Your obligations as an owner builder are covered below.

Design work

The design work of the restricted building work relates to building parts that are critical to the structural integrity and weathertightness of the building. We recommend you engage a LBP to do this work for you, unless you are technically competent to design restricted building work.

Doing the design work yourself

If you’re using the owner builder exemption for design work, you must supply the completed documentation with your consent application; including

  • plans and specifications of the house to the same level of detail and compliance as that required of a licensed designer, registered architect or chartered professional engineer,
  • any other documentation required by the BCA in relation to your building consent application (refer to the residential checklist [PDF, 81 KB] for details required), and
  • a statutory declaration.

Using a designer

If you’re using a designer to design the restricted building work they must provide their certificate of design work with your consent application, including

  • plans and specifications of the house to the same level of detail and compliance that a licensed designer, registered architect or chartered professional engineer needs to provide,
  • any other documentation relevant to the building consent application, and
  • a certificate of design work issued by the designer.

Construction work

You’re responsible as an owner builder for ensuring that the

  • work complies with the approved plans and specifications, and
  • construction work complies with the Building Act and building code.

Changing your mind on doing your own work

You can change your mind on who is doing your building work.

This may happen when

  • you want to stop using the exemption condition – ie you don’t want to do the work any longer yourself and employ a licensed building practitioner to complete the work, or
  • start using the exemption condition – ie
    • part way through the construction you may decide to end the employment of the licensed building practitioner and intend to finish the job yourself as an owner-builder, or
    • part way through the work you decide to employee a licensed building practitioner to carry out particular parts of the construction.

If any of the above apply and you didn’t supply an owner-builder declaration with your consent application, you’ll need to provide a completed owner builder declaration to Council.