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Help and Resources

Developer and Practitioner Resources

These help registered design and building practitioners meet their obligations under the current legislation.

The resources below help registered design and building practitioners meet their obligations under the current legislation with regard to building classes covered under the Design and Building Practitioners scheme.

The NSW Government has introduced a range of building reforms to improve compliance and quality control for Class 2 buildings that started construction on or after 1 July 2021. Class 2 buildings are typically multi-storey, multi-unit apartment buildings or mixed-use buildings, for example, retail, commercial or apartment buildings.

The two key pieces of legislation underpinning the building reforms are the Residential Apartment Buildings Act 2020 and the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2021. These acts enforce a legal duty of care for design and construction workers who must comply with the Building Code of Australia when building and designing properties.

The department has collaborated with the Office of the NSW Building Commissioner and NSW Fair Trading to enhance the digital planning services on the NSW Planning Portal (the Portal) in support of these reforms.

This has resulted in changes to the post-consent certificate services on the NSW Planning Portal, particularly the digital workflow for applying for a construction certificate (CC) or a complying development certificate (CDC).

The resources below provide detailed steps for what is required for registered design and building practitioners to meet their obligations under the two acts mentioned above.

This is based on whether the proposed work has received approval for a development application (DA), CC or a CDC, or if the proposed work does not require building approval.

The following video describes the end-to-end process for developers and building practitioners to achieve the legislative requirements for designs and building works to be lodged on the Portal, as well as submitting an expected completion notice, paying the building work levy and the strata building bond.



Please click on the tile that reflects your proposed development.

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Last updated: 17/11/2023