BASIX FAQs

Yes, you will need to create a free account before you can use the tool. Click here to register for an account.

You can create an account by completing the registration process here:

• Click the "Login or Register" link on the front page of the BASIX website: www.basix.nsw.gov.au
• You will then see a screen with BASIX login fields for username and password.  Underneath this select the “Register” link.
• Select the type of user account required and press “Next”.
• Complete your contact details, agree to the terms and conditions and select “Done”.
• The system will send an email to the registered email address. This will include a verification link. Please click on the link or copy and paste the link in a browser, to verify that the email address provided is correct.
• You will then be able to log into the system using the username and password you created.

A report, unlike a BASIX certificate, can be generated at any stage whilst answering questions within the BASIX tool. There is no certificate fee payable to generate a report. To generate a report within the BASIX Tool:

• Click on the "BASIX Certificate" link at the top of the page.
• Select “Generate Report”.
• Click on the OK button.
• This will then open up and allow you to view the report.

To create a BASIX certificate, follow the below steps.

• Go to the BASIX website www.basix.nsw.gov.au
• Click the “Login or Register” tile on the front page of the BASIX website.
• Enter your username and password, or if you are a first time user click the “Register” link.
• Once you have logged into the BASIX Tool, to start a new project, click the ‘Create a new project’ link.
• You will be asked a series of questions about your proposed project. Based on your responses, you will be directed to the appropriate assessment tool.
• When you start a new project, you will be asked for project details and information relating to the proposed design.
• When you have completed all sections and have achieved a pass, you can generate a BASIX Certificate. There is a fee to generate a BASIX Certificate, which can be paid online by credit card or offline by cash or cheque.

To update an existing BASIX project, you must be the owner of that project.  If you are not the project owner, please contact the project owner and ask them to complete a Project Transfer Form. 

• Once you have logged into the BASIX Tool select the type of project you wish to update, either “New Dwellings” or “Alterations & Additions”.
• You will then be taken to your “Project in progress” portfolio where you can select from a list of your current projects in progress.

To get a BASIX certificate, you need to complete the online sustainability assessment using the BASIX assessment tool. You can access the tool at www.basix.nsw.gov.au

The tool checks elements of a proposed design against sustainability targets for energy, thermal comfort and water efficiency. Once the assessment is complete and you have paid the relevant fee, a BASIX Certificate will be issued.

The BASIX report contains similar information to the BASIX certificate. However, the BASIX Certificate is the legal document.

There is no fee payable to obtain a BASIX report, it is for information purposes only. It is a useful document to show to your builder, client or architect to see whether intended commitments are suitable before generating a BASIX Certificate.

Yes. Generating a BASIX report is free-of-charge.

Yes. All new dwellings in NSW require a BASIX certificate.

Only the original creator of the certificate can edit the content and revise the certificate.

To amend your certificate, follow the below steps.

• Login to your account
• Select the applicable project type(either New Dwellings or Alterations & Additions)
• Locate the Certificate under “Completed Projects” (the certificate may also be under Archived Projects if you have previously revised the certificate).
• Click on the “Revise/Duplicate” button on the right-hand side of the project.
• Select "Revise" and answer the lodgement questions and continue.

Revising the certificate will copy over all the original information into a new version of your projects located in the “projects in progress” folder’ with a suffix ‘_02’ or ‘_03’ etc. You can then access the new version and carry out the amendments.

Note that the “Revise” process is different from making a “Copy” of a project, as it allows a revised certificate for the same project to be generated without paying any additional certificate fee.

If you are unable to complete the building works as outlined in your BASIX certificate, you will need to “Revise” the certificate.

Please note that any amendments made to a BASIX certificate may affect the ability of your project to achieve the mandatory BASIX targets. If you make any changes to your building specifications, it is advisable to revise your BASIX Certificate before proceeding with those works.  Then you will be sure that your revised building works are still achieving mandatory BASIX targets.

