, S2 Planning Assessment Report, and S3 Building and Plumbing Report.

However, it is important to ensure that the planning permit conditions for the buildings and associated development that are being strata-titled have been complied with. Failure to comply with permit conditions could result in requests for further information being sent by Council and significant delays in the approval of the strata plan until the permit conditions have been met or even refusal of a certificate of approval for the strata plan.

All relevant building and plumbing approvals must be completed before a certificate of approval for the strata plan can be issued.

Hard copy strata plans will still need to be lodged separately at the City as hard copy plans are required for certification by the City and the subsequent lodgement at the Land Titles Office.

The application will not become valid until the original set of strata plans has been received by City and the fee for a Certificate of Approval has been paid.

The time frames for the City to process an application for the sealing of a final plan for a subdivision are specified in section 89 of the Local Government (Building & Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1993 and the lodgement requirements for the applicant are specified in section 88 of the Act.

The City, within 20 business days after a final plan is lodged for sealing under section 88 (1) is to determine whether the final plan complies with Part 3 of the Act or determine that the final plan does not comply with Part 3.

Section 88 of the Act requires that along with the final plan and schedule of easements under section 88 (1) (ca) evidence, satisfactory to the City, of the completion of each of the relevant works that are required to be carried out in relation to the proposed subdivision; and under section 88 (1) (cb) evidence, satisfactory to the City, that each of the conditions on a permit, within the meaning of the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993, that must be complied with before the final plan in relation to the proposed subdivision may be sealed, have been complied with is to be lodged at the City.

The City is able to request further information or documents in relation to the final plan within a 10 business day period and a 'stop clock' mechanism in relation to the further information request is applicable. Once the further information has been provided to the City, the City then has 8 business days to decide that the information is satisfactory or notify the applicant that the information is not satisfactory and send a further information request.

Application for the sealing of a final plan will need to be lodged through PlanBuild as part of a Planning sub-project. Final plans and schedules of easements should be lodged using the Lodge Final Plan for Sealing (Subdivision) application form.

The application will need to be accompanied by a covering letter that details the evidence of the completion of each of the relevant works that are required to be carried out in relation to the proposed subdivision and include any relevant certificates or supporting information to satisfy section 88 (1) (ca). It must also detail the evidence that the planning permit conditions that must be met prior to the sealing of the final plan have been complied with and include any supporting information to satisfy condition 88 (1) (cb).

Hardcopy final plans and schedules of easements will still need to be lodged separately at the City as hardcopy plans are required for certification by the City and the subsequent lodgement at the Land Titles Office.

The application will not become valid until the original final plan and schedule of easements has been received by the City and the final plan sealing fee has been paid.

If your project involves new or altered public road or stormwater infrastructure then you will need to obtain a Permit to Construct Public Infrastructure (PCPI) in addition to other approvals.

It is important to note that you must have planning and building approvals from the City prior to submitting an application for a PCPI.

To apply for a PCPI, use this online form. Please see the other development permits and approvals page for other approvals you may require in order to complete your development.

If you have any questions about the PCPI process, please contact the City Infrastructure Inspector during office hours on 03 6238 2711.

Bonds

Before a PCPI is issued payment of a security bond for the protection of City infrastructure is required. This amount will be calculated based on the proposed works, associated level of risk and the expanse of the City's infrastructure likely to be affected. Prior to a permit being issued we will forward a payment request to you which will advise the amount of the bond to be paid.

A maintenance bond will be applied at the time of issuing a completion certificate. This bond is retained by the City during the maintenance period and will be used by the City to undertake necessary maintenance or rectification where a developer fails to carry out the works during the maintenance period as outlined in the PCPI.

The City would only accept bonds for incomplete work under a PCPI or planning permits in extraordinary circumstances. It is a developer's responsibility to ensure that all works are completed before the City will issue other approvals (such as sealing a final plan of subdivision). Accepting bonds introduces a risk to the City that it will not be able to carry out any outstanding work in a timely way or within a budget covered by the bond.

Supporting Documents

Depending on the nature of your proposal, you may need to provide the following supporting documents:

• Quality Management System to ISO 9001:2000 certification
• Environmental Management System ISO 14001:2004 certification
• Occupational Health and Safety requirements to AS 4801:2001 certification
• Soil and Water Management Plan
• Traffic and Parking Plan
• Copy of Certificate of Currency for the public liability insurance in the name of the individual or company making this application with the City of Hobart noted as the Principal. Cover to be $10 000 000 for any one occurrence
• Copy of Certificate of Currency insuring against liability for death or injury to persons employed by the Contractor
• Copy of Certificate of Currency (subcontractors) insuring against liability for death or injury of their workers
• Certificate of qualifications and accreditation to perform the works
• Copy of safety induction program complying with Work Health and Safety Act 2012
• Certification of competence in Safe Working in Confined Spaces
• Copy of Third Party agreements (required for work on or over property owned by a third party)
• Copy of specification (if not Municipal standard)
• Copy of Traffic Management Plan

Hold Points for Inspection

The PCPI will identify hold points for your project and when you reach that point, the City will inspect the works and confirm that you can proceed.

Please allow at least 48 hours to arrange an inspection. Inspections can be arranged by calling the City Infrastructure Inspector on 03 6238 2711.

Completion

At the completion of the works approved in the PCPI, you will need to arrange a completion inspection with the City Infrastructure Inspector. Once the City is satisfied that the works have been properly carried out and will be adopted as public assets a maintenance bond will be taken and a completion certificate will be issued.

It is important to note that there may be other requirements to meet at the completion of works. In particular:

• if the work relates to a subdivision then a separate application will need to be made for the sealing of the final plan – further detail on that process can be found on this page (stratas and subdivisions) or contact our Surveying Unit for further assistance; or
• if the work doesn't relate to a subdivision, there may be planning permit conditions which also must be met. Documents to support compliance with planning permit conditions can be lodged as condition endorsements on PlanBuild. For further information on our condition endorsement process can be found on the condition endorsement page or contact our Development Services Officer for further assistance.

Please note that the City does not issue "practical completion" at the end of a project. Some contractual arrangements may allow for "practical completion" or handover, with some minor defects outstanding. It is our expectation that all works will be complete before we will adopt a new public asset, seal a final plan or confirm that a planning permit condition has been satisfied.

A planning permit which approves a subdivision may include a condition that there must be a cash contribution to the City in lieu of the provision of public open space. Approval of a subdivision will create further demand upon the City's parks and other public open spaces. The funds obtained will be used for future expenditure on the purchase or improvement of land for public open space within Hobart.

The open space contribution is equal to 5 per cent of the undeveloped value of the land being subdivided. The value of the land will be determined by a registered valuer commissioned by the City at the developer's cost. Please complete the cash-in-lieu valuation request form(PDF, 301KB) and email it to coh@hobartcity.com.au to initiate the valuation process.

For further information, please see the Public Open Space Contribution Policy(PDF, 153KB).