Site plans and approval in New South Wales
Site plans and assessments in minutes, anywhere in New South Wales, drawn over the real lot.
How approval works in New South Wales
In New South Wales a small structure goes through the planning pathway it fits. Exempt development needs no approval and nothing is lodged, but the structure has to meet every exempt standard and the land must not be excluded from it. Complying development is a fast approval: a complying development certificate from a registered certifier or the council, for work that meets the state's complying standards. Anything else needs a development application to the council, assessed against its local environmental plan and development control plan. The certifier or the council reads the site plan for the structure's size and its distance to each boundary and the house, and for exempt work the plan is the owner's own record. Size, height, distance to each boundary and the land itself decide the pathway, as per the State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008.
Drawing the plan
Type the property address, the lot’s real boundaries load from official land records in New South Wales, and you place the structure over the aerial view. The plan prints to scale with boundary lengths, setback distances, a north arrow, a legend, a site coverage table and a title block, as the site plan for a DA or a complying development certificate.
What a certifier in New South Wales will ask you
Is the patio, shed or carport attached to the house?
Whether it fixes to the house changes how it is classified, and so what the certifier checks near the boundary. The sheet says which it is.
How close to the boundary can it go?
The distance to each boundary decides whether the work can stand where it is drawn or needs an application for a closer position, and close to a side or rear boundary the fire rules apply too. The sheet dimensions the distance from the structure to every boundary.
Is the lot in an overlay, and what is the zoning?
A flood, bushfire, heritage or character overlay can bring a planning approval on top of the building approval, and the zone decides which of the council’s rules apply. The mapped overlays are read at the lot as the structure goes on the plan.
Are there easements, sewer mains or other services?
Work near a sewer or water main goes to the asset owner before the certifier can sign it off, on a timeline of its own. Mapped easements and mains show on the lot as it loads.
Who gives the approval, and who draws the plan?
The certifier or the council gives the approval, and the site plan can come from the builder, the supplier, a drafter or the owner, as long as it is clear and to scale. A surveyor comes in where the position of a boundary on the ground has to be fixed.
How big is it, and how big is the lot?
The size and the height decide whether the structure needs building approval at all, and the council can add limits that step with the lot’s size. The sheet prints the lot’s area and the running total of site cover.
Is the patio a pergola, a louvred roof or a solid roof?
An open pergola and a roofed patio are treated differently near the boundary, and louvres that shut to shed water count as a roof. Roofed, it also adds to the site cover total on the sheet.
Is the carport open, or closed in?
How open the carport is changes whether it needs a fire rated wall near the boundary, and a roller door or a later enclosure reopens the question. A shed never takes the open carport exemption.
How big can a granny flat be, and how far from the house?
The council caps a granny flat’s floor area, and some councils also limit how far from the house it may stand. The sheet prints the floor area and dimensions the distance to the house.
How deep is the pool?
The depth decides whether the water needs a barrier, and the barrier has to be in place before the pool is filled. The barrier is what gets inspected, so the sheet shows where it runs and every gate with its swing.
How high can a retaining wall and a fence go?
Each takes its own height test, and a retaining wall carrying a fence has its own approval. Both heights go on the sheet for the certifier to read together.
The figures for your own lot are read in a minute, from its address.
Councils we hold facts for
Other councils in New South Wales
The state rule above applies here, and at each lot the editor checks the state’s mapping for flood, bushfire, landslide, heritage and native vegetation.
- Balranald
- Eurobodalla
- Inverell
- Mid-Coast
- Parkes
- Randwick
- Singleton
- Wagga Wagga
- Walgett
- Waverley
Changes on the way
Rule changes announced for New South Wales, its councils and the whole country, each with the page that says so and the day we read it.
