Building Approval Brisbane: New Homes
If you are building a new house in Brisbane, you need a Building Approval before work starts and a final certificate before you move in. Vast Consulting Group is a private certification company that assesses plans, carries out the mandatory stage inspections and issues the final certificate for new homes across Brisbane and South East Queensland. We have worked in construction ourselves, so we look at your drawings the way a builder does, not just as a checklist.
How building approval works in Queensland
A private certifier, licensed by the QBCC and regulated under the Building Act 1975, assesses your house plans against the National Construction Code (NCC) and the Queensland Development Code (QDC). Most new houses on a standard residential lot qualify as accepted development under the local planning scheme, such as Brisbane City Plan 2014, which means the project can go straight to a certifier for Building Approval without a separate council Development Approval. Where the site has particular constraints, such as flood risk, heritage overlay or bushfire hazard, council planning approval may still be required first. We check this early so you are not caught out.
Once approved, your build goes through mandatory stage inspections: foundations and excavation, slab, frame, and final. An engineer or other competent person may provide a Form 15 compliance certificate for structural or other technical elements, and a Form 16 inspection certificate covers specific aspects of the work as it progresses. When the house passes its final inspection, we issue the Form 21 Final Inspection Certificate, which you need before you can occupy the home.
The process with Vast
Send us your drawings
We review your plans, engineering and any specialist reports so we understand the scope before anything is lodged.
Assessment and approval
We assess the plans against the NCC and QDC and issue the Building Approval, flagging anything that needs adjusting before work starts.
Stage inspections
We carry out the mandatory inspections at foundation, slab, frame and other required stages, working around your builder's schedule.
Final certificate
Once the last inspection is passed, we issue the Form 21 so the home can be occupied.
Common issues we solve
Areas we cover
We certify new home builds across Brisbane City, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich, Redland, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast, working directly from our Woolloongabba office. If you are building in another part of South East Queensland, get in touch and we will confirm whether we can take it on.
FAQs
Do I need council approval before I can get a building approval for a new house?
Not always. Many new houses on standard residential lots are accepted development under the local planning scheme, meaning a private certifier can issue the Building Approval directly. Sites with overlays such as flood, bushfire or heritage may need council Development Approval first, which we can confirm when we review your plans.
How long does building approval take in Brisbane?
Timeframes depend on the completeness of your plans and how quickly any queries are resolved. We can typically give you an indication once we have reviewed your documentation, though we do not guarantee a specific number of days.
What inspections are mandatory for a new house?
At minimum: foundations and excavation, slab, frame, and final. Additional inspections may apply depending on the design, such as for a pool or bond beam.
What is the difference between building approval and a Development Approval?
A Development Approval (DA) from council deals with planning matters, such as land use and site constraints. A Building Approval, issued by a private certifier, deals with the building itself meeting the NCC and QDC. Many houses only need the second.
Call our Brisbane office on (07) 3112 7689 or get a free quote for your new home build. Building in Sydney instead? See our building certifier Sydney page for the New South Wales approval path, or read our Brisbane building certifier hub for our full range of services.
Send us the drawings. We'll tell you what it takes to get approved.
Unrestricted building surveyors and certifiers. Residential, commercial and industrial. Brisbane and Sydney.
Woolloongabba QLD 4102 (07) 3112 7689 Also serving the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast