Wollongong City Council
Private building certifier in Bulli
CertifiBuild certifies cottage additions, coastal replacement homes, pools, patios and garages in Bulli. Start by confirming whether a site specific DCP chapter in Bulli covers your lot.
NSW 2516
Class 1 homes and Class 10 structures
Local rules
Bulli: mining town cottages, coast and brickworks
Three different settings
Council's character statement splits Bulli into the historic mining era centre, with its cottages and bungalows, and newer housing toward the coast and escarpment. For an older cottage, it matters to keep the roof, the scale and the frontage. Near the beach, the focus moves to upper level bulk, articulation and neighbours' outlook. At the 2021 Census, stand-alone houses accounted for 80.4% of occupied dwellings.
Two precinct chapters
Chapter D17 of council's Development Control Plan covers the old brickworks site, including its small lot housing. Chapter D4 covers the Franklin Avenue precinct and includes noise mitigation measures. Each one covers only the land it identifies. A design approved inside a precinct cannot simply be copied to streets outside it.
Small lots, little spare room
Brickworks lots were planned as a set, balancing house, open space and parking, so there is often little slack for later additions. An older block with an established garden is a very different start. Either way, work from your survey and the first approval, and do not assume there is spare capacity. Heritage status is a separate mapped question, not something to judge from a cottage's looks.
Typical work
Common projects and how they get approved
What owners build here
Bulli projects follow the three settings above, and the right starting documents differ for each. Typical work includes:
- Renovations to cottages and bungalows, rear additions and modest upper floors in the historic centre.
- Replacement homes, balconies and outdoor living near the coast, with roof form checked early.
- Patio roofs, garages and pools on brickworks lots, tested against the approved lot layout and parking.
- Alterations near Franklin Avenue, reviewed against the precinct's acoustic provisions before the layout changes.
- Granny flats, judged on the individual title, the principal dwelling and the leftover space.
How approval usually works
A CDC (state complying development, the faster route) may suit a Bulli pool or addition, but an estate design does not automatically make later work exempt or code compliant. If not, you will need a development application (DA) and then a construction certificate. First, find out whether Chapter D17 or Chapter D4 covers your lot. On a brickworks lot, get the original approval drawings before you add a patio roof or garage. Near Franklin Avenue, review the noise provisions. For a cottage, check the heritage map instead of judging by looks. For a coastal upper floor, prepare elevations and sections showing setbacks and neighbours' views. CertifiBuild pins down which chapter applies to your address first, so the design brief is right from the first sketch.
Our services
From approval to sign-off.
One certifier for your whole Bulli job, from the first plan check to the occupation certificate.
Local questions
Questions we hear about this suburb.
No two lots in Bulli are the same. Give us your address and we will check every map that affects it.
See the council pageIs my house covered by the Bulli Brickworks chapter?
Only if your lot sits within the former brickworks site that Chapter D17 of Wollongong’s development control plan (DCP) identifies. That chapter includes small lot housing planned as a set, with house, open space and parking balanced together. Homes elsewhere in Bulli start with the general residential rules and their own heritage information, and Franklin Avenue has a separate chapter again. Find your block on the chapter’s map first. A design approved inside the brickworks site cannot simply be copied to streets outside it.
Can my small lot on the old brickworks site take a patio roof?
Possibly, but test it against the approved layout first. Brickworks lots were designed as a set, so the original approval often leaves little spare room for later additions. A roof over the patio, or walls around it, can eat into the private open space, access or building envelope the estate design relied on. Dig out the estate’s approved drawings plus a survey, then compare the patio roof with what must remain open. Being in a planned estate gives later work no automatic pass on exemption or fast-track approval, so check the pathway as well.
Going up a level on a Bulli cottage: what should I check first?
Start with how the new floor will sit against the original cottage’s roof, scale and frontage, since Bulli’s historic centre values those. Look up the heritage map instead of judging by the cottage’s looks, then look at height and design controls. A smaller upper addition set toward the rear often sits better than a full-width one across the front. Elevations and sections showing the old and new forms together help test this early. The final answer depends on your lot, its mapping and the design you settle on.
Building in this suburb?
Send us the address first.
We check the local maps for your lot, confirm the approval path and quote in writing.