Surveyor
The surveyor’s primary role is to confirm the buildings location and height. A surveyor may be approached by a homeowner or agent
- at the start of a build for the boundary set out, or
- during a build if the BCA has identified a need to confirm location either in the consent construction documentation and advice notes or by a building inspector.
The consent construction documentation and advice notes, or the inspection site notice, will outline what dimensions need to be confirmed (finished floor level (FFL), recession planes or boundary). If necessary they will need to complete a building location certificate (BLC), and supply this, along with clearly recorded dimensions on a copy of the approved consent plan to the BCA.
Please note – if the building consent has had any amendments or minor variations the latest copy of the approved plan is to be used.
A surveyor may be able to provide council with a setting out certificate [DOCX, 738 KB] to verify location if relevant. Alternatively, the inspector can use the legal boundary pegs and/or surveyors set out string lines (if agreed to during consent processing) to record boundary dimensions. If the dimensions are the same as the approved consent plans then a BLC may not be required.
If there are differences between consented plans and actual site measurements, the surveyor needs to
- note the location and extent of this on the BLC, and
- advise the owner or the builder so they can notify the BCA of this variation (see section on variations).
As they review the variation, the BCA will use the information on the form [DOCX, 740 KB] to make a decision.
The BLC has a section to declare any deviations from the approved consented dimensions. The surveyor needs to clearly record on a copy of the approved consent plan (preferably in mm)
- the consented dimensions
- the dimensions that are different to the consent
- what actions are to be taken for various circumstances where dimensions are not the same as the consent, including where boundary offset dimensions are greater or less than those specified on the consented plan.
When surveying recession planes, please make sure the following dimensions are recorded
- the ground level at the boundary at the point taken
- from the boundary to the building (A)
- the FFL
- from the FFL to the roof line (B)
- the roof pitch or the dimension from the wall to the ridge line (C)
- from the FFL to the ridge line (D).