28 August 2026 release summary

This release includes:

• Enhancements to BASIX certificate validation messages, certificate status functionality and document visibility within the Complying Development Certificate, Online DA and State DA services
• Enhancements to the Online DA service to support Planning System Reforms relating to variations to development standards and public exhibition processes
• Introduction of the Decennial Insurance option as an alternative to the Strata Building Bond within the Building Work and Intent to Seek Occupation Certificate services
• Enhancements to the Controlled Activity Approval service to improve validation of security release applications
• Updates to Written Direction Notice notifications
• Non-breaking NSW Planning Portal API changes.

There are also some technical updates and fixes. View the sections below to understand the changes.

Minor changes to existing workflows

Complying development certificate service

The changes below were introduced to improve BASIX certificate validation, certificate management and certificate status information for applicants, councils, consent authorities and certifiers.

• Mandatory BASIX certificate validation messaging has been updated when editing an application, providing clearer instructions and preventing users from progressing until certificate validation has been completed
• BASIX certificate validation messages have been enhanced to provide clearer information when a certificate is invalid, duplicated, older than three months or does not match the application address
• Improvements have been made to BASIX certificate management, including preventing edits to certificates that have already been validated
• Certificate status messages have been updated so applicants, councils and consent authorities are clearly informed when a previously flagged BASIX certificate has been reviewed and accepted
• Superseded BASIX certificates that have not been reviewed will no longer be visible to applicants.

Development application (Council) service

The changes below were introduced to improve BASIX certificate validation, certificate management and certificate status information for applicants, councils and consent authorities.

• Mandatory BASIX certificate validation messaging has been updated when editing an application, providing clearer instructions and preventing users from progressing until certificate validation has been completed
• BASIX certificate validation messages have been enhanced to provide clearer information when a certificate is invalid, duplicated, older than three months or does not match the application address
• Improvements have been made to BASIX certificate management, including preventing edits to certificates that have already been validated
• Certificate status messages have been updated so applicants, councils and consent authorities are clearly informed when a previously flagged BASIX certificate has been reviewed and accepted
• Superseded BASIX certificates that have not been reviewed will no longer be visible to applicants.

Enhancement to existing services

Following consultation with stakeholders, this release includes enhancements to the following services:

Online DA service

The following enhancements were made to support Planning System Reforms relating to development standard variations and public exhibition requirements.

• On the Related Planning Information screen, the development standard variation question has been updated, made mandatory and includes revised help text
• For applications created before the release and submitted after 28 August 2026, an error message will prompt applicants to complete the mandatory development standard variation question before submission
• Existing variation details and Clause 4.6 document requirements remain unchanged where a variation is proposed
• A visual indicator has been introduced on the Preliminary Assessment screen to advise council officers when an applicant has declared a variation to a development standard
• Exhibition help text has been updated to reference Community Participation Plan requirements
• When a public exhibition period exceeds 14 days, council officers must now provide a mandatory justification using the new 'Reason for extending public exhibition period' field.
   

Written Direction Notice

The following enhancement was made to improve notification processes.

• When a non-council certifier completes a Written Direction Notice (Part B) and answers 'No' to the question 'Has the Written Direction Notice been complied with?', a notification email will be sent to council. The notification process has been updated to support newly introduced development application determining authorities.

Controlled Activity Approval service

Following consultation with Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water stakeholders, the following enhancements were made.

• Validation requirements for Controlled Activity Approval security release applications have been updated. Security release cases can now only be created where the Controlled Activity Approval is approved and contains at least one Security Bond with a status of 'Received'.
• The support email address has been updated to [email protected].

Building Work service

The following enhancements were made to support legislative changes under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015.

• A new question has been introduced asking whether Decennial Insurance has been obtained in lieu of a Strata Building Bond
• Where Decennial Insurance is selected, applicants must provide:
  • the insurer name
  • the Decennial Insurance policy number
  • a Certificate of Currency document.
• A new mandatory Certificate of Currency document upload requirement has been introduced for applications that select Decennial Insurance.

Intent to Seek Occupation Certificate service

The following enhancements were made to support Decennial Insurance functionality.

• Where Decennial Insurance has been selected within the related Building Work application, Strata Building Bond options will no longer be displayed within the Expected Completion Notice workflow
• A new local action, 'Upload Certificate of Currency for Decennial Insurance', has been introduced
• The Certificate of Currency document has been added as a mandatory upload requirement when Decennial Insurance is selected
• Related notification content has been updated to reflect the Decennial Insurance option where applicable
• The Occupation Certificate Audit Report has been updated to include:
  • Strata Bond
  • Decennial Insurance
  • Occupation Certificate case status
  • Occupation Certificate reference
  • Occupation Certificate determination date.

Technical updates and fixes

• Updated the Strata Bond system-generated document to ensure revised contract prices and bond amounts are accurately reflected
• Addressed an issue where the 'Apply for OC' button was displayed before all compliance requirements had been satisfied within the Intent to Seek Occupation Certificate service
• Enhanced the BASIX certificate entry experience by ensuring additional BASIX certificate fields display in the correct position when users select 'Add another BASIX certificate'
• Updated the formatting of BASIX validation messages displayed when editing applications containing address mismatch certificates
• Addressed an issue in the Post Consent Certificate service where applicants were unable to edit or update the development type on CFT cases
• Updated planning control display logic for development applications using a manually entered address. Planning controls will now display as 'N/A' where property information is unavailable
• Corrected a spelling error within the 'Request for Response to Submissions' email notification for the Major Projects State Significant Development service
• Updated the Post Consent Certificate CFT document category to retain the 'Development Consent' document description when attachments are included
• Enhanced BASIX project information by ensuring 'Common area' and 'Central systems' details display the associated unit building name within the project description.

Training and support

The following step-by-step guides have been updated or created this month and can be accessed on the Support Hub:

Application Programming Interface (API)

Non-breaking changes have been made to the Application Programming Interface (API) to support the enhancements within this release. A detailed list of updates and actions required for API vendors and councils can be viewed here.

Impacted NSW Planning Portal APls: Online DA service v2, Common API, Online Post-Consent Certificate API and Online Section 68 API.

A summary of the changes is below:

• Description updates have been made to the doesVaryLEP attribute in the CreateDA, UpdateDA and EditDA operations
• A new conditionally mandatory attribute, reasonForExtendingExhibition, has been introduced for CreateExhibition, UpdateExhibition and UpdateDA operations where an exhibition period exceeds 14 days
• The Post-Consent Certificate API has been updated to return improved responses following successful AcceptReturn operations
• Validation messaging has been introduced for Determine operations where required document information is missing
• Section 68 API workflows have been enhanced to allow authorised users within the same organisation to directly process applications without first reassigning the case
• BASIX-related API messaging has been updated to improve responses associated with address mismatch certificate validation and Review Required status management