Planning & Building Approvals
Planning and building approvals in the City of Sydney are governed by The Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.
Categories of Development
Approval is required to carry out development in the City of Sydney, except where expressely exempted. The Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 defines development as:
- the use of land;
- the subdivision of land;
- the erection of a building;
- the carrying out of work;
- demolition; or
- any other matter controlled by an environmental planning instrument.
Other categories of development are:
- Exempt Development: minor development that does not need any approval but must comply with specific standard provisions.
- Complying Development: a subset of local development that has a low environmental impact and that can be certified as complying with predetermined standards. Separate complying development procedures provide a fast system for assessing development. A Complying Development Certificate may be issued by either the City of Sydney or an accredited certifier.
- State Significant Development: is a development identified by the State Government as being of State or regional significance. The Minister of Planning is the consent authority.
- Integrated Development: is a development where separate approvals are required under other Acts, such as The Heritage Act 1977 or The Roads Act 1993. Here, the City of Sydney refers the application to the relevant authority to seek the terms of approval. If approval is granted, such terms of approval will be included in the development consent. Separate approvals will still be needed under the relevant acts, but the confirmation of an approval will be obtained early on in the process. The approval of the relevant authority does not fetter the discretion of Council in determination the application.
Development Application Assessment
Development Applications and any subsequent applications for related building or construction work, such as a Construction Certificate, are assessed under Section 79C(1) of The Act.
Matters considered in the assessment of a Development Application are:
(a) the provisions of:
(i) any environmental planning instrument
(ii) any draft environmental planning instrument that is or has been placed on public exhibition and details of which have been notified to the consent authority
(iii) any development control plan, and
(iv) any matters prescribed by the regulations, that apply to the land to which the development application relates.
(b) the likely impacts of that development, including environmental impacts on both the natural and built environments and social and economic impacts in the locality
(c) the suitability of the site for the development
(d) any submissions made in accordance with this Act or the regulations
(e) the public interest.
All matters previously left to the BA stage for final resolution and all conditions of consent have to be fully covered at the DA stage.
This means that DA drawings and information provided with a DA will have to be presented to the City of Sydney in a detailed manner before consent can be issued.
Construction Certificates
A Construction Certificate is needed by an applicant before commencing any building and construction work that has been granted Development Consent, except work where a Complying Development Certificate is in place.
Construction Certificate Guide
For more information about obtaining a Construction Certificate, please read the Construction Certificate Application Guide which is available for download, which is user-friendly and provides everything you need to know about preparing and lodging a Construction Certificate with the City of Sydney.
It replaces the requirement for a stamped Building Application Approval issued by Council under The Local Government Act 1993, although with some significant differences.
A Construction Certificate essentially certifies that:
- the detailed construction plans and specifications for any development are not inconsistent with the Development Consent and comply with the Building Code of Australia
- all required contributions and charges have been paid
- all Development Consent conditions have been satisfied.
In addition to a Construction Certificate, The Act provides for three other types of certificates, known as Part 4A Certificates comprising:
- Compliance Certificate
- Occupation Certificate
- Subdivision Certificate (for land subdivision).
These certificates may be required at various stages of a development project and some of them will be issued by the Principal Certifying Authority appointed prior to the commencement of approved works.
Principal Certifying Authority
Building or subdivision works cannot commence until Council is notified of the appointment of a Principal Certifying Authority (PCA).
Either the City of Sydney or a private accredited certifier may be appointed as the PCA to take carriage and responsibility for all requirements under The Act subsequent to the issue of a Construction Certificate.
A key role of the PCA will be to oversee the construction phase of a development and certify that a building or work has been inspected and that construction meets all appropriate standards such as the Building Code of Australia (BCA).
The PCA will be responsible for the issue of Compliance and Occupation Certificates, where required.
Subdivision
Subdivision also comes under The Act. Once development consent has been obtained for a land subdivision (if required), a Subdivision Certificate must be obtained.
Strata subdivisions also require development approval and also an approval under The Strata Schemes (Freehold Development) Act 1973 or The Strata Schemes (Leasehold Development) Act 1986.
A Strata Certificate may be issued by the City of Sydney or, where the DA approval for strata subdivision was granted after 1 June 2000, a private accredited certifier in certain circumstances.
For More Information
Planning Assessment Unit
Tel: 02 9265 9363
Building Services Unit
Tel: 02 9265 9751
Email: council@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au (attention Planning Assessment Unit or Building Services Unit).
Further information on The Acts and planning issues can also be obtained from:
Department of Planning
Website: http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au
Download
- Construction Certificate Application Guide | PDF 71Kb
