# Forum More Stuff Debate & Technical Discussion  building permits and section 32's

## jul1313

hi 
I am looking at selling my house in Melbourne soon. I have had a section 32 done and was asked about structural renos etc. 
These were done and by a builder who said he put in permits etc , I never checked cause I didn't really care at the time,  I watched what he did and it seemed well and truely over the top etc etc was an older guy in his 60's and just did everything bigger and better. 
Anyway turns out none have been submitted to council ( I assume this happens a fair bit and silly me for not checking) 
Now I am not concerned about them falling down because they were all carried out 4 years ago and there is no problem at all with them to date,  the only questionable one is the pergola/patio is only 500mm off the fence line but I asked the builder to do that and checked with my neighbor etc and no one cared ( a bit dodgy I know).   
My question is has anyone bought or sold a house without permits for stuff that should have permits ??? I would have thought it happens all the time. 
My dodgy old man suggests I just withhold info on the section 32 until asked about it ?? As he said it is all about the purchaser reading it carefully etc etc and happens all the time ? 
Cheers

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## SilentButDeadly

Talk to your council about your options.  
You have no hope of withholding your Section 32...even your real estate agent will blanche at that prospect.   
If you are lucky though you might find a buyer willing to take a punt on the lack of permits...but there'd be a financial penalty on your behalf...unless they were mentally deranged.

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## JB1

Happens all the time.  
I'll speak to a lawyer/conveyancer about the ramifications of selling without a permit. 
Last thing you want is for the buyer to have a get out clause. 
In Melbourne it's a sellers market, if someone doesn't want it due to the unapproved reno, there will another 5 buyers who won't care.

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## plum

> Talk to your council about your options.  
> You have no hope of withholding your Section 32...even your real estate agent will blanche at that prospect.   
> If you are lucky though you might find a buyer willing to take a punt on the lack of permits...but there'd be a financial penalty on your behalf...unless they were mentally deranged.

  The last thing to do is let the council know. They can make life really difficult. I believe if the work is 7 years old, not a problem. 5 or 7 years, does it really make a difference?

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## SilentButDeadly

> I believe if the work is 7 years old, not a problem. 5 or 7 years, does it really make a difference?

  7 years is true (in Victoria at least). At least from a bureaucratic perspective. 
As for the difference between 5 years and 7 years... It depends if it's your money or mine!

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## JB1

If I tree fell in the forest 5 years ago, I'd claim it had been there for 7.

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## Marc

> The last thing to do is let the council know. They can make life really difficult. I believe if the work is 7 years old, not a problem. 5 or 7 years, does it really make a difference?

   :What he said:

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## jul1313

> The last thing to do is let the council know. They can make life really difficult. I believe if the work is 7 years old, not a problem. 5 or 7 years, does it really make a difference?

   yep I was never going to mention it to the council myself. 
I read all the section 32's for previous houses I have bought and under the "building approvals'' section it says : 
"_The vendors Statement indicates that No permits have been issued"_   
on all of them despite work clearly being done. Which says one of two things , work was done with no permits or no work was done, depending how you read it.   
The 32 then carries on to say something of the effect that if you want to check on the legality of work that you must go to council yourself and check, but then the council website says it will no give out details to anybody but the property owner.  
Therefore that says to me the section 32 is not worth the paper its written on.

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## joynz

My Council is *happy to do a quick 'look up' on a property* and say whether or not there is a permit and what year it was obtained. For free, if it is quick.

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## plum

When we bought our current house, I paid a fee to council to get a record of all permits that had been issued over the period of the previous owner.

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