Principal Certifiers and the role of Council

Choose Inner West Council as your Principal Certifier (PC) to ensure your building project is inspected, compliant, and safe.

Why Council Should Be Your Principal Certifier

Choosing Council ensures your project is overseen by a team whose priority is public safety, compliance, and community wellbeing. Our certifiers operate with integrity, impartiality and deep local knowledge.

The PC must:

  • Ensure your build complies with development consent and construction or complying development certificates
  • Ensure work complies with the Building Code of Australia (BCA), now Volume Two of the NCC
  • Carry out required inspections and issue the Occupation Certificate at completion 

Council delivers all of these functions with strong governance, transparency, and public accountability.

How the Certification Process Works

Once your Development Application (DA) is approved, you may need a Construction Certificate before work begins, depending on the type of development

You choose your Principal Certifier

  • Council or a
  • private certifier 

But Council must be notified in writing before work starts.

All projects must give neighbours two days’ written notice before construction starts.

Your PC oversees all mandatory inspections, ensuring compliance with:

  • NSW legislation
  • NCC / BCA provisions
  • Your DA/CDC conditions
  • Relevant standards

When construction is complete and compliant, your PC issues the Occupation Certificate

How Council Supports Safe, Compliant Building

But when you do, we manage the entire compliance pathway, including:

  • Mandatory inspections
  • Verification of NCC/BCA compliance
  • Monitoring adherence to development conditions
  • Community concerns and site enquiries
  • Issuing the Occupation Certificate

This aligns with standards enforced by the NSW Building Commission, which oversees certifiers and compliance across NSW.

Page last updated: 13 Feb 2026