Compliance and enforcement

Before you carry out any development or building works, you need to determine what approvals are required and ensure you follow any relevant requirements.

Exempt and complying development

A Development Application (DA) is needed for most development in Eurobodalla Shire. However, a DA is not always necessary and you may be able to do some minor works as 'exempt development', which does not need Council approval, or as 'complying development', which is a form of planning and building approval that can be issued by either a private certifier or by a Council certifier.

Types of 'exempt development' may include:

More information

You can refer to the State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008 (Codes SEPP) for more detailed information about exempt and complying development, and Council's web pages:

You can also contact the Development Help Desk for more information:

Development approval

If your development does not meet the requirements for 'exempt development', it is an offence under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 to carry out development (ie, building work or use) without obtaining the required development consent from Council. You may need to lodge a Development Application (DA).

Registered certifiers

Once you have a Complying Development Certificate (CDC) or Construction Certificate (CC) (following the issue of development consent), you need to appoint a principal certifier before you start any building works (either Council or a private registered certifier).

When a private certifier is appointed, they are required to carry out mandatory and other inspections of the development at certain stages, check compliance with the relevant approvals and certificates, and issue an Occupation Certificate upon completion of the development.

If you have an enquiry or complaint about building work which is being, or has been, certified by a private registered certifier, you should contact the principal certifier direct for investigation and appropriate action.

If you have a complaint about the conduct or actions of a principal certifier, you need to contact NSW Fair Trading, who is responsible for the oversight of principal certifiers at:

Compliance and enforcement

Council's Compliance Policy provides details about Council's regulatory and enforcement actions, considerations and processes.

Our Compliance Policy outlines Council's regulatory approach in a transparent manner. This enables Council's regulatory actions to be applied in a consistent way appropriate to the nature, extent and severity of the breach or offence.

It is an offence for building work to be carried out which does not comply with the approved plans and/or conditions of consent, CDC or CC (refer to Step 3: prior to the issue of a Construction Certificate), or for which development consent has not been obtained. Council can issue notices, orders or fines, or commence legal proceedings to rectify the non-compliance.

These offences are taken seriously by Council as they can result in sub-standard construction and may have a detrimental impact upon the safety and/or amenity of occupants and nearby residents.

How to report another person's illegal or non-complying building works

If you have a question or complaint relating to non-compliance with a development consent or Complying Development Certificate, you should make contact with the principal certifier for the development (which could be either Council or a private registered certifier).

The name and contact details of the principal certifier should be listed on a sign at the front of the development site.

Enquiries or complaints relating to illegal building work or use of a premises may also be made directly to Council.

Register of Orders and Notices

Council maintains a register of Orders and Notices that have been issued in Eurobodalla Shire as required under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009. The register is updated regularly and shows Orders and Notices issued in the current financial year. Orders and Notices issued in previous years are available on request.

To access the register, click on the 'Public Orders' link on the left menu:

Contact us

If you need more information about development non-compliance, or to make a complaint, please contact Council: