Aussies - Planning, Council, Owner Builders, Habitable Rooms

[Rizza_81]

Hi Guys,

I have a few questions for the Aussies on here who have completed their home studios. In particular I'm interested in the legal & approval side of building a home studio. I'm still in the planning stages of my build & your answers will help me decide what to do. I'd appreciate your responses to these questions -

1. Did you build a new building (or extension) to your property to house your studio? If so, did you seek council approval?
2. Did you seek council approval for the internal fitout of your studio? (Whether in a new external structure or an existing part of your house)
3. If you did seek council approval, did you call the internal rooms "Utility or Store rooms" on the plans? Or did you somehow have the plans council approved with the room labelled as a Recording Studio?

By definition, a music room is classed as a habitable room (much like a bedroom or lounge room) which requires a minimum ceiling height of 2.4m and a certain amount of external window area (based on the floor area of the room). I don't see how a studio can be both a soundproofed/sealed room, & a "habitable" room by definition.

4. Did you undertake most of the internal structural fitout yourself?
5. If so, did you obtain an Owner Builders License & Owner Builders Permit?
6. Did you have your building work signed off by a Certifier?

From the Building Code ...
It is a requirement under the Queensland Building Services Authority Act 1991 (QBSA Act) that if you wish to perform or coordinate domestic building work on your property for a single project of a value of $11,000 or more you must hold an owner-builder permit.

7. Have you insured your studio equipment? If so, is your insurance provider aware that a non-habitable room is being used for a habitable purpose? ... I've heard stories of insurance claims not being paid due to this type of scenario eg. Guys builds in underneath his 2 storey house. Downstairs ceiling height is under 2.4m so can't be classed as a habitable room. He turns it into a rumpus room (a rumpus is still legally classed as a habitable room). TV catches fire in the rumpus room and burns down the house. Insurance won't pay as he was using a non-habitable space in a habitable manner.

Just to share my situation -

I'm currently planning my build which may include a new extension to the house, as well as building in on the ground floor of the house (in the current rumpus area). The rumpus area is below minimum ceiling height. I have no problems getting plans drawn up for the new extension to the house and having that council approved, however I've been told by a draftsman that they will have to call the internal rooms "utility rooms" due to having no external windows.

Further to this, I'm unsure of how much of the internal fitout work I can do myself. It seems from reading all of the build threads on here that most people do the bulk of the internal fitout themselves, however this doesn't seem to be allowed under Australian law (certainly I think most studio internal builds would be classed as valued more than $11,000 & would therefore require an owner builders license). Of course, this work would then have to be officially inspected & certified too. Should I just get the main external structure built professionally and legally, and then do the internal fitout myself without getting any council permission? But how would this affect any insurance policies? (even if the room was legally built as non-habitable Utility Room, it seems it may still affect the insurance policy if it's being used as a habitable room).

I appreciate if you'd share your experience with me.

Cheers,
Ryan

[Soundman2020]

Hi Ryan, and welcome to the forum!

I don't live in Australia right now (although I used to, many years ago) so I'm hoping someone who does will answer your questions in more detail. However, I did want to suggest that it is in your own best interests to do whatever is required of you by law, and get all the necessary permits, licenses, authorizations, inspections, etc.

I'm not sure how Australian law works, but I imagine it is very similar to other laws that I do know a bit more about, in which case you would be running a very serious risk by doing things without the correct paperwork being in place. Very likely, your home-owner's insurance will not cover anything at all that happens to your house if you have modified it in any way without all the paperwork being in place. For example, let's say you build your studio like this and something collapses, injuring a friend who happened to be visiting. You would be legally liable, both civilly and criminally, for his injuries, as well as for the repairs to your own house, as your insurance company would refuse to cover any of that. So you would get to cover his medical expenses out of your own pocket, and you'd get to stand trial for causing the injury due to negligence if the cops decide to press criminal charges. If your friend chose to sue you for anything at all (such as lost wages while he was in hospital, or "pain and suffering", or disability, or psychological harm, or even just a new pair of socks, you would be liable for paying whatever the court determines, as well as his legal fees and your own legal fees. You'd pay those anyway, even if the court awarded him nothing.