The maximum fee payable for a BASIX  certificate depends on the type of development, as outlined below:
•    Single dwelling: $50
•    Multi-dwelling: $80 for the first two dwellings + $35 for each additional dwelling
•    Residential flat building:  variable - depends on number of units
•    Alteration and additions: $25 for each dwelling

To estimate the fee payable, you can download our fee calculator from https://www.basix.nsw.gov.au/iframe/images/BASIX_fee_off-line_calculator_v1.5_web.xls

Certificates can be paid for by any of the following.

• Credit card (Mastercard and Visa only) through a secure online payment portal, accessed through the BASIX assessment tool
• Cheque posted to the Department, (Locked Bag 5022, Parramatta NSW 2124. Please allow time for delivery and processing prior to the release of a certificate)

Only Mastercard or VISA is accepted.

To pay using your Mastercard or VISA card please follow the steps below.

• Once you have completed your project, click on the "Request a Certificate" button highlighted below.
• Select "Credit Card" as your payment method.
• Confirm you are the payee and select "Continue".
• Enter your credit card details and select "Continue".
• Enter the verification code that appears in a box and select "Make Payment".
• Once the payment has been successfully processed, the BASIX certificate will go to the completed projects folder.

Yes, you can pay the fee using cheque. Please allow time for processing prior to the release of a certificate. Address details can be found on the “BASIX Certificate Request– Cheque payments” PDF.

To pay using cheque please follow the steps below:

• Once you have completed your project, click on the "Request a Certificate" button highlighted below.
• Select “Cheque” as your payment method.
• Confirm you are the payee and select "Continue".
• The “BASIX Certificate Request– Cheque payments” PDF will open. This PDF contains details of the project as well as instructions on making the payment via cheque. Please print this document, as it must accompany your payment.

There is no additional charge to revise an issued certificate, as long as it relates to the same property and project recorded on the original certificate.

Whilst the Department may, under some circumstances refund the fee paid on a BASIX certificate, the Department is not required to provide a refund. A BASIX certificate is a legal document, the issue of which is the delivery of the service for which the fee is payable. A user is not entitled to receive a refund on the basis that they have simply changed their mind.

If you wish to apply for a refund, please email your details and reason for the request to [email protected] and the appropriate refund information will be sent to you.

Please note that any refunds, if provided, may be subject to an administration charge.

If you have forgotten your username or password you are able to reset it online. To do so:

• Click on “Forgot login details?”on the BASIX login page: https://www.basix.nsw.gov.au/cmslanding.action
• Enter your registered email address and/or username.

Your username and a new password will then be sent to your registered email address

Yes.

BASIX is a web-based tool. You will need to be connected to the internet to use it.

The tool operates best in the following browsers:

Microsoft Edge 

Google Chrome – all versions

Safari – version - 4.1.3 and above

Mozilla Firefox – version 3.6 and above

A secondary dwelling is a self-contained dwelling that:

• is established in conjunction with another dwelling (the principal dwelling), and
• is on the same lot of land as the principal dwelling, and
• is located within, or is attached to, or is separate from, the principal dwelling.

A secondary dwelling can also be referred to as a granny flat.

To generate a BASIX certificate for a secondary dwelling it is necessary to consider whether the secondary dwelling is new works in its own right or if it is an alteration and addition to the existing dwelling. This is usually best determined in consultation with the consent authority (for example your local  council).

Certain types of dwellings such as relocatable homes, transportable homes and manufactured homes may be dealt with under the Local Government Regulation 2005. Dwellings approved under that Regulation rather than the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 are not subject to BASIX. It is a matter for the consent authority (for example Council) to determine under which regulation approval is required.

This information was sourced from Planning Circular PS06-18.

As a relocatable home is not within the definition of building under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 , a BASIX certificate is not required for this type of home.

This information was sourced from Planning Circular PS06-18.

A development application (or complying development certificate application) to install a flat-pack kit home is required to be accompanied by a BASIX certificate. This is because a ‘flat-pack kit home’ is considered to be within the definition of ‘building’ in the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.

