Do I need shed approval in NSW?

It depends on the shed and the land. In New South Wales a shed goes one of three ways: exempt development, when it meets every one of the state’s exempt standards; complying development, when it fits the complying standards and a certifier or the council issues a certificate; or a development application to the council when it fits neither. A small garden shed on ordinary land may be exempt and can be built without a council application.

When is a shed exempt development?

When it stays inside every standard at once: its floor area, its height, its distance from each boundary, where it sits against the front of the house, how its roof water drains, and that it is built to the building rules. The floor area the state allows changes with the zone, and rural land has more room than a house lot. Nobody can live or sleep in it.

What takes the exemption away?

a heritage item on the lot, and in some cases a heritage conservation area
bushfire prone land, where a shed close to the house usually has to be built from materials that do not burn
other land the state sets aside, such as some flood control lots and environmentally sensitive areas

The council’s planning certificate for the lot lists most of these, so read it before you order the kit. The post on planning overlays explains what each kind usually changes.

When does a shed need a complying development certificate?

When it is bigger or closer than the exempt standards allow but still inside the complying standards for the zone. The certificate covers the planning and the building at once, and it comes from a registered certifier or the council. The neighbours are told before the work starts. A certifier cannot vary a standard, so a shed that misses one has to change or move to a development application.

When does a shed go to a development application?

When it falls outside both sets of standards, or the land rules out the complying path. The council assesses it on its merits against its own controls for the area and may notify the neighbours. A construction certificate from a certifier or the council still has to follow before the work starts. The post on where a shed can go covers the choices on the block.

What if the shed turns out not to be exempt?

Then it is unauthorised work, and the council can ask for an application or order it changed, and it can surface when the house is sold. Exempt work has no certificate, so keep a dated drawing and the kit’s details as the record that it met the standards when it went up. The post on approval after it is built covers a shed already standing.

Reading it for your own lot

RapidSiteplan reads the council and building rules for your lot from its address, checks the design against them as you place it, lets you edit it as often as you like, and prints the site plan. Site plans and assessments in minutes. Place the shed and the sheet gives its distance to every boundary and the street, with the overlays on the lot shown.

Search your address, see what the plan shows for a shed or carport, or read what we hold for Blacktown. New South Wales councils are listed by name, and site plans by council covers the rest of Australia.

Common questions

Do I need shed approval in NSW? It depends on the shed and the land. A small shed that meets every exempt standard can be built without a council application. A bigger one takes a complying development certificate from a certifier or the council, or a development application when it fits neither set of standards.

Can I build a shed without council approval in NSW? Yes, when the shed stays inside every one of the state’s exempt standards and the land is not excluded. Miss one standard and the exemption is gone.

Who gives council approval for a shed in NSW? The council decides a development application, and a registered certifier or the council can issue a complying development certificate.