Changing the use of a non-habitable area into a habitable area
should not be done without council approval.
Council paperwork, reports and assessments far more onerous if
approval sought retrospectively
The paperwork required at the beginning of the exercise is
minimal compared to the paperwork, reports and assessments council
will require after the work is completed if you did not obtain
prior approval.
This is especially the case if the application is made some
years after the building work was done. Council will require the
property to comply with standards which are current today, not the
standards applicable at the time the conversion took place.
Everyone knows that dealing with your local council can, on
occasion, be difficult. However, it must be stated that the
council's employees are just implementing legislation passed by
state and federal government.
