20m² & 50m² Council Rules
Owner Builder Rules / Council Regulations.
Owner Building and getting council approval maybe easier than you may think. Assembling a Cabin Life timber cabin is relatively easy, and you can save a lot of money by building one of our Granny Flats or Cabins as a DIY managed project.
If your Cabin or Granny Flats requires council approval, our best recommendation is to become an owner builder. You will need an owner builders’ licence and a white card. These are easily accessible by doing a quick online course.
Basically, an owner builder who does not have many building skills can manage the project by outsourcing the cabin build to a local builder or depending on your location, maybe our install team can be contracted to build it for you. You then manage the site to ensure it is built as required. You can save yourself a lot of money by doing parts of the building process yourself and outsource the rest to qualified trades.
All cabins come with plans, and a comprehensive DIY video series is on the website and you tube.
Here are the links to the NSW and QLD owner builder’s information.
Link to the Owner Builders’ course NSW (NSW Click Here) https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/apply-owner-builder-permit
Link to the Owner Builders’ course QLD (QLD Click Here)
http://www.qbcc.qld.gov.au/home-building-owners/owner-building/apply-owner-builder-permit
Once you have received your Owner Builder certificate and permit, combined with your development application number from council, then you are ready to commence on the job site.
Science – Pyrolysis and Combustion
Solid Timber is an Insulator and a poor conductor of heat and electricity. Wood is a much better insulator than steel, concrete and glass.
When timber is progressively heated at raised temperatures, changes begin to occur in its structure, accelerated by further increase in temperature. The three polymeric components in the timber begin to thermally decompose to a mixture of volatile gases, tar (levoglucosan) and carbonaceous char. The decomposition is often regarded as the superposition of the individual constituent’s decomposition mechanisms: hemicellulose decomposes first [180 – 350°C] followed by cellulose [275 – 350°C], and lignin [250 – 500°C] The thermal stability of lignin is considered to be due to its heavily cross-linked structure and high molecular weight.