Stage 5: Final inspection and report

You are at Stage 5

The developer must appoint a building inspector within 18 months of an occupation certificate being issued. The appointed building inspector carries out the final inspection and report. The developer and building inspector must complete tasks in the Strata Hub.

See an overview of all 8 stages and a process map (PDF 21.41KB) to help you understand each stage.

On this page

Important information about Stage 5

The final inspection and building inspection report need to be accepted by the Secretary between 21-24 months after an occupation certificate is issued.

The building inspector must use the combined interim and final report in the Strata Hub and refer to AS 4349.2

Any defective building work identified in the interim report should be rectified by the final building inspection.

Any defective building work identified in the final building inspection report may be used to determine any claim/realisation made from the building bond for payment to the owners corporation.

You can find definitions of key SBBIS terms in our glossary.

Who is involved

Building inspector
Secondary/specialist inspector (if required)
Developer
Owner/occupier, building manager, Strata agent
Owners Corporation
The Secretary

Who has tasks in the Strata Hub

Building inspector
Developer
The Secretary

What the developer must do

Within 18 months of the occupation certificate being issued, the developer must arrange for the same building inspector who prepared the interim report to carry out the final inspection and provide the final report on the Strata Hub. This action is completed by the developer in the Strata Hub and notification is provided to the Secretary of the reappointment (The timing means this occurs in Stage 3 for Stage 5).

If the building inspector is not appointed by the developer within 18 months of an occupation certificate being issued, the Secretary may arrange one.

If the Secretary arranges the building inspector:

the developer will incur an extra fee of $1650 (inclusive of GST)
the owners corporation is not required to approve the arrangement.

What the building inspector must do

The building inspector carries out the final inspection to identify whether the defective building work identified in the interim report has been rectified.

The building inspector must:

carry out the inspection 21 to 24 months after the occupation certificate is issued. It cannot be performed earlier than 21 months
use the combined interim and final report in the Strata hub and refer to AS 4349.2
attend the site to perform the final inspection. This includes attending the site at the same time as the secondary inspector or specialist
give at least 14 days written notice to the owners corporation and any lot owner/occupier if you need to enter the affected lot and/or common property (for example, a unit and balcony).
allow time for the Secretary to review the building inspection report, request amendments and reassess with view to accept it before the milestone date.

Building inspector access

All parties must provide reasonable access to the lot and not obstruct or hinder a building inspector.

This includes:

the owners corporation
any person who has exclusive use of common property
the strata managing agent
the building manager or manager of the common property
any owner or occupier of a lot (such as a unit).

Final inspection

The building inspector must attend the site to perform the final inspection. This includes attending the site at the same time as the secondary inspector or specialist.

The final inspection should determine whether the defective building work identified in the interim report has been rectified.

Final report

The building inspector must provide the final report between 21 to 24 months after the occupation certificate was issued.

Between 21 and 24 months means it must be done not before 21 months and not after 24 months.

The final report will:

record any defective building work identified in the interim report that has not been rectified
identify any defective building work arising from the rectification work identified in the interim report, and
state how any outstanding defective building work should be rectified.

The final report cannot contain defective building work not identified in the interim report (meaning it can’t contain new matters).

Secondary inspector

If there are parts of the inspection outside of the appointed building inspector’s skillset, a secondary inspector and/or specialist should perform them. The secondary inspector/specialist must be selected, briefed and instructed by the appointed building inspector without input from any other party. The appointed building inspector must assess the secondary inspector/specialist report, include it as part of the interim report and add it as an attachment.

Submitting the final report

Once the report is submitted and approved in the Strata Hub, notification is sent to the following parties:

the Secretary
owners corporation (who must then provide notice to the lot owners how to access an electronic copy of the report from them), and
developer

The building inspector is required to provide a copy of the approved final report to the builder and owners corporation.

If defective work is identified in the final report, the cost to rectify it will then be agreed by the developer and the owners corporation (see Stage 6: Determining the cost to rectify defective building work).

Building inspectors must comply with these technical notes when conducting their final inspection (the notes are part of the inspection report).

Required building inspection report

By law, building inspectors must complete and provide interim and final inspection reports in the approved form. This should be completed in the Strata Hub. See a blank example of the approved form template (PDF 984.58KB).

SBBIS Inspect App instructions

‘SBBIS Inspect’ is a free app developed by the NSW Government for building inspectors who are registered users of SBBIS on the Strata Hub.

‘SBBIS Inspect’ allows you to quickly log defects and add photos or video evidence to reports in real time during onsite inspections.

The offline capability means you can use the app in areas without an internet connection. Any onsite observations and detailed notes can be seamlessly uploaded to your desktop inspection report.

How to use the SBBIS Inspect App (PDF 2.36MB)

How to complete online tasks

To complete SBBIS  tasks, building inspectors and developers need to use the Strata Hub.

Strata Hub instructions

Our user instructions make it easy for you to understand what to do on the Strata Hub.

Note: Each time you log in, you will need to enter the new verification code emailed to you.

Overview of the 8 stages of the scheme

Stage 1: Building bond lodgement

Developer registers their project and lodges the building bond in the NSW Planning Portal.

Stage 2: Inspector appointment

Within 12 months of the building work being finished, the developer must appoint a building inspector.

Stage 3: Interim inspection and report

Between 15 to 18 months after the building work is finished, the building inspector will complete an interim inspection and report.

Stage 4: Rectify defective building work

This can happen at any time, but the builder needs to rectify any identified defects before Stage 5 (indictive period is between 18 to 21 months after the building work is finished).

You are here – Stage 5: Final inspection and report

Between 21 to 24 months after the building work is finished, the building inspector will complete a final inspection and report.

Stage 6: Determining the cost to rectify defective building work

If there is defective building work identified in the interim report that has not been rectified, it will be identified in the final report. The cost to rectify the defective building work identified in the final report must be agreed or determined.

Stage 7: Paying the building bond

The building bond is used to pay for the rectification work identified in the final inspection and report. The building bond payment process should be completed between 2 to 3 years after the building work was finished.

Stage 8: Completion

The owners corporation completes the rectification of the defective building work. If the rectification costs less than the building bond, the balance is returned to the developer.

Contact us

Strata Building Bond and Inspections Scheme

You can contact the SBBIS team at any stage during the SBBIS process via email at stratabond@customerservice.nsw.gov.au

For technical issues, contact the Strata Hub (Stages 2-8) via email at stratasystem@customerservice.nsw.gov.au

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