A developer working on a regulated building in NSW, one of class 2, 3 or 9c or with a part in those classes, has duties beyond the development consent. Before work starts it nominates the practitioners and the certifier on the NSW Planning Portal; months before completion it gives notice of the date it will seek an occupation certificate; and it pays the building work levy before applying. For eligible new apartment buildings of four storeys or more it also lodges a strata building bond, which is held while the finished building is inspected for defects.
General informationThis page summarises the NSW Government’s pages on developer obligations, the expected completion notice and the strata building bond, as at October 2026. It is not legal advice for any project. Building Commission NSW answers questions about the Design and Building Practitioner scheme on 13 27 00 on weekdays from 8:30am to 5pm, except public holidays.
Before building work starts
Three steps come first, all on the NSW Planning Portal:
A developer account. Developers need one to work on regulated buildings, to lodge documents and make payments; an existing applicant account can add one.
Nominations. The developer names the building practitioner, the design practitioner and the principal certifier working on the development.
The commencement date. The date building work starts is entered before it starts, and the Portal offers this only once a complying development certificate or a construction certificate has been issued.
The expected completion notice
Under the Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) Act 2020, section 4, the developer who gives this notice can be any of four people: whoever contracted, arranged or facilitated the building work; the landowner while the work was done; the principal contractor; or the developer of a strata scheme under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015.
The notice, lodged on the Planning Portal, gives the date the building is expected to be finished and the plan to seek an occupation certificate. It must come at least 6 months and no more than 12 months before that application. Where a developer expects at the start of work to apply in under 6 months, the notice is due within 30 days of work beginning. A new date within 60 days of the old one needs nothing further; a move of more than 60 days either way needs an amendment notice within 7 days of the developer learning of it.
The point is time to look: NSW Fair Trading and Building Commission NSW can review the development, possibly with an audit, to find serious defects before the building is finished and buyers settle or occupants move in. Missing the notice can bring fines and a prohibition order that delays the occupation certificate. The duty began on 1 September 2020.
If the building is chosen for an audit
After the notice, a project may be selected for an occupation certificate audit, and while it is, the developer cannot apply for the certificate. The developer receives a notice for information and records, copied to the certifier, and uploads the project documents to the Portal. The audit can review designs and documents, contracts included, and inspect the site, concentrating on structure, waterproofing, fire safety systems, building services and the external enclosure.
If inspectors find serious defects, a prohibition order, a stop work order or a building work rectification order can follow. The page counts as a serious defect one likely to stop the building or part of it being used as intended, a building element that fails the Building Code of Australia, an Australian Standard or the approved plans, or a product used against the Building Products (Safety) Act 2017.
The building work levy
The levy is paid before applying for an occupation certificate on a regulated building. It falls on whoever submits the intention to seek an occupation certificate, the step that includes the completion notice. The page lists three kinds of work it applies to:
- new buildings
- storeys added to an existing building that create 5 or more extra residential premises
- repair, renovation or remediation work over $150,000, on class 2 buildings only.
Work on existing class 3 and 9c buildings is exempt until 1 July 2028.
The strata building bond
Under the Strata Building Bond and Inspections Scheme, developers of eligible new apartment buildings of four storeys or more lodge a bond equal to 2% of the total price of all contracts for the building. It is lodged with the Secretary before the occupation certificate is applied for, and it can cover carparks, common areas and the shops or offices in a mixed-use building. The scheme does not apply where the Home Building Compensation Fund does, and that fund covers multi-unit buildings only up to three storeys. The scheme’s own page also carries a sentence saying it applies to buildings of three storeys and below; the developer obligations page gives four storeys or more, which fits the fund’s three-storey limit.
An amendment to the Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2016 put off the planned rise in the bond from 2% to 3% until 1 July 2028.
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| Before the occupation certificate | The developer registers the project and lodges the bond on the Planning Portal |
| Within 12 months | The developer appoints a building inspector |
| 15 to 18 months | The inspector’s interim inspection and report |
| About 18 to 21 months | The builder fixes the defects identified, before the final inspection |
| 21 to 24 months | The final inspection and report |
| Next | The cost of fixing defects still listed in the final report is agreed or determined |
| 2 to 3 years | The bond pays for that work; the payment process should be finished in this window |
| At completion | The owners corporation finishes the repairs, and any balance of the bond goes back to the developer |
If no defects are found, the whole bond is returned. After the first stage the case moves from the Planning Portal to the Strata Hub.
The insurance those nominated practitioners carry, including a change on 1 July 2027, is covered in the guide to licences and home building cover.