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About BASIX

Terms and Conditions of use

These are the terms and conditions of use for the BASIX® website and the terms of use for Registered Users to the BASIX® Assessment Tool and the BASIX® Service

These are the terms and conditions of use for the BASIX® website and the terms of use for Registered Users to the BASIX® Assessment Tool and the BASIX® Service. It also provides a link to the terms and conditions of use of the NSW planning portal.

If you have any questions about these terms and conditions, please contact customer support by email on [email protected]or call 1300 650 908.

1.0 General conditions and definitions

NSW Planning Portal

The Terms and conditions of use of the NSW planning portal are applicable to the use of BASIX®. This document sets additional terms and conditions specific to BASIX®.

View the Terms and conditions of use of the NSW planning portal.

Agreement

In accessing and using the BASIX® website, you agree that you have read and understood these terms and conditions of use, including the terms and conditions of use of the NSW planning portal as they relate to BASIX®. If you register for access to the BASIX® Assessment Tool or use the BASIX® Service, you must agree to the terms and conditions of use by clicking on the ‘I agree’ button. The Department may change these Terms and Conditions of use at any time and may do so without giving you prior notice.

Disclaimer

BASIX® certificates are issued based on the information provided by the user. As the user you warrant that the information is correct, and the Department is not responsible for any errors or omissions in the certificate to the extent that they are derived from incorrect or incomplete data provided by the user.

Service availability

Notices regarding planned system outages will be made available on the BASIX® website's home page.

The Department is not liable to you for any failure or delay to produce a BASIX® certificate arising from any planned or unplanned outages or any other availability issues.

Definitions

The Department 

The Department of Planning and Environment

The BASIX® Service

The Service includes a BASIX® certificate issued by the Planning Secretary in whatever form in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021 and the NSW State Environmental Planning Policy 2004 whether by means of a computerised system over the internet or otherwise.

BASIX® Assessment Tool

A computerised system for calculating BASIX® scores and generating BASIX® certificates.

BASIX® Registered User

A unique registered login identity that enables online access to the BASIX® Assessment Tool.

Project file

An electronic file or downloadable document created during the use of the BASIX® Assessment Tool or BASIX® Service or related activities.

2.0 Trade mark

BASIX® is a registered trade mark of the Crown in Right of the State of New South Wales acting through the Department of Environment & Planning (Registered Australian Trade Mark no. 992135).

You must not use the BASIX® trade mark or the name BASIX® except:

  • as part of a fair reference to BASIX® with proper recognition of the trade mark's status;
  • if providing business services associated with completing BASIX® assessments, you may advertise or otherwise publish the services subject to a disclaimer that the services are not in anyway endorsed or otherwise associated with the NSW Department of Planning & Environment; or
  • otherwise only with the prior, specific, written permission of the Department.

Nothing in these terms is to imply the right to use the BASIX® trade mark or name in a business name, domain name or email address.

3.0 Terms of use for BASIX® registered users

Only registered users can access and use the BASIX® Assessment Tool and the BASIX® Service. Registered users agree to the terms of use and are provided access to the BASIX® Assessment Tool and Service on this basis only. Before you can use the BASIX® Assessment Tool and the BASIX® Service, you must read, understand and agree to these terms of use.

Permission is hereby granted to registered users to use BASIX® application forms found on the BASIX® website, provided that: the forms are unaltered (other than by completing information sought in the form); and when providing forms to third parties, it is the user's responsibility to ensure that forms are up to date.

User eligibility

You may register to use the BASIX® Service or access the BASIX® Assessment Tool to generate BASIX® certificates, only if you are over 18 years old, a corporation, Limited Liability Company, partnership or other legal or business entity registered to trade in an Australian jurisdiction.

Types of registered users

The following types of user access rights are offered under the following conditions.

  • A user registered to provide BASIX® services as a business will need to provide full sole trader, registered business name or company name details and an ABN/ACN.
  • A user registered to obtain a BASIX® certificate for personal use, or a sole trader without an ABN, may have a restriction placed on the number of BASIX® certificates they can generate.
  • A user registered as an educational user will not be able to generate a BASIX® Certificate for lodgement with a consent authority. Details and projects created by an educational user may be deleted after 6 months of inactivity.

Username and password

Your username and password are the log-in identity used to access your project files. It is your responsibility to keep them secure. You agree to not share the log-in identity with anyone other than as expressly authorised by these Terms of use. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the log-in identity and are responsible for all uses of the log-in identity, including payments, whether or not authorised by you. In the event you become aware of or reasonably suspect any breach of security, including without limitation any loss, theft, or unauthorised disclosure of the log-in identity, you agree to log-in and change it immediately and to also advise the Department by contacting customer support.

To respond to helpline enquiries, the BASIX® customer service personnel may request that you disclose your username and other information relating to your project. Such disclosure is not a breach of these terms.

Privacy collection statement

The Department is subject to the privacy laws of NSW and is required to provide you with certain information when collecting personal information. The personal information is collected so the Department can provide you with services related to BASIX.

When creating or updating a Registered User log-on, you are required to provide the Department with certain personal information such as your name, address, phone number, email address. The Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000 (the ‘Regulation’) requires development applications, applications for complying development certificates and applications for construction certificates for certain types of residential development to be accompanied by a BASIX® certificate. As the Regulation requires a BASIX® certificate to contain certain information, the supply of this information is required by law. If you do not provide this information the Department will not be able to provide you with services related to BASIX.

You may also be required to enter payment information. You agree that you will supply accurate and complete information when requested, and that you will update that information promptly after it changes.

By providing personal information, you consent, or will procure the consent of the person to whom the information relates, to the use of the information for the purposes for which this website was established, or other related purposes. Any information, if used, will be used anonymously.

