laserlighting a pergola

**havenoideaatall** · 10th August 2006, 09:11 PM

I bought a house built 25 years ago with a pergola attached to the back of it.

The plans I saw (basic - the ones drawn up by an architect) given to us by the people who built it - connections through my fire brigade mob show a pergola but it may not have been the same as the one we have now as to be honest I'm not altogether sure they know - they are quite elderly and comms is hard.

We did not ask to see any plans at all when we bought.

a) I'm concerned that the pergola (in it's current form) might have been illegal and not submitted for approval by any previous owner/builder. We have not seen any.
b) We've just laserlighted the pergola. I'm now told (by another tradie) that it is now a 'structure' and needs to be inspected, mainly for drainage reasons.
c) My DIY/builder/carpenter says: 'look, you're catching the water and collecting it in a rain tank. You're in a catchment area and it is not as if you have to worry about water running on to a neighbour's property or into a system it shouldn't'. We are on an acre where everyone is on septic - noone is going to notice water going anywhere like we are on a 500m square block.

Do council inspectors go by a TRADAC or BCA list, or just look at drainage issues. The builder also says that the pergola is 'pre-existing' as if that limits his or our liability or need to take action...but we haven't seen a plan for that either. See my concern? Is a carpenter laserlighting away required to conform to a 'standard' or is that my responsibility?

Am I able to obtain a list of all plans lodged at my property - without necessarily giving myself away?

d) I am prepared to fail an inspection and make potential fairly simple alterations 'now', to get it through, but frankly, this is a cost effective job and we might as well enjoy the job and change it if we have to in 10 years when the whole lot will need redoing or dismantled when we extend the home. If we want to sale, we will get the plans/approvals and amendments then as it will need doing anyhow - the pergola will then be perhaps 20 odd years old.

Can anyone clarify some of the legal/construction issues. It seems there might be a lot of assumptions being made based on past events which may or may not have occurred.

cheers

have

**Slavo** · 11th August 2006, 10:21 AM

Before we bought our house, I went to the local Council and asked to see the file they had on the property. It contained past DAs and other stuff involving the lot - You should be able to do this under FOI, just ask Council about the procedure. You just say you want to see the history of the lot you now own.

Don't know the situation in Vic, but in NSW each Council has different levels of approval for this type of stuff, some require full DAs, others just a note from the builder that it wont fall down - again, best to make enquiries with Council. In the Council I'm in you can build an uncovered pergola and have a hard surface underneath or you can have a covered pergola with a soft surface underneath without approval, But if you want a covered pergola with a hard surface underneath you need a full DA. Which is different to the Council next door - but 10-20 years ago the requirements were probably very different.

I wouldn't worry too much about it, if Council look at it and want you to get a retrospective approval and youre happy to do that, there's no drama. But go to Council first and ask to see what DAs have been lodged on the land so you know where you stand. And speak to the council Town Planner and ask them what is involved in putting laserlight over an existing pergola, again you dont have to go into detail on your situation, just say you would like to know what approvals are required.

**ausdesign** · 11th August 2006, 11:50 AM

Have - most councils will not require a building permit for a 'Pergola' - there are height & size restrictions - but once you put a roof on it, it becomes 'structural' & you will need a permit. You're chippie should know this.
Possibly more important than the water run off issue is the 'hold down' capabilities of the existing structure.
To take a bad case scenario - if the wind blew off the roof & damaged the main house roof, let in water which short circuited the electricals & burnt the house down you may have problems with your insurance co.
If the roof blew off, hit power lines & caused 5 neighbouring houses to burn down you may have problems paying your lawyer.

Seriously, don't listen to the (this particular) chippie - contact the council & speak to the head Building Surveyor.

**havenoideaatall** · 12th August 2006, 07:11 PM

Originally Posted by ausdesign

Have - most councils will not require a building permit for a 'Pergola' - there are height & size restrictions - but once you put a roof on it, it becomes 'structural' & you will need a permit. You're chippie should know this.
Possibly more important than the water run off issue is the 'hold down' capabilities of the existing structure.
To take a bad case scenario - if the wind blew off the roof & damaged the main house roof, let in water which short circuited the electricals & burnt the house down you may have problems with your insurance co.
If the roof blew off, hit power lines & caused 5 neighbouring houses to burn down you may have problems paying your lawyer.

Seriously, don't listen to the (this particular) chippie - contact the council & speak to the head Building Surveyor.

Thanks guys. I'm really concerned I suppose we might have to do it all over again -and we want it ready for spring/summer - we've waited long enough so far.

Ath the end of the day, it would not be the end of the world if we had to configure the laserlight to meet a design issue. The actual original structure is very sound, it's a much sturdier design than most, and the chippie says he has put in far more laserlight screws than any chippy normally would.
No real issue there.

At the back of my mind is the nag that there might be something wrong with the pergola too - which would involve tearing that down. We actually bought the house for the pergola and deck - its a real feature of the house and there is no way we could afford to replace it, and without it, the house might not sale as quick - it almost makes the house, if that sounds a bit melodramatic(!). It's a lot bigger than most pergolas - got huge beams and the like. Frankly this is unlikely and we probably just need to make sure the whole thing can't take off and account for rainfall.

It doesn't help that I'm not sure what they need or 'want to inspect' - if's it a mm appraisal of every screw etc 1 fail and that's it - its coming down.

cheers

**woodsprite** · 4th September 2006, 01:35 AM

I know this thread is a bit old now... we recently had a very large extension built. I asked the builder if he would put a few sheets of laserlite over a part of the existing verandah that had shadecloth on it. He reckoned it wasn't worth his ticket, as it was a plumbers job and if the plumbers union found him out he would go a row of country dunnies. You might be in strife in the future if there are probs with the roof and it was discovered that a carpenter had installed it.
All seems a bit silly to me, but around these parts at least, the plumbers union is HOT on roofing work done by anybody other than a plumber.
Good luck.

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