How many years back can Council's compliance go?

A couple of years ago, many of my neighbours and I put in submissions which objected to my next door neighbour's DA for an oversized development. Council's Planning department thankfully negotiated a more acceptable design which has since been built to everybody's satisfaction.

My next door neighbour has now taken it upon herself to payback all those who did submissions to her DA (mostly asking that the design be scaled down) by making compliance complaints to Council. One of the complaints laid against me is that the staircase to my upstairs bedroom does not have a balustrade or railing (which was signed off as fully compliant by Council in 1993). Back in 1993 there was no regulation against having "open" staircases. The Council compliance inspector did an inspection of my property yesterday and ordered that I must put up a balustrade as per the BCA regulations.
http://www.ozstair.com.au/design-centre ... gulations/

My house is 130 years old. The question is, how many years back can Council Compliance officers go in making your house "compliant"?


Read the full thread at RenovateForum.com...