Information entered to generate a BASIX® certificate may be accessed by the Department while responding to helpline queries, for quality control, auditing and compliance checks. The Department may use contact and project details to identify the author of a generated certificate and these details may be passed onto a consent authority, principal certifier, auditor or other relevant party that may rely on the certificate for the purpose for which it was issued.

Secondary consent

The BASIX Team is committed to ongoing service improvement. The secondary consent is an optional consent where a user may choose to allow the Department to contact them about providing feedback regarding the BASIX® Service and BASIX®Assessment Tool. Feedback, if requested, may be in the form of a survey, discussion group, workshop or testing of the system. The feedback may focus on:

  • user experience completing a project;
  • decisions made to pass BASIX® assessment;
  • understanding of certificate commitments;
  • possible system improvements;
  • customer service; or
  • other input to service evaluation or system improvement.

If you agree to the secondary consent, you will not be obliged to provide the requested feedback and may change your preference in Update user details. Your personal information will remain protected under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998.

For information relating to the privacy of your personal information, please see the Department's privacy statement.

Intellectual property

You agree that the Department owns the BASIX® project files created in connection with your project. You have free use of the project files (access based on your log in and password) in connection with your project. The Department reserves the right to access, modify, add or amend the project files in its discretion and in accordance with any limitations contained within these terms of use.

Improper use of the BASIX® website, assessment tool or service ('the site')

You agree that you will not, under any circumstances:

  • modify or cause to be modified any project files in any way not expressly authorised by the Department, attempt to gain unauthorised access to project files registered to other users, or the computer systems or networks connected to the site;
  • institute, assist, or become involved in any type of attack, including without limitation denial of service attacks, use automation software, hacks, or any other unauthorised third-party software designed to modify the website, intercept, "mine", or otherwise collect information from or through the website or otherwise attempt to disrupt the site or any other person's use of the site; or
  • host, provide or develop matchmaking services for the site, or intercept, emulate or redirect the communication protocols used by the Department in any way, for any purpose, including without limitation unauthorised generation of BASIX®certificates or calculation of BASIX® sustainability scores.

Suspension or cancellation of access

The Department reserves the right to suspend or cancel access by a Registered User, or modify or delete project files, where justified, with or without notice to you. You may cancel your logon identity by advising us in writing, however, to the extent permitted by law, and required for proper record keeping, data relating to projects associated with a BASIX® certificate and copies of those certificates may be retained by the Department.

Notwithstanding that no notice is required, the Department will use reasonable endeavours to advise you should your service be suspended or cancelled but will not be held liable for failure to notify.

Discontinuation or modification of the BASIX® assessment tool or service

The Department may change, modify, suspend, or discontinue any aspect of the BASIX® Assessment Tool or BASIX® Service at any time. You have no interest, monetary or otherwise, in any feature or content contained in the Tool or Service or associated with your project files. The Department may also revise other policies, including without limitation the BASIX® targets and stringencies, at any time.

The Department will use reasonable endeavours to advise you of changes to the BASIX® Assessment Tool, the BASIX® Service or to project files, but will not be held liable for failure to notify.

Payment of BASIX® fees

Schedule of fees

The Regulation provides for charging a fee for the issue of a BASIX® certificate. The fee is due and payable when a Registered User requests, whether online or offline, to generate a certificate. The fee payable is in accordance with the provisions of the Regulation or as listed in the BASIX® Schedule of Fees and Charges published on the BASIX® website. The Department may revise the pricing for the goods and services offered through the BASIX® Service, at any time.

Liability to pay

You agree to pay all fees and applicable taxes incurred by you or anyone using your logon identity or projects registered to you in relation to the issue a BASIX® certificate. Settlement of the amount payable may only be made by the methods specified on the BASIX® website.

Payment default

Notwithstanding that in the normal course of business, settlement is deemed to have occurred with issue of the Certificate, should your bank reverse or reject your payment for any reason, the issue of a certificate made in relation to that transaction may also be revoked. This could have implications for the validity of the BASIX® certificate issued and the Department reserves the right to cancel or revoke an issued certificate, to prevent the issue of a BASIX® completion receipt or to suspend access to the BASIX®Assessment Tool or Service until the debt is settled. The Department will use reasonable endeavours to notify you of any default and provide you with the opportunity to settle the debt but will not be held liable for failure to notify.

Credit card payments

Certificate fee payments are made via a well-established online payment mechanism provided by Westpac. Our website provides a secure environment by using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). This establishes a session and encrypts all traffic between our web server and your browser. The BASIX® system does not keep a record of the credit card details used for online payments on this website. You are responsible for ensuring that payments are made only using valid credit cards.

Refunds

Whilst the Department may, under some circumstances, make provision for refunds, you acknowledge that the Department is not required to provide a refund for any reason, and that the issue of a BASIX® certificate is the delivery of the service for which the fee is payable. You will not be entitled to receive a refund for a BASIX® certificate that is subsequently not lodged with a consent authority or that you otherwise do not benefit from, whether such non-lodgement was voluntary or involuntary. Any refunds, if provided, may be subject to an administration charge as published in the BASIX® Schedule of Fees and Charges.

BASIX® data

Data that is collected or computed in the assessment of BASIX® certificates may be published in keeping with the NSW Open Data Policy. Project details and BASIX® commitments may be disclosed to water and energy supply authorities; government departments or agencies; recognised research organisations; or local government; for cross‑referencing of water and energy usage data, and analysis for planning and policy initiatives. The Department monitors and reports on completed BASIX®certificates to ensure the BASIX® policy delivers on its sustainability objectives, as well as to refine and improve data and key calculations in the BASIX® Assessment Tool. The Department will not publish personal information such as the applicant’s name or contact details.

If you do not wish to have your project information used in this way, notify the Department in writing.

Last updated: 17/04/2023

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