Short answer: usually no. The Housing Industry Association states that bathroom and kitchen renovations can be exempt development in NSW under the Codes SEPP — covering new waterproofing, re-tiling, cabinetry and fixtures — provided there are no structural changes. HIA also states that no dollar threshold applies. A $40,000 bathroom is no more likely to need council approval than a $12,000 one.
What changes the answer is not the price. It is structure, heritage and strata. And none of that removes your obligations around contracts, licensing and insurance, which apply whether or not approval is needed.
What exempt development means
Exempt development is work that can be carried out without a development application and without a complying development certificate. The categories are set by the state planning framework, and the relevant one for internal work sits in the Codes SEPP.
We are deliberately not quoting a clause number. Clause numbering in the Codes SEPP changes between amendments, and a stale citation carries an air of authority it no longer deserves. The position we are relying on is HIA's, published 21 January 2026: bathroom and kitchen renovations can be exempt development, covering new waterproofing, re-tiling, cabinetry and fixtures, where there are no structural changes.
That description covers an ordinary like-for-like bathroom renovation. Strip it out, waterproof it, tile it, fit the new gear.
The condition that matters: no structural changes
The exemption HIA describes is conditional. These are the things that take a bathroom outside that description:
- Removing, moving or opening up a wall. Internal walls can be loadbearing, and in an older Wahroonga or Beecroft house you cannot tell which ones from the floor plan.
- Altering the floor structure. Cutting a slab or notching joists to form a step-free, hob-less shower is structural work, even though the finished room looks like an ordinary bathroom.
- Enlarging a window or door opening, or forming a new one.
- Extending the bathroom into another room, or beyond the existing footprint.
If any of that is in scope, the HIA position no longer describes your job. You then need to establish which pathway applies — a complying development certificate or a development application — before work starts. That is a conversation with your council or a private certifier, not something to settle from a website.
Heritage items and conservation areas
Heritage is the other thing that changes the answer, and Sydney's North Shore has a great deal of it. Beecroft has an established conservation area, and there are heritage items scattered through Wahroonga, Pymble and Roseville.
We are not going to state a rule for any particular property here, because heritage controls are set property by property and area by area in the local environmental plan. There is no general shortcut.
What to do instead is short and free. Check the property's planning certificate, or search the address on the NSW Planning Portal. If it shows a heritage item or a conservation area, ask the council in writing before you commit, and get the answer in writing. An internal bathroom in a conservation-area house is often uncontroversial. “Often” is not a basis for starting work.
Planning approval and licensing are two different things
This is where most of the confusion sits. Council approval is a planning question. Contracts, licensing and insurance are consumer-protection law under the Home Building Act 1989, and they apply regardless of whether you need approval.
- Over $5,000 including GST in labour and materials: a written contract is required, and the contractor must hold a licence. That includes waterproofing, which is a licensed specialist trade in its own right in NSW.
- $5,000 to $20,000: a small jobs contract. Over $20,000: a large or extensive works contract.
- Over $20,000 including GST: Home Building Compensation insurance must be in place before work starts or a deposit is taken. Failing to do so is an offence. Deposits are capped at 10%.
- Over $250,000: a work health and safety plan is required.
So a $30,000 bathroom needing no council approval whatsoever still needs a written contract, a licensed builder and HBC insurance before anyone takes your deposit. Unlicensed residential building work carries penalties of up to $22,000 for an individual and $110,000 for a company. “No approval needed” is not “no rules”.
If you are in strata, the council is not your problem
Apartments have a second approval track that has nothing to do with the council. Under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 there are three tiers, and bathrooms land in the top one.
- Cosmetic work — no approval. Defined as changes that do not affect the structure or outside of your apartment and do not require waterproofing. Painting, hooks, carpet.
- Minor renovations — ordinary resolution, more than 50% of votes. Kitchen renovations such as installing or removing cupboards, changes to internal walls, changes to recessed light fittings.
- Major renovations — special resolution. Structural changes and waterproofing work.
Because a bathroom renovation renews waterproofing, it is a major renovation. A special resolution passes when no more than 25% of the value of the votes cast are against the work — a 75% threshold, not the 50% most owners assume. That is the single most expensive misunderstanding in strata bathroom projects.
Exempt from approval is not exempt from the code
Work that needs no development application still has to be built properly. NSW is currently governed by NCC 2022. NCC 2025 does not apply in NSW until 1 May 2027, so any builder telling you today that “NCC 2025 requires” something for a NSW bathroom is wrong.
For wet-area waterproofing the NCC references AS 3740:2021. For houses the relevant provisions sit in Volume Two Housing Provisions Part 10.2, “Wet area waterproofing”; for apartments, Volume One Part F2 and Specification 26. AS 3740 is a paid Standards Australia document, so we do not reproduce its dimensions here — but your waterproofer should be working to it, and should give you certification when the job is done.
Common questions
Do I need council approval to replace a bathroom in NSW?
Usually not. HIA states that bathroom renovations can be exempt development under the Codes SEPP where there are no structural changes, and that no dollar threshold applies.
Does the cost of the renovation trigger approval?
No. HIA is explicit that no dollar threshold applies to the exemption. Cost does trigger contract, licensing and insurance obligations, which are a separate body of law.
What if I am moving a wall?
Then it is structural, and the exemption HIA describes no longer covers the job. Ask your council or a private certifier which pathway applies before work starts.
Does a heritage listing or a conservation area change things?
It can. Controls are set property by property in the local environmental plan, so check the planning certificate and ask the council in writing rather than assuming either way.
Do I need approval from my owners corporation as well?
Yes, if you are in strata, and it is a higher bar than most people expect — a bathroom is a major renovation requiring a special resolution at 75%, not an ordinary 50% vote.
Sources
- Housing Industry Association, Are bathroom and kitchen renovations exempt development? (21 January 2026)
- NSW Government, Strata renovations (17 March 2026)
- NSW Government, Guide to providing home building contracts (11 June 2026)
- NSW Government, Waterproofing work (23 June 2026)
- State Insurance Regulatory Authority NSW, Home building compensation (2026)
- NSW Government, NSW to adopt new National Construction Code May 2027
Renova Build holds NSW contractor licence 397801C. Our showroom is at 104 George Street, Hornsby. This article is general information, not advice on your specific project or property.
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