Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979

A building information certificate may apply to the whole or to part only of a building.

On receipt of an application for a building information certificate, the council may, by notice in writing served on the applicant, require the applicant to supply it with such information (including building plans, specifications, survey reports and certificates) as may reasonably be necessary to enable the proper determination of the application.

If the applicant is able to provide evidence that no material change has occurred in relation to the building since the date of a survey certificate which, or a copy of which, is supplied to the council by the applicant, the council is not entitled to require the applicant to supply a more recent survey certificate.

If the council refuses to issue a building information certificate, it must inform the applicant, by notice, of its decision and of the reasons for it.

The reasons must be sufficiently detailed to inform the applicant of the work that needs to be done to enable the council to issue a building information certificate.

The council must not refuse to issue or delay the issue of a building information certificate by virtue of the existence of a matter that would not entitle the council to make any order or take any proceedings of the kind referred to in section 6.25(1)(a) (Issue, nature and effect of building information certificate).

Nothing in this section prevents the council from informing the applicant of the work that would need to be done before the council could issue a building information certificate or from deferring its determination of the application until the applicant has had an opportunity to do that work.

The council must keep a record of building information certificates issued.

A person may inspect the record at any time during the ordinary office hours of the council.

A person may obtain a copy of a building information certificate from the record with the consent of the owner of the building.