A Safe and Sanitary Report is simply an opinion from a suitably qualified person (someone with extensive building experience and report writing skills) as to a buildings current performance and status when assessed against the building regulations in existence when the building work was completed.
A Safe and Sanitary Report is typically supplied when:

• A building permit is cancelled or not signed off; or
• A building consent has lapsed, been cancelled or no Code Compliance Certificate has been issued, or
• Unauthorised building work was completed on the property pre 30 June 1991 (work completed after this date without building consent requires a certificate of acceptance).

Content of a Safe and Sanitary Report
A safe and report must include the following information;

• A request on behalf of the current owner for the report to be undertaken
• Why the report is important and what it covers (scope of works)
• Background including current status of any outstanding permits/ consents that are being addressed by the safe and sanitary report
• Findings of the site assessment
• Supporting documents from specialists such as electricians, plumbers, engineers etc. where applicable
• Supporting photographs where applicable
• Updated plans where applicable (scaled)
• Any recommendations (e.g. that some remedial work requires a building consent or that work completed after 1 July 1992 requires a certificate of acceptance)
• The report must end with a conclusion as to the building works current performance (e.g. that the building is safe, not insanitary and fit for purpose)
• A fee is payable for the report.

Important** Where a Safe and Sanitary Report identifies that there are outstanding issues that are not covered by the report such as the need to apply for either a ‘Building Consent’ for remedial work or ‘Certificate of Acceptance’ for unconsented work these additional applications must be lodged with the safe and sanitary report for it to be accepted.