This year the Development Act 1993 will no longer be operational and will be replaced with the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016.
The new Act and Regulations make a number of changes to the whole planning and development system, the main change is the new digital “ePlanning” system.
Staged Implementation
The Act is being phased in
• Phase 1 – July 2019 was for the outback areas
• Phase 2 – was from 31st July 2020 for the rural Councils
• Phase 3 – will be from 2021 for the urban Councils.
Effect on Buildings
This act will only be applied to new developments approved after the above implementation works. i.e. it does not apply to existing buildings. It will only apply to new development application.
Once your new development has received “planning consent” you then move onto the detailed “building approval”.
There are 3 steps to the “building” process that relate to the fire and essential services, they are:
• Form 1 – Schedule of Essential Safety Provisions to be installed in a building issued by the Building Certifier. It includes
o Essential safety provisions (ESPs) installed or to be installed in a building
o Standards or other requirements for installation of each ESP
o Maintenance and testing in respect of each ES
• Form 2 – Essential Safety Provisions compliance certificate issued by the company or person who installed the ESP to confirm that building work complies with the current safety requirements required by the Act and Regulations
• Certificate of Occupancy issued by the Council when the relevant Form 2 is completed enabling the building to be occupied.
• Form 3 – A building owner must verify the maintenance of the schedule of ESPs annually in accordance with the Form 1. The owner must provide maintenance verification to council not later than 60 business days after the end of each calendar year.