In the next 90 days
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Codes SEPP and the complying development variations pathway
A council variation certificate for small departures from complying development standards, plus Codes SEPP changes to setbacks, garages, sloping sites and rainwater tanks
Source planningportal.nsw.gov.au, read
Later
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National Construction Code 2025
NCC 2025 replaces NCC 2022 as the building code in New South Wales, but Part H6 stays NCC 2022 Amendment 2 with BASIX and Part H8 does not apply
Source nsw.gov.au, read
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ABCB Housing Provisions 2025 (with NCC 2025)
Source abcb.gov.au, read
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AS 1926.1:2024 Swimming pool safety barriers
NCC 2025 cites the 2024 edition for pool barriers, so it reaches each state that takes NCC 2025 without a variation; Western Australia keeps the 2012 edition for private pools
Source ncc.abcb.gov.au, read
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NCC 2025 Housing Provisions Part 10.8
Class 1a condensation: wall membrane vapour permeance now by climate zone including zones 1 and 3 for the first time, cavity mandatory in zones 6, 7 and 8, new roof space clause 10.8.4
Source ncc.abcb.gov.au, read
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NCC 2025 Housing Provisions Part 9.2
Source ncc.abcb.gov.au, read
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NCC 2025 Volume Two Part H6, Specification 42 and Housing Provisions Section 13
Energy and whole of home for a class 1a do not tighten: 7 stars and whole of home 60 stay, with small changes on overhangs and waffle pod slabs
Source ncc.abcb.gov.au, read
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NCC 2025 Volume Two Part H8
Livable housing for a class 1a is unchanged in substance
Source ncc.abcb.gov.au, read
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National Construction Code, residential pause
No residential changes to the NCC except essential safety and quality changes until mid 2029
Source treasury.gov.au, read
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National Construction Code, next edition
The edition after NCC 2025: the regular NCC 2028 moves back one year because of the pause on residential changes
Source abcb.gov.au, read
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No date yet
Draft Byron Shire Overland Flood Study
A draft study of overland flooding on public exhibition; it changes no control until Council adopts it and carries it into its plans
Source byron.nsw.gov.au, read
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No date yet
Parramatta Local Environmental Plan 2023, harmonisation supplementary matters and housekeeping planning proposal
Minor and technical LEP changes that follow the land use harmonisation framework
Source participate.cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au, read
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No date yet
Building (Approvals and Practitioners) Act 2026
Removes duplication between building and planning approvals, with staged approvals and minor changes to a building approval
Source nsw.gov.au, read
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No date yet
Planning for Bush Fire Protection 2026
A new edition of the bush fire planning guideline to replace PBP 2019
Source rfs.nsw.gov.au, read
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No date yet
Standard and model conditions of consent (explanation of intended effect)
Standard and model conditions of consent across NSW, scaled to impact, with simpler outcome based conditions for low rise development
Source planningportal.nsw.gov.au, read
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No date yet
Statewide low rise housing code and targeted assessment (discussion paper)
One statewide code for low rise housing (houses, dual occupancies, multi dwelling housing) and a targeted assessment pathway between complying development and a full DA
Source planningportal.nsw.gov.au, read
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No date yet
AS 3959:2018 Construction of buildings in bushfire prone areas
The publisher lists the standard as pending revision; no new edition or draft is listed
Source store.standards.org.au, read
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No date yet
AS 4678-2002 Earth retaining structures
The publisher lists the standard as pending revision; no new edition or draft is listed
Source store.standards.org.au, read
Date passed, next step not seen yet
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Central Coast Development Control Plan 2022, minor amendments
Clearer residential controls in chapter 2.1 (dwellings, secondary dwellings, ancillary development): setbacks, side setback diagrams, fencing references, pool provisions
Source yourvoiceourcoast.com, read
What we changed in New South Wales
The rules we hold for New South Wales and its councils, each brought up to date from the page it names, the newest first.
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Rules
Read from planning.nsw.gov.au
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Rules
Read from legislation.nsw.gov.au
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Rules
Read from legislation.nsw.gov.au
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Rules
Read from water.dcceew.nsw.gov.au
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Rules
Read from rapidsiteplan.au
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Rules
Read from rapidsiteplan.au
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Rules
Read from singleton.nsw.gov.au
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Rules
Read from Wentworth DCP Chapter 4 s 4.1 and Chapter 5 s 5.3 and 5.4
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Rules
Read from midcoast.nsw.gov.au
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Rules
Read from Narrandera Development Control Plan 2013
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Rules
Read from rapidsiteplan.au
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Rules
Read from rapidsiteplan.au
The sources we read for New South Wales
33 sources read for New South Wales, the newest on , each below with the day it was last read.
Planning schemes and codes
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No change
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Camden DCP outbuilding floor area ladder
No change
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No change
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NSW PBP 2026 replacement status
Changed since the read before
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NSW Planning, exempt development
Changed since the read before
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No change
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No change
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No change
Fees
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NSW Planning Portal service fees FY26/27
No change
Pages watched for changes on the way
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Central Coast: DCP 2022 minor amendments
No change
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Standard and model conditions of consent
No change
Standards
Follow New South Wales in a feed reader: www.rapidsiteplan.au/site-plan/nsw/feed.xml. Every council and state has one, listed on rule changes by council and state.
General information only, not building or legal advice: your certifier or council makes the approval decision.
Plans for the job
Questions people ask
Other states and territories