28 June 2024 major release summary

The following enhancements were made to address usability: 

• New ‘Cancel payment’ option visible within the ‘Actions’ menu during the ‘Awaiting payment’ stage. This will enable them to edit their BASIX application.
• New column ‘Sum of floor area entered for floor types / Total expected floor area’ in the dwellings table in the Materials section for multi project BASIX applications. This column will display the sum of the floor area entered for all floor types and the floor area entered in the project details section to identify any mismatch between the numbers e.g. 280 / 250.
• When revising a BASIX Certificate, if the local government name is no longer current due to a name change, an error message will display asking the applicant to update the local government area. 
• The BASIX Certificate or BASIX completion receipt search functionality will return results for addresses that were either verified through the address look-up or manually entered using the ‘Address did not display’ functionality.
• Improved navigation functionality for the applicant with the introduction of the ‘Save and continue’ button on the sub-tabs.

The following enhancements were made to support the Building Commission’s building reforms: 

• New options in the excluded drop-down list on the building works case to indicate that the development is excluded building work. This supports the inclusion of some temporary accommodation facilities, such as hotels and motels that are not part of a residential strata scheme, becoming excluded building work under the Design and Building Practitioners Act on 1 July 2024. 
• Practitioner can select more than one construction certificate at the time of lodging documents in the lodgement screen. 
• The ‘Regulated designs’ tab has an additional document filter option ‘Select Case Reference’ e.g. CFT-1234. 

The following change was made to address stakeholder feedback:

• Documents assigned the ‘Determination’ document type will be optional when submitting a certificate registration with council.

The following enhancements were made to improve usability:

• A new option ‘Return to applicant‘ available for selection by the council or certifier to the question ‘What is the outcome of your review?’ on the pre-assessment review screen. 
• New conditionally mandatory field ‘Returned due to the following reason’ when the outcome of the review is ‘Return to applicant’. The pre-defined list of reasons will be included in the email notification to the applicant.
• New field ‘Additional certifier comments’ displayed when the outcome of the review is ‘Return to applicant’. 
• When an application has been returned by the nominated certifier, the applicant can edit all details except for ‘Certifier details’ prior to re-submitting the application. The application will not be visible on the relevant certifiers ‘Active work’ list.
• Document type ‘Determination’ will be an optional document on the determination screen and a ‘Complying development certificate’ and ‘CDC stamped plans’ will be mandatory document types on the ‘Final Plan submission’ stage.
• When the common application type is ‘Subdivision’ only, the number of questions displayed as part of the application form and on the assessment and determination screens for the nominated certifier has been reduced to only those relevant for that application type.
• New help text for ‘Number of existing lots’ and ‘Number of proposed lots’ fields on ‘Development details’ screen.
• New optional fields ‘Has a previous development consent (DA/CDC) application been submitted for building work?’ and ‘Was the previous development consent (DA/CDC) application applied for via the NSW Planning Portal?’ to link related applications.
• When a related application is linked to the original complying development certificate application, it will be visible on the ‘Related cases’ tab.
• When the common application type is ‘Subdivision’ only, the document types have been refined.
• The ‘Assessment’ screen only displays the ‘Has the applicant paid the application fees?’ question when the development type is ‘Subdivision’.
• The ‘Development specifications’ screen only displays the field ‘The proposed development includes’ text box when the development type is ‘Subdivision’.
• The question ‘Is this site bushfire prone land?’ is not visible to the certifier on the ‘Determination’ screen when the development type is ‘Subdivision’.
• The ‘Final plans submission’ screen will display the optional ‘Record of inspection’ document type, for Subdivision applications.
• Additional optional document type ‘Fire Safety Schedule’.
• Updated help text for document type ‘Cost estimate report’.

The following updates were made to support the Building Commission’s building reforms:

• New error message displays when developer details are not provided for class 2, 3 and 9c complying development applications. This will ensure that developer details are captured on the application form prior to submission, and that the applications will be visible on the ‘My development site’ dashboard of the relevant developer. 
• New ‘Actions’ menu option ‘Update developer organisation details’ visible on determined complying development certificate applications. Once added, the application will be visible on the ‘My development site’ dashboard of the relevant developer.

