QBCC has recently reinforced the need to obtain a building approval when re-roofing more than 20% of your roof. It appears that there are some roofing contractors who are unaware of this requirement and are simply re-roofing houses without proper building approval which is in contravention of the Building Act 1975 QLD  and can place their QBCC licenses in jeopardy. Also not to mention that the homeowner is now faced with a roof that has not been lawfully approved which may affect their home insurance. 

In 80% of cases where the re-roof is “like for like”, a structural engineer is not necessary. In the other 20% of cases such as though not limited to the following, the engagement of a structural engineer may be required – 

1. The re-roofing also involves repairing or altering major structural roof beams.
2. The re-roofing involves going from tiles to sheet roofing or vice versa.
3. The re-roofing is being done in a cyclonic area.
4. The re-roofing involves changing the roof type, e.g going from hip to gable.
5. The re-roofing involves box gutters.

In the grand scheme of things, getting a building approval for the re-roofing is fairly straightforward and the risk of not getting one is really not worth it. Furthermore, the building certification cost for a re-roofing job is generally much lower when compared to other types of work… at least that is the case with Agile Approvals 🙂

If for example, your re-roofing job is in the simple ‘like for like’ category, all the building certifier needs is –

1. A simple site plan and/or photos of the existing roof;
2. Form 2 application filled in;
3. QBCC insurance payment if the market value of the work is >$3300;
4. QLeave payment if cost of works is over $150K

Now for more complex jobs, other documentation may be required but for most re-roofing jobs if all you are doing is like for like, it is fairly straightforward. If you are a homeowner and your roofing contractor has not included building certification costs into his quote, please feel free to call Agile Approvals and we can help advise on your next steps. If you are a roofing contractor and would like to know how you can work building certification costs into your workflows, and/or you just have a bunch of questions you want to ask, feel free to call and we will be more than happy to answer all your queries.

For more information and where QBCC stands on this issue read the following – 

1. Repair of sheet metals roofs in cyclonic areas;
2. Ensure you meet your administrative requirements when re-roofing