Completing a Form 16 correctly should protect you, and ensure you are taking responsibility for what you actually want to certify and nothing else. However, we receive Form 16’s all day, every day, and not one day goes by when we are not asking someone to amend or correct them. Therefore we have decided to write a series of articles, published over the next few weeks, dedicated to the elusive Form 16 and to explaining each of its uses and functions.
Let’s get started with why you need a Form 16?
Building certifiers are not gods. They do not know everything, and they cannot be everywhere all the time. The building law recognises this, and allows building certifiers to accept inspection help from ‘competent persons’ where that person provides a Form 16 in accordance with the 1975 Building Act.
Before a building certifier can accept inspection help from a person, they must determine that the person is competent to provide that help, or that they have the required QBCC license to certify an aspect of construction.
Once the building certifier has determined the person is competent, they can lawfully rely on the competent person’s Form 16 without further checking.
What this means is that certification on a Form 16, from a person deemed competent by the building certifier, limits the building certifiers responsibility of that Stage, Aspect or QBCC licensee Aspect, and places the responsibility onto the competent person.
If you are a person who issues Form 16’s to building certifier’s, do you know the lawful difference between a Form 16 for a Stage, Aspect, or QBCC licensee aspect? When you fill out these forms, are you limiting your liability? Or are you unknowingly certifying more than you have inspected or installed?
In future articles, we will help you understand more about these forms and how to ensure you only certify what you are actually responsible for. In the mean time, we have attached the two guidelines for inspection: Class 1 and 10 Building and Structure, and Class 2 – 9 Buildings.
These should allow you to get a clearer understanding of Stages and Aspects.
To read our next instalment on Form 16’s CLICK HERE