Exempt Development
Minor development work that does not require approval is known as ‘Exempt Development’. For a detailed explanation of 'Exempt Development' refer to Section 76(2) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.
Exempt development can be undertaken if it satisfies the requirements under either:
- State Environment Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008 ("Codes SEPP"); or
- Section 2.2 of Council's Development Control Plan No.1 or Development Control Plan No.2.
If the same 'exempt development' category is specified in both the Codes SEPP and Council's Development Control Plan (DCP), the controls in the DCP do not apply to that development. The development standards in the Codes SEPP prevail.
General Requirements under the Codes SEPP
There are some preconditions before any work can be considered Exempt Development, under the policy.
- General requirements for exempt development - Clause 1.16
- Land-based requirements for exempt and complying development - Clause 1.19
Refer to the 'Exempt Development Categories' section below to learn about the specific exemptions for different building works.
General Requirements under Council's Development Control Plan
-
General & land based requirements for exempt development - Section 2.1.2.1 - What is Exempt Development?
-
Specific requirements for exempt development categories - Section 2.1.2.2 -Schedule 1 - Exempt Development
Refer to the 'Exempt Development Categories' section below to learn about the specific exemptions for different building works.
Exempt Development Categories
Outlined below are the Exempt Development Categories available under both the Codes SEPP and Council's Development Control Plans:
Access ramps
Advertising Signs
Aerials and antennae
Air-conditioning units
Animal Shelters
Automatic teller machines
Aviaries
Awnings, blinds and canopies
Balconies, decks, patios, pergolas, terraces and verandahs
Barbecues
Bed and breakfast accommodation
Bollards
Bridges & Staircases
Cabanas, cubby houses, ferneries, garden sheds, gazebos and greenhouses
Carports
Change of use of premises
Clothes hoists and clothes lines
Communications dishes (radio and satellite)
Demolition
Driveways
Earthworks and retaining walls
Emergency Works
Evaporative cooling units (roof mounted)
Fences
Garbage bin storage enclosure
Hard stand spaces
Heating Appliances
Home businesses, home industries and home occupations
Home-based child care
Hot water systems
Landscaping structures
Letterboxes
Minor building alterations (external)
Minor building alterations (internal)
Pathways and paving
Pet Cages & Kennels
Playground equipment
Portable swimming pools and spas and child-resistant barriers
Privacy screens
Public Meetings
Rainwater tanks
Recreational Facilities
Residential Office
Scaffolding, hoardings and temporary construction site fences
Screen enclosures
Shade structures
Signage (replacement of identification signs)
Skylights, roof windows and ventilators
Solar water heaters and solar collection cells
Street & Park Furniture
Temporary builders’ structures
Water features and ponds
Water Heaters
Wind Monitoring Towers