Woollahra Municipal Council
Private building certifier in Double Bay
In Double Bay, CertifiBuild certifies new homes, dual occupancies, additions, garages and pools. Heritage rarely gets in the way here, but owners near the water quickly meet foreshore rules.
NSW 2028
Class 1 homes and Class 10 structures
Local rules
Double Bay: a busy centre with little heritage cover
Woollahra's commercial heart
Double Bay holds the municipality's biggest local centre, with E1 zoning over about 15% of the suburb. Housing is mostly flats. At the 2021 Census there were 4,709 residents, and of 2,130 occupied dwellings, 1,632 were flats while 286 were separate houses. About 10% of Double Bay is R2 low density land, found mainly on the centre's northern and western fringes. Streets for the village were set out in 1834, and its first lots sold in 1835.
Almost no conservation area
Transvaal Avenue is the single conservation area, covering roughly half a hectare. With no DCP chapter of its own, it is judged against the general residential provisions. The suburb still has 43 listed heritage items, five of state significance, including Overthorpe and Gladswood House. Work affecting an item, or close to one, is judged on heritage grounds.
Centre rules and the marina
Chapter D5 of council's DCP sets building form street by street across the centre. The Double Bay Marina sits outside the council area, in unincorporated harbour waters, so the state is the consent authority there.
Typical work
Common projects and how they get approved
What owners build here
House work in Double Bay sits around a busy shopping centre. Common Class 1 and 10 projects:
- New homes and knock down rebuilds in the low density streets outside the shopping centre.
- Dual occupancies on lots that satisfy the size and design standards.
- Changes and extensions to existing houses and terraces, older homes near the bay among them.
- Pools, garages and carports on house lots, tested against setback and tree controls.
- Waterfront pools and sea walls inside the foreshore bands, through council consent.
Flats, shops and restaurant fitouts are other classes, handled by certifiers registered for them.
How approval usually works
Away from the water and outside Transvaal Avenue, heritage does not block a CDC (complying development certificate, the quick state code approval), so new houses and pools can often take that route. The lot and design still have to meet every standard. The minimum lot is 700 square metres in most places, while house height limits are generally 9.5 metres, or 10.5 metres in some areas. Smaller R2 lots use a sliding floor space scale. By the bay, foreshore land is shut out of complying development, and inside the 12 metre band only existing buildings or listed waterfront items can be worked on. The state's low and mid rise housing provisions reach most residential streets around the centre, measured by walking distance. Check whether a heritage item sits on or beside your lot. CertifiBuild runs through these layers for your address and replies quickly when questions come up during the build.
Our services
From approval to sign-off.
One certifier for your whole Double Bay job, from the first plan check to the occupation certificate.
Local questions
Questions we hear about this suburb.
No two lots in Double Bay are the same. Give us your address and we will check every map that affects it.
See the council pageDoes heritage control my Double Bay house?
Usually not through a conservation area. Transvaal Avenue, roughly half a hectare, is the only one in Double Bay, and council judges it against the general housing controls rather than its own development control plan chapter. Listed items are the bigger issue. The suburb has 43 of them, five of state significance, including Overthorpe and Gladswood House. If your house is an item, or sits close to one, the work is judged on heritage grounds and a complying development certificate (CDC) may be off the table. Check the listings for your lot and its neighbours before design starts.
What can go on my waterfront land in Double Bay?
Very little that is new. Within the 12 metre foreshore band, Woollahra Council can only approve alterations to a building already there, or a short list of waterside structures such as pools, jetties, boat sheds, fences and sea walls. Foreshore land is also excluded from complying development, so a development application (DA) is needed, followed by a construction certificate. Council also weighs how the work looks from the water and its effect on public access along the shore. Have a registered surveyor locate the foreshore bands on your lot before any design begins.
Does Woollahra Council approve marina works in Double Bay?
No. The marina at Double Bay sits in unincorporated Sydney Harbour waters, outside every council area, so the state, not Woollahra Council, grants consent there. That gives the marina a separate approval path from the homes along the shore. For a waterfront house, a pool, jetty or sea wall on your own land still goes to council under the foreshore rules, and complying development is not available for it. If your project involves the marina itself, confirm the approval route with the relevant state agency before you commission any drawings.
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.