The following changes were made to support the reforms to the method of calculating development cost and address introduce refined referral criteria for the NSW Rural Fire Service: 

• Reference to ‘Estimated cost of development’ replaced with ‘Estimated development cost including GST’ on the assessment screen. 
• Renaming of the clause ‘Environmental Planning and Assessment Act - s.4.14’ to ‘Environmental Planning and Assessment Act - s.4.14(1A)’.  
• New ‘What is this?’ help text for clause ‘Environmental Planning and Assessment Act – s4.14 (1A)’
• Additional question ‘The proposed development does not conform to the following relevant specifications and requirements of Planning for Bush Fire Protection’ and checklist to identify how the proposed development does not meet the specifications and requirements of Planning for Bush Fire Protection to be completed by the consent authority if clause ‘Environmental Planning and Assessment Act - s.4.14(1A)’ is selected. 

The following changes were made to improve usability: 

• Additional optional document type ‘Fire Safety Schedule’. 
• Updated help text for document type ‘Cost estimate report’. 
• Updated help text for question ‘Is the development a prescribed large commercial development that involves any of the following?’ in "Sustainable Buildings" section of the application form. 

The following enhancement was made to improve usability:

• Practitioner can select more than one construction certificate at the time of lodging documents in the lodgement screen. 
• All lodged documents will be automatically tagged as ‘As-built’ after submitting the building compliance declaration.
• The ‘Regulated designs’ tab has an additional document filter option ‘Select Case Reference’ e.g. CFT-1234. 
• Building practitioners can export a complete list of regulated design documents to an excel file from the ‘Regulated designs’ tab.

The following amendments were made to support the reforms to the method of calculating development cost: 

• References to ‘Capital investment value’ replaced with ‘Estimated development cost’ on the declarations and uploads screen. 
• Updated help text for document type ‘Cost estimate report’. 

The following enhancements were made to support the implementation of the NSW Coastal Design Guidelines: 

• New optional document type ‘Coastal Design Guidelines Assessment Checklist for Planning Proposals’ and associated ‘What is this’ help text.
• New information text displayed on the application screen to advise the proponent that the ‘Coastal Design Guidelines Assessment Checklist for Planning Proposals’ must be attached to planning proposal applications if the land is in the coastal zone.
• New information text displayed on the adequacy assessment screen to advise the department user that the ‘Coastal Design Guidelines Assessment Checklist for Planning Proposals’ must be attached to planning proposal applications if the land is in the coastal zone.

The following enhancements were made to improve usability:  

• A new option ‘Return to applicant‘ available for selection by the council or certifier to the question ‘What is the outcome of your review?’ on the pre-assessment review screen for construction certificate, subdivision certificate, occupation certificate and subdivision works certificates. 
• Changes to the existing ‘What is the outcome of your review?’ options on the pre-assessment screen -  ‘Return application’ has been re-labelled ‘ Decline application for assessment’ and ‘Accept application’ has been re-labelled ‘Accept application for assessment’.
• New conditionally mandatory field ‘Returned due to the following reason’ when the outcome of the review is ‘Return to applicant’. The pre-defined list of reasons will be included in the email notification to the applicant.
• New field ‘Additional certifier comments’ displayed when the outcome of the review is ‘Return to applicant’. 
• When an application has been returned by the nominated certifier, the applicant can edit all details except for ‘Certifier details’ or any read-only fields pre-populated from a related application, prior to re-submitting the application. The application will not be visible on the relevant certifiers ‘Active work’ list.
• Changes to the document requirements for Subdivision Certificates – ‘Reason for refusal and right of appeal’ is a mandatory document and ‘Subdivision certificate’ is optional​. 
• Changes to the document requirements for Subdivision Works Certificates – ‘Reason for refusal and right of appeal’ is a new mandatory document and ‘Subdivision work certificate’ and ‘Stamped approved plans’ are optional. 
• Updated help text for question ‘Is the development a prescribed large commercial development that involves any of the following?’ in the ‘Sustainable Buildings’ section of the construction certificate application form. 

