How to lodge a Complying Development Application
Step 1 – Register or sign-in to the Planning Portal
To apply for a Complying Development Certificate online, you must be registered with the NSW Planning Portal. The Planning Portal also allows you to login using your Service NSW account. The NSW Government have produced a ‘How To’ guide to assist you available on the Planning Portal (link below).
The builder, draftsperson, shed company or home improvement company may be able to lodge your application on your behalf. Discuss this option with them.
Take me to the Planning Portal to create an account(External link)
How to register for a Planning Portal account
Step 2 – Gather and prepare your documentation
PDF format
- All forms, plans, photos and documents must be submitted as PDF files.
- Security settings — including passwords and editing restrictions — must not be applied to these files.
Mandatory documentation
As part of Council’s testing of the Planning Portal, we have discovered that the following documents must be uploaded to the Planning Portal in order to lodge your application.
- Plans – including Architectural, Site and Structural
- Construction Specifications
- BASIX certificate(External link) (new dwellings with a value of works greater than $100,000, swimming pools with a capacity of 40,000 litres or more, or alterations and additions to a dwelling with a value of works greater than $50,000)
Plans
- Should be to a standard scale (1:100, 1:200, 1:500), rotated to landscape and provided in PDF or PDF/A format. Plans should not be scanned and must be directly created or converted into PDF or PDF/A format. This enables Council’s assessment officers to accurately measure off the plans digitally.
- Must be converted electronically rather than printed and scanned
- Should be A3 size or less and at a maximum scale of 1:100 or 1:200 (unless previously agreed to by our Council staff) with the scale and size clearly displayed on all plan sheets.
- Colour plans are highly desirable and are to have a resolution between 300 and 900dpi.
- Black and white plans may be accepted on the basis that they are created in grayscale at a resolution of at least 300dpi.
- Plans should be grouped together with their relevant plan type as a separate PDF file following a naming convention of: ‘Site plan – 123 Smith Street Wentworth’, ‘BASIX certificate – 123 Smith Street Wentworth’.
- Floor plans must be provided in their own separate file, together with a redacted floor plan, and not combined with any other plan.
- The specific plans and documents will vary depending on your development. Generally, the following plans will be required for most applications:
- A Statement of Environmental Effects
- Plans of the proposed development including site plan, floor plans, elevations and sections
- Plans demonstrating proposed landscaping
- Plans of existing development (if being retained wholly or partly)
- Principal Certifier Agreement
- BASIX Certificate (residential developments including swimming pools) or Section J (commercial developments), and plans demonstrating commitments
Principal Certifier Agreements
If you are wishing to appoint Wentworth Shire Council as your certifier for building work, before you start any approved building or construction work Council must be appointed as a principal certifying authority (PCA). Council, as the certifying authority, requires the landowner to enter an agreement with Council to be lodged with the Complying Development application.
The principal certifying authority oversees the development’s construction phase and completes mandatory building inspections, known as critical stage inspections, to make sure that building standards are met.
Once building work has finished, the principal certifying authority will complete final inspections and issue the final occupation certificate, if all requirements have been satisfied.
Council will provide you with a contract agreement for your completion following notification that you have lodged your Complying Development Application.
You will also be required to lodge an application on the Portal to appoint a Principal Certifier.
Step 3 – Lodge your application
It’s your responsibility to provide all required information with enough detail for a decision to be made. Using Menu item 1 as shown on the left), lodge your Complying Development Certificate.
The Planning Portal will indicate mandatory documentation, however, you may also be required to upload additional documents. If you are unsure, please contact Council for advice. Getting this right will save time and money. We’ll aim to review your application within 3 business days of receiving it. The pre-lodgement review determines the suitability of the application for lodgement. It is not a comprehensive assessment of the application. If more information is required, we’ll be in touch.
When your application is ready to proceed, we’ll request payment via email with a fee estimate attached. The application will only be lodged once payment is received. Timeframes are a guide only.
How to lodge your application guide
How to provide additional information guide
I’m ready to lodge, Take me to the Planning Portal(External link)
Step 4 – Pay for your application
Application fees will be calculated by Council staff and provided to you in writing after we’ve received your Complying Development Certificate application. Council aims to email you a fee estimate within 48 hours of receiving notification of the application being lodged. The assessment of your Complying Development Certificate will not commence until all outstanding fees have been paid.
If payment is not received within 3 business days, your application may be returned to you.
The fee estimate provided by Council relates to the lodgement of applications only. Further conditions relating to payment of fees, including Section 7.12 developer contributions and headworks charges may also be imposed as part of any consents. These fees can only be determined definitively as part of the assessment process and will be included in the conditions of consent. It is recommended that you contact a Council planner to determine whether or not Section 7.12 developer contributions may also be payable to Council in respect of your application.
Step 5 – Lodge your Post Consent Application
Council offers certification services for all new and alterations to residential and commercial projects, including Complying Development Certificates.
If you are wishing to appoint Wentworth Shire Council as your certifier, you will be required to lodge the following post-consent application in the Planning Portal in addition to your Complying Development Certificate application:
- Occupation Certificate Application.
Lodgement of this application can be made prior to the determination of a Complying Development Certificate, however, this application will not be determined until the Complying Development Certificate has been determined.