APPEAL — refusal to issue occupation certificate — single dwelling — no modified construction certificate — appeal upheld
Quick Take
1Section 39(2) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment (Development Certification and Fire Safety) Regulation 2021 (NSW) requires the certifier to give the listed documents and records (including records of critical stage inspections and documentary evidence relied on) to the consent authority and council via the NSW Planning Portal; it does not require that information to be set out in the occupation certificate itself.
2A council's practice, even if common, of tabulating supporting documents and inspection records on an occupation certificate does not bind the Court when settling the form of a certificate it issues on a Class 1 appeal. Such material may still be lodged on the Planning Portal under s 39(2)(v).
3On the facts, the Court declined to include tables recording an 'unsatisfactory' final inspection. The only basis for that result was the Council's legal position that the certificate could not issue, which had been rejected, and the tables were repetitive, selective and liable to confuse.