The following enhancements were made to support the Building Commission’s building reforms:

• New error message displays when developer details are not provided for class 2, 3 and 9c construction certificate applications. This will ensure that developer details are captured on the application form prior to submission, and that the applications will be visible on the ‘My development site’ dashboard of the relevant developer. 
• New ‘Actions’ menu option ‘Update developer organisation details’ visible on determined construction certificate applications. Once added, the application will be visible on the ‘My development site’ dashboard of the relevant developer.
• Ability for the practitioner to select more than one construction certificate at the time of lodging documents on the lodgement screen of the Intention to seek occupation certificate, building work and strata bond cases. 

The following enhancements to the non-project remediate pathway were made to support the Building Commissions building reforms:

• All lodged documents will be automatically tagged as ‘As-built’ after submitting the building compliance declaration.
• Updated ‘What is this’ help text for the field ‘What is your application type?’ on the application details screen.
• Updated date rules and error message for the ‘Building work commencement date’ on the application details screen. If the application type is ‘Owner’s corporation’ or ‘Development control order’ and a class 2 development with a remediation work application prior to 1 July 2021, the user will be prevented from proceeding. If the application type is ‘Crown development’ and the class of development is class 2 with a remediation work application prior to 1 July 2021, the user will be prevented from proceeding. If ‘Crown development’ and class of development is 3 or 9c with the remediation work application prior to 3 July 2023, the user will be prevented from proceeding.
• The question ‘Is the development exempt from the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020?’ has been removed from the application details screen if the application type was ‘Crown development’. 
• Enhancement to ‘Practitioner details’ screen to include instructional information on the Building Practitioner, Design Practitioner, and Principal design practitioner tabs.
• Additional individual principal design practitioners can be added using the ‘Add practitioner’ button on the ‘Principal design practitioner’ tab on the ‘Practitioner details’ screen. 
• Additional individual design practitioners can be added using the ‘Add practitioner’ button on the ‘Design practitioner’ tab on the ‘Practitioner details’ screen. 
• The ‘Appropriate Practitioner’ checkbox has been removed from the building practitioner tab on the ‘Practitioner details’ screen.
• New field to capture the NSW Planning Portal reference number for the related Principal certifier appointment application on the ‘Certifier details’ screen. Once validated, this information will auto-populate the related fields within the application form.
• The ‘Registered certifier details’ section has been removed from the ‘Certifier details’ screen.
• The field ‘Is the Principal Certifier same as the Registered certifier?’ has been removed from the ‘Certifier details’ screen.
• The ‘Documents’ tab has been updated to include new document folder names and new document types.
• The ‘Analytics’ tab has been removed from the review harness.
• When the ‘Edit practitioner’ Actions menu option is used to update the practitioner information, the previous practitioner’s access to the case will be removed.
• Updates to the ‘Actions’ menu options for the appropriate practitioner of building practitioner including:
  • ‘Upload construction issued regulated design’ has been renamed to ‘Upload documents’
  • ‘Upload construction issued regulated design variations’ has been renamed to ‘Upload variations’
  • ‘Lodge construction issued regulated design’ has been renamed to ‘Lodge documents’
  • ‘Lodge construction issued regulated design variations’ has been renamed to ‘Lodge variations’
• After the building practitioner has lodged the required documents, a new ‘Actions’ menu option ‘Declare as-builts (Final set)’ will be visible.
• Updated ‘Declare as-builts (final set)’ screen to include reference to the Design and Building Practitioner Act.
• New pathway to provide the declaration for emergency remedial work within the NSW Planning Portal. This includes the following new fields on the ‘Application details’ screen:
  • ‘Is this an Emergency remedial building work?’ 
  • ‘Describe how the work required to resolve the issue(s) meets the definition of emergency remedial building work?’
  • ‘Describe the issue(s) impacting the building. Note that photographic evidence of the issue before work has commenced will be required.’
  • ‘Describe the work(s) carried out, including procedures, products or materials used, and part/s of the building to which the work relates. Note that photographic evidence of the issue after work has been carried out will be required’
• Additional document types for emergency remedial work
• Enhancement to the existing ‘DBP audit report’ sent monthly to the Department of Customer Service to include an additional column ‘Emergency remedial work’.
• The upload and lodge options have been enabled for building practitioners.
• ‘Actions’ menu updated to include the option ‘Cancel application’. This will enable an applicant to cancel an ‘In progress’ application. Note: This option will not be visible after the application has been submitted.

