The main type of plans held in the City Archives are architectural and building plans, both proposed and approved building plans.
Many are associated with building and development applications, and the majority date from the 20th century. The plans can be hand-coloured prints, linen tracings or blueprints.
We also have in the archive collection engineering plans, building survey floor plans, land auction sale plans, trigonometrical surveys and detail sheets.
A significant number of architectural plans have been digitised or partially digitised. The project is ongoing, and eventually all the plans will be completely digitised. The plans have been indexed on Archives and History Resources; you can search by address. Many are also contained with the Development and Building collection.
Digitised plans can be downloaded as pdfs from the catalogue for free.
A separate section in the guide explains records associated with building and development applications.
City of Sydney application plans
From 1909, Council required duplicates of plans to be attached to Building Applications. These plans can be ornate, detailed architectural drawings, elevations and sections or they can be rough sketches for minor alterations and additions. They can be found at Building application plans, (AS-0126), 1909–1997.
Over the years the plans submitted with the average building application have increased in number. At first only architectural drawings were lodged, mainly elevations and floor plans, and the total number of plans per application rarely exceeded ten. As structures and techniques grew more complex other plan types were introduced. Today engineering, electrical and mechanical drawings form the bulk of the submitted plans.
There are over 46,000 plans in this series.
The plans have been indexed on Archives and History Resources; you can search by address. They are also contained with the Development and Building collection search. The plans are digitised as PDFs and can be downloaded individually.
Recent records
For development applications that were lodged after 8 November 2004, you should first try the City of Sydney’s online service Find a DA.
Amalgamated council areas application plans
Similar sets of plans associated with building and development applications have survived for amalgamated council areas, although the collections are not comprehensive and do not cover all buildings. Digitisation of these series is ongoing. They are all included within the Development and Building collection, as well as being indexed on Archives and History Resources; you can search by address.
- Alexandria Building Plans (AS-1068), 1941-1949, 64 plans
- Darlington Building Plans (AS-1070), 1928-1947, 14 plans
- Erskineville Building Plans (AS-1069), 1934-1948, 13 plans
- Glebe Building Plans (AS-1071), 1919-1948, 213 plans
- Newtown Building Plans (AS-1072), 1922-1949, 306 plans
- Paddington Building Plans (AS-1074), 1919-1948, 238 plans
- Redfern Building Plans (AS-1073), 1921-1949, 190 plans
- South Sydney Building Application Plans (AS-0092), 1968-1984, 188 plans
- Waterloo Building Plans (AS1075), 1926-1948, 73 plans
City Architect and Building Surveyor Department plans
There are two major records series containing architectural plans drawn by City of Sydney Council’s architects. These plans include buildings, markets, hotels, public housing, sporting facilities, substations, street furniture (garbage bins, lamp standards etc), public conveniences, community facilities, playgrounds and incinerators.
The plans are a range of formats including hand-coloured prints, linen tracings or blueprints and occasionally are signed by the Town Clerk and the contractors carrying out the building work.
The earliest plans relate to Sydney Town Hall and the Exhibition Building in Prince Alfred Park. The plans of some key buildings have been extracted as their own series.
All of these plans have been indexed on Archives and History Resources.
- Council Plans I (AS-0569), 1870-1933, 1,463 plans
- Council Plans II (AS-0782), 1927-1990, 943 plans
- Architectural detail sheets of Sydney Town Hall (AS-0179), 1878, 9 plans
- Sydney Town Hall plans (AS-0141), 1882-1934, 247 plans
- Queen Victoria Market Building plan (AS-0541), 1892-1930, 358 plans
- Pyrmont Power Station plans (AS-0342), 1900-1927, 387 plans
- Plans of the Hippodrome (AS-0296), 1913-1915, 11 plans
- Plans of the Capitol Theatre (AS-0208), 1913-1970, 76 plans
Building Survey Cards
These cards were prepared by the City Architect and Building Surveyor’s Department. They contain a detailed summary of a building’s type and construction. Importantly for history researchers, most of the cards have a hand-drawn sketch of the floor plans of each building attached. The cards are usually signed and dated by the Council officer carrying out the survey.
There are two sets of building survey cards, completed at different times, which provide a snapshot of a building in a certain era.
The cards have all been indexed on Archives and History Resources; you can search by address. They are also contained with the Development and Building collection.
- Building Survey Cards I (AS-0932)
Most of the cards in this survey are for surveys completed in 1944 and 1949.
Each card records most of the following information: address; building name; type of business or activity; number of floors; number of personnel; construction type; roof materials; height; floor area; dimensions and material of stairs; fire escapes; number and type of lifts; light areas; number and type of sprinklers; fire doors; interconnected buildings; adjoining lanes; meters; ventilation; floor loading; type of motors used; existence of air raid shelters (ARS); number and location of toilets; windows; floor plan(s).
Building footprints
Several maps digitised and accessible within the Historical Atlas show accurate building outlines. Compared over time, these maps can point to building modifications.
- Trig Survey, 1855-1865 - shows building footprints and construction materials
- Dove’s Plans, 1880 – shows building footprints, number of storeys, construction materials
- Rygate & West, 1888 – shows building footprints, number of storeys, construction materials
- Fire Plans 1917-1939 – shows building footprints, number of storeys, stairs, lightwells, construction materials
- Civic Survey, 1938-1950 – shows building footprints, number of storeys
- Glebe Municipality, 1939 – shows building footprints
- Detail Sheets, 1949-1972 – shows building footprints
The Historical Atlas is accessible through a tile on the homepage of Archives and History Resources.
Video guide
For further direction, take a look at our video guide on plans in the City Archives, part of our series The Things We Keep. City Historian Lisa Murray highlights some of the gems in the collection and will guide you to find plans of interest to you.
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