What one council records, and why
The City of Melbourne shows how a before-and-after record works, using its own public assets as the property at stake. If building work worth more than $10,000 needs a building permit, the builder pays the council a non-refundable asset protection levy before work starts, and a demolition with its own stage one building permit attracts the levy separately from the construction that follows.
Where the council also takes a security payment (a bond), it says that before works start it records the condition of the public assets that could be affected, and calls that record the dilapidation report. It may visit the site at any time to look for damage, may use a video survey to check whether the works caused damage, and inspects again when the builder asks for the bond back. The bond is not released until the assets are reinstated to the council’s satisfaction.
The council’s page also shows why the “before” matters. If building works start without the levy being paid, the council says it will treat public assets as having been undamaged before the works began. Without a record of the starting point, the starting point is assumed.
Trees get a record too
Where demolition or construction could affect a council tree, the City of Melbourne requires a tree protection management plan prepared by a certified project arborist. The plan must include photographs of any damage or faults already visible in each tree before demolition or construction, and the council’s fact sheet calls those photographs a “preliminary dilapidation report”. Trees on and near the site covers the rest of that plan.
Your own home: what these rules do not say
A council’s construction code may say nothing about the house next door. The City of Melbourne’s code is plain about it: similar principles may carry over to neighbouring private property, but protecting it “does not form part of this Code”. Rules about neighbouring private property, where they exist, sit elsewhere: in state building law, in the conditions attached to a particular approval, or in an agreement between owners. Those differ from state to state, so this guide does not summarise them.
In New South Wales, the NSW Government’s page for people concerned about a neighbouring development says councils keep a copy of the approved plans and employ compliance officers who can investigate building work done without authority or against the conditions of consent. Asking your council what the conditions of consent for the site say about neighbouring property is one way to find out whether a record of your home is part of the approval. That suggestion is the guide’s own; the page does not say it.
If damage happens
The same NSW Government page suggests a first step for any concern about a neighbouring development, and lists where to go if a builder has damaged your property:
- First
- Try to negotiate a resolution with the property owner or developer, the local council or the principal certifier.
- For advice
- A solicitor. The same page also names a community justice centre, but from 1 July 2025 those centres mediate only disputes referred by NSW courts or involving incorporated associations.
- About a builder
- The Building Commission’s building and renovating complaints. Building Commission NSW says it can investigate complaints against licensed builders and tradespeople, but cannot act on a complaint against a property owner, unless that owner is an owner-builder.
- For disputes
- The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
Other states have their own bodies and routes. Raising a concern about a site lists the ones this guide has checked.
A record you can keep yourself
Nothing stops a neighbour from keeping a dated record of their own home before work begins. The frames below are the guide’s own checklist, not a legal standard, and a photograph you take is not a substitute for a professional report where one is required.
- The wall that faces the site, end to end, with the date visible in the file.
- Every crack you can already see, close up, with a ruler or coin beside it for scale.
- Ceilings and cornices in the rooms nearest the site.
- Doors and windows on that side, including any that already stick.
- Fences, paving, driveways and garden edges along the boundary.
- Gutters, downpipes and the roof line, where you can photograph them safely from the ground.
Keeping the files somewhere they cannot be edited, and noting the date work started, makes the record easier to rely on later. That too is the guide’s suggestion rather than a rule.