Lane Cove Council
Private building certifier in Lane Cove
Tree rules catch more Lane Cove renovations than any hazard map does. CertifiBuild certifies houses, rebuilds, pools, garages and other Class 10 work here, starting with a look at the trees near your footings.
NSW 2066
Class 1 homes and Class 10 structures
Local rules
Lane Cove's house streets and busy centre
A suburb of two halves
Lane Cove is the biggest suburb in its council area, at about 258 hectares. Flats outnumber houses, mostly in the R4 ring around the shops at the junction of Longueville and Burns Bay Roads. Beyond that ring lies the R2 low density land, roughly 55% of Lane Cove, where most house work happens. The usual height there is 9.5 metres.
No conservation area
None of the Greenwich conservation area reaches this suburb. Lane Cove does have 39 listed heritage items, and Carisbrook on Burns Bay Road is State Heritage Register listed. Here the local plan shows no landslide risk and no flood planning land, and it draws no foreshore building line. Bushfire prone land covers about 10%.
The town centre effect
Within the council area, only Lane Cove has a town centre marked on the state housing maps. A large share of Lane Cove falls inside walking catchments of that centre, which brings the state's newer low-rise and mid-rise housing provisions into play on some lots.
Typical work
Common projects and how they get approved
What owners build here
On the low density streets, owners mostly reshape homes they already have rather than starting from scratch. Common jobs are:
- Upper floor additions that stay at two storeys and keep at least 35% of the lot landscaped.
- Knockdown rebuilds on sloping lots of 550 square metres, where split levels work better than deep cuts.
- Dual occupancies on lots big enough to meet the higher local thresholds.
- Pools and decks planned around protected trees and their roots.
- Carports and garages set back behind the street pattern.
Units, and homes above shops near the centre, fall outside our Class 1 and 10 work.
How approval usually works
Few mapped exclusions knock out a CDC (a fast-track approval under state rules) in Lane Cove, because the suburb has no foreshore line or conservation area to trigger them. That makes the state codes a realistic first test for many houses. Trees are the real hurdle. A tree is protected if it is a woody plant above four metres in height and its canopy is more than five metres across or its trunk is more than 150 millimetres thick. Removing or cutting one needs consent, and roots count too. Check the trees near any new footing, pool or driveway before drawings are fixed. For a duplex, council asks for 750 square metres if attached, or 900 if the dwellings stand apart. Bushfire prone lots also drop out of the newer state housing rules. CertifiBuild reviews your lot's mapping and tree issues up front and schedules inspections around your builder's program.
Our services
From approval to sign-off.
One certifier for your whole Lane Cove job, from the first plan check to the occupation certificate.
Local questions
Questions we hear about this suburb.
No two lots in Lane Cove are the same. Give us your address and we will check every map that affects it.
See the council pageMy Lane Cove lot is 600 m2. Is a duplex possible?
Not under Lane Cove’s local plan. Lots are mapped at 550 square metres, but the plan separately sets 750 square metres as the minimum for two attached dwellings, and 900 where the two stand apart. A 600 m2 block falls short of both. Confirm your exact area on a survey early, since even a small shortfall counts. A granny flat or a second storey might still be possible. Lots inside the town centre walking catchments are worth checking separately against the newer state housing rules, unless bushfire mapping excludes them.
Do I need approval just to prune a tree?
Often yes. In Lane Cove, protection applies to woody plants taller than four metres whose canopy spreads beyond five metres or whose trunk exceeds 150 millimetres, and cutting live foliage on one needs a council application first. Once approved, a qualified arborist must do the work to the Australian standard. Root work over 40 millimetres is caught too, which matters for footings, pools and driveways. Mark protected trees on your survey before any drawings are fixed.
Could I excavate a level pad for my new house?
Usually only to a limited extent. Lane Cove’s DCP generally keeps cut or fill to a maximum of one metre. More is considered only where a two storey home genuinely cannot fit the slope otherwise. Council prefers stepped, split level designs that follow the ground over a single deep excavation. On sloping lots of around 550 square metres, a split level rebuild often works well. Check protected tree roots near the excavation line too, since roots over 40 millimetres are caught. Have a contour survey prepared before the architect fixes floor levels.
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.