About asset protection
Council regulate for the protection of public assets on road reserves by charging an asset protection fee on any building works or sites that may cause damage.
Public assets include:
- roads
- footpaths
- shared paths
- drainage
- buildings
- playgrounds
- bus shelters
- street trees
- parks
- car parks.
The road reserve is all the land between property or title boundaries (including footpaths and nature strips).
About the asset protection fee
The asset protection fee applies to builders, developers, service providers and residents carrying out building works that may impact an asset in a road reserve.
The fee allows Council to carry out pre and post works inspections to ensure that works do not damage Council assets.
The asset protection fee is $350. This fee is non-refundable and applies to an individual permit, not property.
Property owners building via multiple permits on the same property may need to pay multiple fees.
The process
You cannot start building works until you have paid your asset protection fee and Council has carried out a pre-works site inspection.
If you do not pay the fee, you may incur penalties under the Amenity Local Law 2020.
Pre works inspection
The asset protection process starts automatically when we receive a notification of works (Section 80) as part of a building permit. This may come from a private building surveyor or from our own building surveyor.
An asset surveillance officer visits the site to inspect any public assets near the construction zone. They document any pre-existing damage.
You will not be held responsible for any pre-existing damage.
Post works inspection
The inspectors are automatically instructed to carry out the post works inspection once Council receives the Notification of the Certificate of Occupancy (Section 73) when works have been completed.
Repairs
If further damages are noted in the post works inspection, you will be issued with a Notice to Repair Council’s Assets. This gives you 30 days to make the appropriate repairs to assets.
Any repairs must follow Council’s Standard Drawings.
If you need to excavate any part of a road reserve to make repairs, you will need to apply for a road opening permit.
Responsibility for the fee
It may be stated in your contractual agreement that the contractor will pay the asset protection fee and cover the cost of all repairs. However, it is up to you to forward any correspondence to your contractor and ensure all fees, bonds or infringements are paid within the required time frames.
All Council correspondence is sent to the property owner.
Bonds
Knox City Council does not charge a bond as part of the standard asset protection inspection process.
However, we may need to apply a bond if:
- access via Council land is needed to conduct works on private property
- building materials are to be stored in a public place.
All bonds are fully refundable once public assets have been reinstated to the satisfaction of Council.
Bonds are considered on an individual basis and must be applied for. Should officers determine that these bonds cannot be granted, alternative arrangements must be made.
Best practice for site management
Landowners and builders must make every effort to prevent:
- damage to public assets, and
- pollution leaving their building site (for example, litter and sediment).
For more information, see Protection of public assets and control of building sites guidelines or Council’s Amenity Local Law and Policy Guidelines.
Need help?
Contact us and we will get back to you.
Or call our Customer Service team on 9298 8000.
