Ask Baily about your Sydney renovation. One vetted NSW-licensed Sydney builder, not a dozen strangers.

Every Sydney renovation chooses between two parallel assessment pathways. A Development Application (DA) is lodged with the local council and assessed on merit against the Local Environmental Plan (LEP) and Development Control Plan (DCP). A Complying Development Certificate (CDC) is a faster private-certifier pathway for projects that meet the prescriptive Housing Code under State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008. Choosing the wrong pathway can cost twelve weeks, and some heritage conservation areas withdraw the CDC option entirely under a DCP overlay.

The Home Building Act 1989 requires a NSW Fair Trading contractor licence for any residential building work over A$5,000. For contracts over A$20,000 the builder must carry Home Building Compensation Fund (HBCF) insurance issued by icare NSW, protecting the homeowner if the builder dies, disappears, or becomes insolvent. A six-year statutory warranty applies to major defects and two years to non-major defects. Unlicensed building work is a criminal offence and voids the warranty.

BASIX — the Building Sustainability Index — sets mandatory energy, water, and thermal-comfort targets on new dwellings, alterations over A$50,000, and swimming pools over 40,000 litres. A BASIX Certificate is required before a DA is lodged or a CDC issued. The 2023 BASIX overhaul lifted energy-efficiency targets significantly; most retrofit projects now need an NSW-accredited assessor to model the thermal performance.

Roughly 70% of Sydney residential property is held under strata title. The Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 requires the Owners Corporation to approve any work that affects common property — a bathroom relocation, structural opening, balcony alteration, or facade change. Section 110 special-resolution by-laws are the mechanism. Expect A$500-A$4,000 in strata manager and surveyor fees, plus 4-16 weeks of Owners Corporation meetings before works can start. Some schemes require a by-law registration with NSW Land Registry Services.

The Party Wall position in NSW is governed by common law and the Dividing Fences Act 1991, not a statutory code like the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 in the UK. But works within 3 metres of a shared wall or boundary that could undermine a neighbour's footing still expose the building owner to a common-law injunction or Land and Environment Court claim. Sydney Water's Build Over Sewer approval process is a separate statutory hurdle where a sewer main runs under the property — common in terraces and semis across Paddington, Surry Hills, Newtown, and Balmain.

Listed heritage properties (State Heritage Register under the NSW Heritage Act 1977, or local LEP schedule-5 heritage items) require a Heritage Impact Statement prepared by a heritage consultant and council approval before exterior or significant interior works. Unauthorised work is an offence under the Heritage Act. In the Heritage Conservation Areas across inner Sydney — Paddington, Surry Hills, Glebe, Balmain, Woollahra, parts of the City of Sydney, North Sydney, Mosman, and Hunters Hill — exterior changes that would normally be exempt development typically need a DA under a DCP overlay.

The Affordable Housing SEPP 2009 (now consolidated under the Housing SEPP 2021) fast-tracks granny flats and secondary dwellings up to 60 square metres on lots of 450 square metres and above to a 10-day Complying Development Certificate. This is the fastest consent pathway in NSW residential — a genuine Sydney wedge against Melbourne's planning-permit-and-building-permit two-step. Building line setbacks, BASIX compliance, and a minimum floor plate still apply.

Coastal and foreshore properties sit under the Sydney Regional Environmental Plan (Sydney Harbour Catchment) 2005 and a matrix of foreshore building lines, coastal-hazard overlays, and Sydney Harbour Federation Trust controls where applicable. Bushfire-prone land along the coastal fringe, the Hawkesbury-Nepean corridor, Ku-ring-gai, the Northern Beaches, and Sutherland Shire triggers a Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) assessment under AS 3959 with BAL-Low to BAL-FZ (Flame Zone) construction requirements. Flood-prone catchments across Parramatta River, Georges River, and parts of the Inner West add a Flood Planning Level condition.

Asbestos is a statutory issue for any renovation on a pre-1990 Sydney home. The NSW Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017 and the Code of Practice for the Safe Removal of Asbestos (2019) require a pre-works survey for pre-2003 construction and licensed removal over 10 square metres of non-friable or any quantity of friable asbestos. SafeWork NSW issues Class A (friable) and Class B (non-friable) removal licences. Unlicensed asbestos removal is an offence and invalidates insurance cover.

Section 10.7 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (formerly Section 149) requires council to issue a planning certificate on request disclosing zoning, overlays, and outstanding orders. Buyers and their solicitors rely on this at conveyancing; builders rely on it to confirm heritage, bushfire, flood, and acid-sulfate-soil constraints before quoting. Security of Payment under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 gives builders and sub-contractors a statutory right to progress payments — the regime bites if a homeowner disputes a payment schedule without lodging a payment schedule of their own.