And if things went REALLY wrong, such as your house burning down due to faulty electrical wiring you did, the you wouldn't get a cent back from your insurance company, and you'd still be liable for any damages the fire might cause to your neighborhood...

So just from that point of view, it is absolutely recommended that you comply with all regulations, and keep all your paperwork and inspections in order.

What that actually entails, I'm hoping someone who lives in Aussieland can tell you.

Or did you somehow have the plans council approved with the room labelled as a Recording Studio?

Just from the viewpoint of making it understandable to the municipal clerks who will handle the paperwork and inspections, it might be better to call it something like a "music room", or even a "home theater", instead of a recording studio. Those terms are more commonly understood, and basically the method of building them identical. A "music room" doesn't need much more explanation, but if you call it a "recording studio" you'll get rather tired of repeating over and over to all the authorities exactly what it is that you intend to do in there!

By definition, a music room is classed as a habitable room (much like a bedroom or lounge room) which requires a minimum ceiling height of 2.4m and a certain amount of external window area (based on the floor area of the room). I don't see how a studio can be both a soundproofed/sealed room, & a "habitable" room by definition.

I'm not sure I follow your reasoning: It seems like you are saying that studios cannot have windows and must have ceilings lower than 2.4m? Why? Why would it not be possible to have a ceiling height of over 2.4m and windows in a studio? In fact, it is advantageous, acoustically, to have ceilings higher than 2.4 m. The higher the better! Acoustic issues start getting complex in small rooms with low ceilings: the lower the ceiling, and the smaller the room, the harder it is to use as a studio. And why would it not be possible to have windows in a studio? nearly all studios I have seen (including the ones I have designed for my clients) have windows, at he very least between internal rooms, but also commonly to the outside world too. Why would that not be allowable where you live?

It is a requirement under the Queensland Building Services Authority Act 1991 (QBSA Act) that if you wish to perform or coordinate domestic building work on your property for a single project of a value of $11,000 or more you must hold an owner-builder permit.

Does that still apply if you hire a contractor to build it for you, and he allows you to do part of the work as an unpaid apprentice under his supervision?

I've heard stories of insurance claims not being paid due to this type of scenario eg. Guys builds in underneath his 2 storey house. Downstairs ceiling height is under 2.4m so can't be classed as a habitable room. He turns it into a rumpus room (a rumpus is still legally classed as a habitable room). TV catches fire in the rumpus room and burns down the house. Insurance won't pay as he was using a non-habitable space in a habitable manner.

Exactly: That is, indeed, why you need to have all your legal stuff properly lined up and in order. Basically, if you do anything at all to your house without a permit, then your insurance company will very likely use that as a reason to not cover the damage, or the legal fees, or anything else. And you can bet that even if the problem occurred on the other end of the house, having nothing at all to do with your studio, they would still find a way to not pay...

The rumpus area is below minimum ceiling height.

Can you fix that? You basically have two options: raise the ceiling, or lower the floor. Assuming the floor is a concrete slab on grade, then it is relatively easily to break that out, dig down a few cm, and pour a new slab. Expensive, but do-able. If the slab is monolithic with the wall foundations, then it is usually still feasible to cut the slab away from the foundations, break it out, dig, and pour while re-attaching the new slab to the foundations, or perhaps leaving the two separate. A structural engineer can tell you how to do that.

however I've been told by a draftsman that they will have to call the internal rooms "utility rooms" due to having no external windows.

Once again, why can't you have windows in a "rumpus room" or studio? I recall that our rumpus room (when I lived in Australia) had windows: They were a bit higher up the wall than normal, since the rumpus room was partly below grade, but we had windows! So I'm not sure why you can't them in yours. Is the room entirely below ground level? Is it illegal to have windows in rumpus rooms now? What other reason is there that prevents you from having windows?

