A heritage listing decides who you deal with before building on an old house: Heritage NSW is responsible for the State Heritage Register, and local councils for local listings. Heritage NSW says listing exists partly to give “advance knowledge about the approvals needed to make alterations”, so the first job is finding out whether the house is listed, and at which level.
Finding out
Heritage NSW points to the State Heritage Inventory to find out if a place, building, site or object is heritage listed. To confirm a State Heritage Register listing or an interim heritage order for legal purposes such as conveyancing, it offers a section 167 certificate.
Councils publish their own maps. The City of Sydney, for one, has a Sydney LEP 2012 heritage items map to check whether a property is listed or in a conservation area, and a Sydney DCP 2012 map showing how a building contributes to its conservation area’s character. A local listing sits in the council’s local environmental plan, made under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.
Two paths
| On the State Heritage Register | Locally listed, or in a conservation area | |
|---|---|---|
| The law | The Heritage Act 1977. | The council’s local environmental plan. |
| Who decides | The Heritage Council of NSW, though most applications are decided by a delegate. | The council, which Heritage NSW says is responsible for local listings. |
| Small works | Standard exemptions cover simple things such as maintenance, where the work has little to no impact on the item’s significance. | Some councils give written exemptions for minor works; the City of Sydney’s process is set out below. |
| Larger works | A section 60 application, for work with a moderate or greater impact on the item’s significance. | In the City of Sydney, works that fall outside a heritage exemption may need a development application. |
A house can be on both lists. Where the City of Sydney is the council and a building carries both listings, the owner applies twice, once to the City for a local exemption and once to the state for works approval. If a standard or site-specific exemption covers the job, no application is needed at either level.
On the State Heritage Register: exemptions first
Heritage NSW asks owners to assess for themselves whether an activity can be done under an exemption, and to understand the item’s “significant fabric”: the material that contributes to its significance, which can include interiors and exteriors, sub-surface remains and natural elements. Some items also carry site-specific exemptions, listed under the ‘Procedures/Exemptions’ tab of the item’s State Heritage Inventory entry.
Exempt work still has conditions: whoever does exempt work must, in Heritage NSW’s terms, be qualified for it, with the right knowledge and skills and experience they can show, and other approvals may still apply.
Where no exemption fits, the path is a section 60 application, which Heritage NSW sets out step by step on its section 60 works application page. It starts with gathering a statement of heritage impact, a conservation management plan if one exists, and existing and proposed drawings, and ends with the outcome in writing; approval is granted under section 63 of the Heritage Act 1977.
Locally listed: one council’s process
Each council runs its own process. The City of Sydney’s is set out plainly, so it serves as an example. Work touching a locally listed item, or any building inside a heritage conservation area, on land the Sydney LEP 2012 covers, needs a request to the City for a local heritage exemption. In the City’s description, these requests usually cover like-for-like replacement or rectification work that would be exempt development anywhere else, and need a request only because of the heritage listing or the conservation area.
Requests are lodged through the City’s ePlanning service, and fees may apply. If a request is approved, the City suggests keeping its written confirmation for your records. It also notes that a request isn’t always needed: some small or maintenance jobs can go ahead under the State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008 instead.
Outside the City of Sydney, ask your own council how it handles heritage items and conservation areas. Whether a deck needs planning approval at all is covered by NSW Planning’s exempt development page.
Who to ask
For State Heritage Register works, the contact number on Heritage NSW’s section 60 page is 02 9873 8500. For local listings, Heritage NSW says councils are the ones to contact.