Hi,
Can we occupy the Property(QLD) with only Form 61(Pending completion of Retaining wall) provided by the builder? Form 21 will only be issued once retaining wall outside the house but within the property boundaries is completed.
The Builder said that we just need to fully pay them and we can occupy the house even without the Form 21. Is that legal??
Thanks for any help.
Hi Ferdinand,
Thanks for your question.
According to Darryl O'Brien from Central Queensland University, there is no requirement to obtain a Form 21 to occupy a detached, class 1a dwelling in Queensland. However, we would advise getting the F21 because if you want to sell the house later it is one of the searches that the solicitors would do and it’s not unusual for contacts to fall over because there is no F21.
The Form 61 is a non-compliance notice issued by the certifying authority and it sounds like the retaining wall was part of the dwelling approval. As the retaining wall is not completed the permit for the house and wall cannot be signed off. As to paying the final payment without the F21, you may want to seek legal advice as once the builder is paid you can't guarantee that they will get the F21,
It might also be worth getting in touch with the Queensland Building and Construction Commission.
I hope this helps!
The Build team.