Should I just get the main external structure built professionally and legally, and then do the internal fitout myself without getting any council permission?

I would not do that. I would get all the permits required by law, and all the inspections. And if there are legal issues that prevent me from doing the work all myself, I would also get a contractor to take on the job, but I'd look for one who would agree to allow me to do some / most of the work myself, under his supervision, since he will be the guy signing off on the paperwork.


- Stuart -

[Rizza_81]

Hi Stuart,

Thanks very much for the quick response! I had a guess you'd be the first to chime in here.

Let me clarify further -

I absolutely want to do this by the book but I'm finding that there seems to be many restrictions to building this the way I want to. Whether it's council restrictions or restrictions on who can do what amount of work. That's why I'm interested in how others in Australia have done it.

My plan is to build an extension to my house which would contain the "live" room. I would then put the control room under my house in the existing rumpus area.

Just from the viewpoint of making it understandable to the municipal clerks who will handle the paperwork and inspections, it might be better to call it something like a "music room", or even a "home theater", instead of a recording studio. Those terms are more commonly understood, and basically the method of building them identical. A "music room" doesn't need much more explanation, but if you call it a "recording studio" you'll get rather tired of repeating over and over to all the authorities exactly what it is that you intend to do in there!

Unfortunately, this doesn't change the situation. A home theatre is still classed as a habitable room and requires a minimum window size of 10% of floor area, and it must open to 5% of floor area to provide ventilation.

See here -
http://www.build.com.au/windows-and-doors-home-theatres

I'm not sure I follow your reasoning: It seems like you are saying that studios cannot have windows and must have ceilings lower than 2.4m? Why? Why would it not be possible to have a ceiling height of over 2.4m and windows in a studio? In fact, it is advantageous, acoustically, to have ceilings higher than 2.4 m. The higher the better!

In my situation, I have a current ceiling height under the minimum allowable height in my rumpus area. This is quite common for older houses in Australia. I would love to have a higher ceiling but it's not going to happen. This is a personal hobby studio so I won't be going to the expense of digging into the existing house slab or raising the upper floor. I also like the idea of no windows to help keep the build simple and the isolation better. I really don't have a good external view to show off, and natural light isn't a big drawcard to me, so I'd prefer to avoid putting windows in.

Quote:
It is a requirement under the Queensland Building Services Authority Act 1991 (QBSA Act) that if you wish to perform or coordinate domestic building work on your property for a single project of a value of $11,000 or more you must hold an owner-builder permit.

Does that still apply if you hire a contractor to build it for you, and he allows you to do part of the work as an unpaid apprentice under his supervision?

I'm not too sure if many contractors are keen to allow this, as the work would still have to be covered by their insurance. I'm certainly hoping to be allowed to do some work. I just find it strange that you see so many build threads on here where the owner has done the bulk of the work themselves - maybe not electrical, but certainly framing, plastering etc. Maybe the rules are much less strict in other parts of the world or maybe people are doing these builds internally in their houses/garages and not getting council permission or getting their work certified? The $11,000 limit is actually the value of the work ie. if you hired someone to come and do it for you. It's not the cost of materials with your free labour. As you'd expect, $11k doesn't go far, so it's almost a certainty that I'd have to do an owner builders course and get an owner builders permit to do the internal fitouts.

Once again, why can't you have windows in a "rumpus room" or studio? I recall that our rumpus room (when I lived in Australia) had windows: They were a bit higher up the wall than normal, since the rumpus room was partly below grade, but we had windows! So I'm not sure why you can't them in yours. Is the room entirely below ground level? Is it illegal to have windows in rumpus rooms now? What other reason is there that prevents you from having windows?

