Exempt Development

How do I know if my building work will be exempt?

Various types of development can be classed as exempt. NSW Legislation specifies what can be exempt and the requirements it must meet, to see if your project can be exempt select from the popular items below. All development must comply with the Exempt and Complying Development division of the SEPP. If your project is not listed below please see full current legislation click here.

Land within 18km of Observatory

Not all exempt development outlined below can be undertaken on land within 18km of the Observatory, a listing of development that cannot be undertaken as exempt is located on the legislation website under Exempt development on land within 18 kilometres of Siding Spring Observatory

General Exempt Development Code: 

• Access ramps
• Aerials, antennae and communication dishes
• Air-conditioning units
• Animal shelters
• Aviaries
• Awnings, blinds and canopies
• Balconies, decks, patios, pergolas, terraces and verandahs
• Cabanas, cubby houses, ferneries, garden sheds, gazebos and greenhouses
• Carports
• Clothes hoists and clothes lines
• Demolition
• Driveways and hard stand spaces
• Earthworks, retaining walls and structural support
• Evaporative cooling units (roof mounted)
• Farm buildings
• Fences (Residential)
• Fences (Rural, environmental protection zones and Zone R5)
• Fences (Business and Industrial Zones)
• Flagpoles
• Fowl and poultry houses
• Home-based child care
• Letterboxes
• Minor building alterations (internal)
• Minor building alterations (external)
• Outdoor Dining - Footpaths 
• Outdoor Dining - General
• Outdoor Dining - Registered Clubs
• Playground equipment
• Portable swimming pools and spas and child-resistant barriers
• Privacy screens
• Rainwater tanks (above ground)
• Rainwater tanks (below ground)
• Screen enclosures (of balconies, decks, patios, pergolas, terraces and verandahs)
• Shade structures of canvas, fabric, mesh or the like
• Water features and ponds

Advertising and Signage Exempt Development Code

Temporary Uses and Structures Exempt Development Code

You can also use the Electronic Housing Code website to establish if it is exempt, this site enables you to enter in your property details and print out the relevant information relating to your lot of land.  

If your project meets the Specified Development and Development Standards you will need to lodge an Exempt Development form with Council.

Last Updated: 21 Jan 2022