ACT Certification

Sending all our love to the bloke who keeps this business alive and bumping! Sadly his beloved Geelong Cats didn’t make it to the big dance this year, but that won’t stop him celebrating getting another year closer to the big 40! Happy Birthday Scotty ❤️❤️

🏊 Installing a new pool? Did you know you’ll need a Building Certifier?

This week we visited a very special client of ours for the final inspection of their brand-new swimming pool, just in time for the weather to start heating up 💦

Come along with us to see what we’re checking before a new pool can be signed off.

⚠️ You’ll notice the compliant pool barrier is still to be installed, an important final step in the approval process!

The ACT Certification Team had the pleasure of undertaking the Building Approval for this beautiful new Capybara Events Centre at National Zoo & Aquarium Canberra

It’s always so rewarding to see structures come to life, and this one especially! What an amazing project to work on.

From the air, a slab before it's poured looks almost too simple — just a flat grid of steel stretching across the block. It's only once you're standing on it that you realise how much actually goes into getting it there.

We got the drone up on this one before the pour. Every pipe underneath has to sit exactly where the plans say, because once the concrete's down, shifting it means jackhammering through a finished slab. The steel mesh has to be lifted up on little chairs so it's not resting on the ground, that gap is the difference between steel that lasts the life of the house and steel that slowly rusts away inside the concrete where nobody will ever see it. All of it gets checked, adjusted, and checked again before the truck ever shows up.

Then in one morning, all of that work disappears under concrete for good.

From above it looks like nothing much is happening. On the ground, it's one of the only stages of the whole build that can never be redone.

Next time you see a slab being poured for a new home, you'll know exactly how much sits underneath it.

You'd be surprised how much can be sitting inside a wall before the platerboard goes on.

We were walking through a bathroom frame on site this week, checking it over before the plasterboard goes on, and came across a few things that made us raise our eye brows.

This is exactly the point of walking through a frame before it gets covered up, because after that, whatever's behind the wall stays behind the wall, good or bad.

If you're building or renovating, it's worth asking whoever's checking your frame whether they're actually getting in close and looking for things like this, or just having a quick look and moving on.

Worth saving if you're mid-build or about to be.

🏗️ WHAT IF YOUR NEXT CAREER MOVE WAS RIGHT UNDER YOUR NOSE?

You love construction. You know your way around a building site. But maybe you’re starting to wonder what the next 10, 20 or 30 years could look like.

Building Certification could be it. 👀

ACT Certification is looking for our next Trainee Building Certifier, and we’re not necessarily looking for someone who already knows how to do the job.

We’re looking for someone who is curious, practical, great with people and keen to learn.

You might be:

🔨 A tradie thinking about getting off the tools
🏗️ Already working somewhere in the construction industry and ready for something new
🎓 Studying Building Surveying or Building Certification
🚀 Or looking for an opportunity to build a long-term career in construction

We’ll provide the mentoring, practical training and real-world experience to help you build a career as a Building Certifier.

💰 $80,000 + super
🎓 3-year pathway towards accreditation
🏗️ Office + site-based experience
🧠 Training, mentoring & study support
📍 Full-time | based in our office in Belconnen, Canberra but working throughout the ACT and surrounding NSW region

You’ll be joining a team that works hard, has a laugh and genuinely enjoys doing this together.

🎥 Watch our recruitment video to get a feel for who we are.

If you can picture yourself as part of the crew, we’d love to hear from you. Apply now via SEEK.

And if someone immediately came to mind while reading this… tag them or send this their way! 👇

Last night we had the honour of attending the 2026 Master Builders ACT and Asset Construction Hire Excellence Awards. Not only did we attend in Scott’s capacity as a judge in this year’s residential category’s, but we also took our ACT Certification hats off for a moment attending personally as clients of Vdara Construction.

A massive congratulations to Adam and Amanda from Vdara Construction who won 3 categories!

🏆 Sustainable Residential Project (in conjunction with Canberra Architect I Neighbourhood) for their Macgregor Project

🏆 Custom Built/Project Home $500,000 to $750,000 (in conjunction with Canberra Architect I Neighbourhood and Dept. of Design) for their Macgregor Project

The ACT Certification team had the pleasure of completing the Building Approval for both of these projects!

🏆 Renovation/Extension $1million to $2.5million for their Weetangera Project (in conjunction with Black Line Concepts - something we are personally very proud of 😉)

We are honoured to have been invited to share in Vdara Construction success last night and had a fabulous time hanging out with the Canberra Architect I Neighbourhood team on table 125!

Good luck to all of the Finalists at tonights and Asset Construction Hire Excellence Awards!

🔎 WHAT WE’RE CHECKING ON A WATERPROOFING INSPECTION

Ever wondered what a Building Certifier is actually looking for when they turn up on site?

Today we’re at one of our NSW projects carrying out a Waterproofing Inspection.

👀 What are we checking?

Membrane coverage and the condition that it is in; are there visable holes, gaps or damaged and consistent with the approved documents.

Junctions, penetrtions and water stop; are the critical areas appropriately waterproofed.

Correct system and installation; is the substrate suitable and has the membrane system been installed appropriately with the manufacturers requirements.

⚠️ Why does it matter?

Inspecting the waterproofing mattes because once the tiles and finishes go on you can't see what's underneath. Getting it right now helps prevent water leaks, mould, damaged walls/falls and is expensive to repair later.

💡 One thing to remember

Waterproofing is only as good as its weakest point (corners, junctions and penetrations) where small mistakes can turn into big leaks.

Building certification isn't just about ticking boxes. Mandatory inspections help identify compliance issues at key stages of construction, while there is still an opportunity to address them.