My rumpus room is above ground and currently has 2 windows. No they aren't illegal! In fact the opposite. They are required by law for a room to be classed as habitable. My rumpus is still technically illegal as the ceiling height is below minimum. I was hoping to avoid having any windows in my rooms for the reasons mentioned above. There in lies the dilemma. To build a room without windows/natural ventilation, it must be classed as a non-habitable room. A music room/home theatre is classed as a habitable room. I've read plenty of forum posts from people going through the same problem with their home theatre planning. They want the cinematic experience by avoiding putting a window in, but the council won't approve the room without the appropriate window usage. Really, the only way to go is to class the room as a "utility" or "storeroom", and then use it for a habitable purpose after all the certification is done. There's no fully legal way of getting around the building code.

This would also apply to the live room. Whilst the extension I have planned is able to have a ceiling above the minimum required height (2.4m), I still didn't want windows, so again, it can't be classed as a music room/home theatre room. Therefore, I go back to the issue of validity of insurance where the room is being used for a purpose that it wasn't approved/certified for.

I guess one option is I could put windows in, and then block over them as part of the internal fitout. It would therefore pass council approval as a habitable space, before I block them up.

I'm still keen to hear the experience of other Aussie studio builds.

Cheers,
Ryan

[John Sayers]

Ryan - I've sent you a PM.

[edumacated]

Hey Ryan,
Great post.

I'd be interested in hearing any advice on the subject too since I'm planning a build in Victoria and am yet to approach Council about these types of issues.

Cheers,
Tim

[Rizza_81]

Thanks John.

I've also found this which gives me some hope that the definition of a habitable room can we be worked around.

http://www.mbawa.com/blog/home-theatres/

For a number of years, it was difficult to get approval for theatre rooms if they were proposed without windows as they did not comply with the Building Code of Australia. After much lobbying by builders and designers, the Building Code has been adjusted to allow theatre rooms without windows, which is normally required for ventilation and cross-ventilation for energy efficiency. The definition of Habitable Room has been adjusted to exclude a room of a specialized nature occupied neither frequently nor for extended periods.

Guess I need to talk to a building certifier to get this info confirmed.

Cheers,
Ryan

[horizonsound]

Hi,

I built my studio (in Melbourne) out back of my house.
It's a free standing building, that was a Class 10 building - "workshop". All the council saw on the plans was a shell. No fit out. It had to comply with the covenants on the land, in that the bricks and rood gad to be the same as the house. I had to submit a few drawings for the permit. A set out drawing, plan, and elevations.

A class 10 building is not a habitable building, thus the building surveyor does not need to get copies of things like roof plumbing certificates. On completion, you'll get a "certificate of completion" rather than a "certificate of occupation".
There were four inspections required. First was on the slab, before the pour to check the reo and pier foundations. The concreter called my surveyor and set up the inspection times. The next was after the pour of concrete. Third was on completion of the frame, and the last was for the certificate of completion.

You can see my build thread here....
http://johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic ... izon+sound


Regards
Anthony.

[Rizza_81]

Hi Anthony,

Your build looks great! Just a quick question ... based on the fact that you only got the external building certified, are you worried about insurance covering your equipment inside?

As previously mentioned, a music room is classed as a habitable room whilst a class 10 building is not. I'm under the impression your insurance company could use this to void your policy in the event an issue was to arise within the studio (break-in, fire etc.)

Also, did you do most of the work yourself? If so, did you apply for an owner builder's licence & permit? (it looks like the work would be valued at more than $11k)

Cheers,
Ryan

[horizonsound]

Hi,

I bought it up with my insurance agent, and they kept telling me it is no issue at all. However I am not reassured by this advice and have nothing formal on paper. The only time you can really test your policy is when you make a claim.

As far as I'm concerned, it's a storage shed where I store my gear. They may not see it the same way.

I built everything except for the slab and brickwork. Combined they were just under 10k. All up I spend about 30k including fit out. The shell as the council saw it, was only about 12k. You can build a class 10 building without internal cladding. Just slab, frame, roof and bricks.

The permit stated $8500 value. As I said, I had a friend work is a building surveyor pull some moves for me.

Regards,

[horizonsound]

...which implies I did not get and owner builder permit.