The following enhancements were made to address usability: 

• Updated help text for ‘SDRP wait time reduction – Threshold criteria’.
• New mandatory questions ‘Is there a Design Excellence clause applicable to this proposal?’ and ‘Are you seeking infill affordable housing bonuses?’ on the project details page.
• New conditionally mandatory question ‘Is the proposal the subject of an existing DA?’ if the user answers ‘Yes’ to seeking infill affordable housing bonuses on the project details page.
• New conditionally mandatory question ‘Is the proposal subject to legal advice?’ if the user answers ‘Yes’ to ‘Is the proposal the subject of an existing DA?’ on the project details page.
• ‘Estimated development cost’ question on the ‘Project information’ screen have been amended to a drop-down list with five options available for selection. 
• Field ‘Is EDC Confidential’ has been removed from the project information tab.
• Values within the ‘Project type’ list on the ‘Project information’ screen have been amended.
• Column heading changed from ‘CIV’ to ‘CIV/EDC’ in the report tab within the State Design Review Panel service. 
• Change of help text for the document "Cost estimate report". 

The following enhancement was made to improve usability:

• Practitioner can select more than one construction certificate at the time of lodging documents in the lodgement screen. 
• The ‘Regulated designs’ tab has an additional document filter option ‘Select Case Reference’ e.g. CFT-1234. 

To create cases for regulated buildings on the NSW Planning Portal, including building works, intent to seek occupation certificate and strata bond cases, the user will require a ‘Developer’ profile. A self-service function has been developed to allow a user with an ‘Applicant’ profile to upgrade their account to a ‘Developer’ profile. This functionality is accessed via the ‘User profile’ menu in the top right-hand corner of the applicant dashboard.

Note: For those ‘Developer’ users that do not have an ABN or ACN, they can register as an ‘Individual developer’ using the self-service function above. This will provide them with access to the ‘My development sites’ dashboard and enable them to create a building work, intent to seek occupation certificate or strata bond case.

Class 3 and 9c buildings that received a development consent (development application or complying development certificate) prior to 3 July 2023 may fall under the transitional arrangements for the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020. The enhancements made as part of this release will align class 3 and 9c developments with the class 2 transitional pathway. The building approval and building work commencement date will be used to determine the obligations under the Design and Building Practitioners Act that apply to the development. 

There are 4 workflows that class 3 and 9c developments can follow in the NSW Planning Portal: 

1. Building work is DBP excluded 
2. Building work commencement date is on or after 3 July 2023 and is not excluded building work
3. Building work commencement date is prior to 3 July 2023 and is not excluded building work, but an associated construction certificate or complying development certificate is determined prior to 3 July 2023
4. Building work commencement date is prior to 3 July 2023 and is not excluded building work, but an associated construction certificate or complying development certificate is determined on or after 3 July 2023

Building work is DBP excluded

Building work commencement date is on or after 3 July 2023 and is not excluded building work

Building work commencement date is prior to 3 July 2023 and is not excluded building work, but an associated construction certificate or complying development certificate is determined prior to 3 July 2023

Building work commencement date is prior to 3 July 2023 and is not excluded building work, but an associated CC or CDC is determined on or after 3 July 2023.

Building work is DBP excluded 

When the building work is DBP excluded, the following changes have been made as part of this release: 

• The question ‘Does the building work involve encroaching ground anchor?’ will not be visible to the developer in the building work case. 
• It is optional for the developer to nominate a building practitioner on the building work case. 
• The building regulator will be required to complete an OC Audit assessment. 
• The ‘Intent to seek Occupation Certificate’ will be an option under the ‘Action’ menu on the building work case, when viewed on the ‘My development sites’ dashboard.
• The developer is not required to pay the Building Work Levy.
• The post Occupation Certificate Building Compliance Declaration is not required to be performed by the building practitioner. 

