Page 998 - Week 04 - Thursday, 18 June 1992
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There is a high degree of government control over building work in the Australian Capital Territory. In many cases, such as houses, office blocks and factories, this is appropriate and in the public interest. The only building works exempt at present under the Building Act 1972 are small garden sheds, ornamental ponds, aerials under five metres high, and demountable pools up to 10 cubic metres.
Mr De Domenico: Like the one at Fraser.
MR CONNOLLY: Such as the type that you people think that anyone in a Housing Trust home should be denied access to. All other work, including work such as fences, pergolas, timber decks, non-structural internal alterations and prefabricated carports, requires the approval of plans and the issue of a building permit before work can begin. This means that, in theory at least, building approval is required to put up a simple letterbox or an ornamental garden wall - a quite absurd situation. One can go to a major chain department store or hardware store, buy a wooden letterbox for $20 and be confronted with a requirement of hundreds of dollars in permits or approvals before being legally entitled to put that in.
We could even contemplate that a garden gnome, if permanently fixed, could be illegal if not approved under current legislation. It is rather heart-rending to think of all those illegal garden gnomes dotted around Canberra suburban gardens.
Mr Lamont: I refrain from making the obvious interjection.
Mr De Domenico: No-one is going to stop me from standing in my garden, Mr Lamont; let me tell you.
Mr Lamont: We can arrange to have you fixed there, Mr De Domenico.
MR CONNOLLY: It would depend on the permanent fixture. Of the plans lodged in the last 12 months, it is estimated that 16 per cent could be defined as building work of a minor nature - although I am told that nobody in law-abiding Canberra has been so fastidious as to actually make an application for their permanently affixed garden gnome. The minimum fee for plan approval and a permit can well exceed the cost of such work, while the cost to government to process the application, interview owner-builders and undertake inspections can again exceed the fees charged.
It should not be surprising that a considerable amount of building work of the types now falling within the minor works category is not submitted for approval. About 85 per cent of property sales identify some sort of unapproved minor structure. Unapproved minor structures are a common cause of delay in conveyancing, again adding to cost in conveyancing. Many unapproved minor structures gain the necessary building approvals during the conveyancing process, again dragging on time and cost to all individuals concerned.
Madam Speaker, the proposals contained in this Bill represent a withdrawal by the Government from unnecessary regulation and an effective piece of micro-economic reform. They allow residents of the ACT to carry out minor works without going through red tape and incurring additional costs which, in some cases, may be comparable to the cost of the work itself. This Bill will allow the exemption of minor structures, ranging from a pergola to screen walls, carports,
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