This information was sourced from Planning Circular PS06-18.

The thermal comfort section of BASIX aims to:

• ensure the dwelling is at an appropriate temperature for the climate and season
• provide the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from artificial cooling and heating through good building design and by using appropriate construction materials
• reduce the demand for new, or upgraded, energy infrastructure by managing peak demand for energy required for cooling and heating

The heating and cooling loads from thermal comfort are combined with the selected heating and cooling appliances in the Energy section as part of the calculations of your Energy score. Lower loads will improve your Energy score. In cold or hot climates, you may find this is an effective way of obtaining a pass in the BASIX Energy section.

The Do-It-Yourself (DIY) method is a web-based method for completing the thermal comfort section of BASIX. Most single dwellings (detached, attached or granny flat) that are built using common types of construction can be assessed using the DIY method.

There are however some limitations in the range of buildings suitable for assessment in the DIY tool. DIY allows you to group windows together (up to 15 grouped window descriptions), as long as they all have the same orientation sector, overshadowing, construction type, frame and shading device.

Only certain types of Shading are available in the DIY method, and overshadowing can only be counted if it is directly in front of the base of the glazing.

If you choose the DIY method, you will need to:

• commit to minimum insulation levels
• select glazing and shading to ensure that the estimated heating and cooling loads do not exceed the maximum allowable loads determined by BASIX

If these limitations do not suit your project, you will need to use the simulation method to complete the Thermal Comfort section of BASIX.

Yes, you will still be required to have a BASIX certificate for your building. BASIX is a requirement of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 and it applies to all new dwellings in NSW.

It also fulfils the energy efficiency requirements of the Building Code of Australia, such as the insulation requirements for walls and roofs.

You will need a BASIX certificate regardless of whether you have access to your own water supply or not. The reasoning behind this is that because with no mains water supply, your proposed building is expected to have sufficient alternative water sources (such as rainwater tanks) connected to satisfy demand. BASIX assesses if these water sources are going to satisfy the demand without needing excessive top-up of water from off-site. Depending on the location of the building, the BASIX score in the water section needs to achieve a required target (e.g. 40 in Coastal NSW).

You will still need a BASIX certificate regardless of whether or not you have access to your own electricity or gas supply. If the proposed building is not connected to any electricity infrastructure, other alternative energy sources (such as bottled gas) are required to satisfy domestic demand. BASIX assesses the greenhouse gas emission from these alternative energy sources and determines emission savings from the NSW average. The emission savings (expressed in terms of the BASIX score in the energy section) needs to achieve a required target depending on the location of the dwelling.

Energy settings for thermal comfort, heating and cooling changed in 2017. For more information on these changes, please see the BASIX Energy Target Changes - Frequently Asked Questions.

There are two types of certificates that may be issued after 30 June 2017 using the ‘pre-July’ energy targets. These certificates are explained below:

• Certificates issued following an application made directly to the Department.
• Certificates issued following an application made directly to the Department have no distinguishing notation other than being issued after 30 June 2017 and the software version number Version 2.3/Casuarina_3_5_x in the footer of the certificate. An example is shown in appendix A. For these certificates, the Department has obtained a copy of an eligible contract or pre-contract agreement from the applicant.
• Certificates issued following an application made through the BASIX online assessment tool (this option has been available since 6 October 2017)

Certificates issued following an application made through the BASIX online assessment tool have a special notation on the front page. Further, these certificates include a summary of the building contract details on the last page as shown in the example certificate below. For these certificates, the applicant is required to upload a copy of the eligible contract (or pre-contract agreement) to the BASIX website.

If the applicant has amended the building contract after a copy was uploaded to the BASIX website or provided by email to the Department such that the project no longer meets the eligibility criteria a new BASIX certificate will be required using the BASIX energy targets which are applicable from 1 July 2017.

One such amendment could be, for example, that the project is now valued at more than $1.5 million