Building work commencement date is on or after 3 July 2023 and is not excluded building work

When the building work commencement date is on or after to 3 July 2023 and the building work is not excluded, the following changes have been made as part of this release: 

• The question ‘Does the building work involve encroaching ground anchor?’ will be visible to the developer in the building work case. 
• The developer will be required to nominate a building practitioner on the building work case.  
• When a building practitioner has been nominated, the option to lodge the regulated design documents will be visible. 
• Document lodgement is mandatory for the building practitioner. 
• The building regulator will be required to complete an OC Audit assessment. 
• The ‘Intent to seek Occupation Certificate’ will be an option under the ‘Action’ menu on the building work case, when viewed on the ‘My development sites’ dashboard.
• The developer may be required to pay the Building Work Levy, depending on responses provided to the building work levy questions on the ‘Intent to seek Occupation Certificate’ case.
• The building practitioner is required to perform the Building Compliance Declaration (As-built final).

Building work commencement date is prior to 3 July 2023 and is not excluded building work, but an associated construction certificate or complying development certificate is determined prior to 3 July 2023

When building work commencement date is prior to 3 July 2023 and the building work is not excluded, but an associated construction certificate or complying development certificate is determined prior to 3 July 2023, the following changes have been made as part of this release: 

• The question ‘Does the building work involve encroaching ground anchor?’ will not be visible to the developer in the building work case. 
• The developer will be required to nominate a building practitioner on the building work case. If a building practitioner is not nominated, a warning message will be displayed on the ‘Intent to seek Occupation Certificate’ case. 
• When a building practitioner has been nominated, the option to lodge the regulated design documents will be visible.  
• The building regulator will be required to complete an OC Audit assessment. 
• The ‘Intent to seek Occupation Certificate’ will be an option under the ‘Action’ menu on the building work case, when viewed on the ‘My development sites’ dashboard.
• The Building Compliance Declaration is not required to be performed by the building practitioner. 
• The post Occupation Certificate Building Compliance Declaration Variations is not required to be performed by the building practitioner. 

Building work commencement date is prior to 3 July 2023 and is not excluded building work, but an associated construction certificate or complying development certificate is determined on or after 3 July 2023

When building work commencement date is prior to 3 July 2023 and the building work is not excluded, but an associated construction certificate or complying development certificate is determined on or after 3 July 2023, the following changes have been made as part of this release: 

• The question ‘Does the building work involve encroaching ground anchor?’ will not be visible to the developer in the building work case. 
• The developer will be required to nominate a building practitioner on the building work case. If a building practitioner is not nominated, a warning message will be displayed on the ‘Intent to seek Occupation Certificate’ case. 
• When a building practitioner has been nominated, the option to lodge the regulated design documents will be visible and the building practitioner will be required to lodge documents.  
• The building regulator will be required to complete an OC Audit assessment. 
• The ‘Intent to seek Occupation Certificate’ will be an option under the ‘Action’ menu on the building work case, when viewed on the ‘My development sites’ dashboard.
• The developer is required to pay the Building Work Levy.
• The Building Compliance Declaration to be performed by the building practitioner in the ‘Intent to seek Occupation Certificate’ case. 
• The post Occupation Certificate Building Compliance Declaration Variations is to be performed by the same building practitioner who performed the Building Compliance Declaration. 

Minor enhancements on the following Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) due to the enhancements in this release have been communicated to vendors and middleware providers: Online Development Application service API v2, Online Certificate Registration service API v1, Online Complying Development Certificate service API v1, Online Post-consent Certificate service API v1 and Online State DA service API v1. 

In addition, new Housing and Productivity Contribution, Critical Stage Inspection and Written Direction Notice APIs were introduced to the Common API. 

We encourage you to speak to your vendor about any specific impacts to your system.  For more information, please view the release notes for the relevant API.

The NSW Planning Portal website was updated to ensure that it adheres to Cyber Security NSW requirements and security  patches are current