Willoughby City Council
Private building certifier in Naremburn
Naremburn is a fine-grained suburb of cottages, semis and flats with three conservation areas. CertifiBuild certifies house work, dual occupancies, pools and outbuildings here, starting with heritage and catchment mapping.
NSW 2065
Class 1 homes and Class 10 structures
Local rules
Naremburn cottages, conservation areas and catchments
Cottages, semis and flats
In 2021, Naremburn's occupied homes included 1,010 flats, 893 separate houses and 461 semis or townhouses. Just over half the land carries low density zoning, and medium density covers almost a fifth. The Warringah Freeway corridor and Gore Hill line the south and east, and a bushland gully holds the conservation zoning. Limits on height and floor space change from block to block, with 8.5, 7 and 9 metres all common. Wherever lot size is mapped, the minimum is 550 square metres.
Three conservation areas
Heritage conservation areas cover about 27% of Naremburn. They are Naremburn Central Township, the Naremburn Civic Centre area and a third simply called Naremburn. Every one of the twenty-six heritage items is local, with none on the State Heritage Register.
Other overlays
Around 6% of the land, near the gully, carries a bushfire prone mapping. A dual occupancy restriction is mapped over about 13%. The suburb also falls within the 2036 Plan for the Crows Nest and St Leonards precinct, a state strategy finalised in 2020. That plan leaves the controls themselves unchanged; the current local plan and development control plan (DCP) still apply.
Typical work
Common projects and how they get approved
What owners build here
The older housing here drives most of our work. Typical Class 1 and 10 jobs include:
- Rear additions to Federation cottages, semis and terraces, often in a conservation area.
- Second storeys and extensions on detached houses.
- Dual occupancies on R2 land under the state housing changes, where the lot qualifies.
- Pools and freestanding structures, which remain complying on conservation land.
- Knockdown rebuilds on larger detached lots outside the heritage areas.
Flats make up about 43% of homes and are Class 2 buildings. Unit work therefore needs a certifier with Class 2 registration, and we will point that out early.
How approval usually works
Each pathway treats heritage land differently here. Heritage items are excluded from the state's Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy changes. Conservation areas are not, so many conservation lots can still use them. Both are excluded from the pattern book route. The housing codes shut out conservation land except for pools, detached outbuildings and similar freestanding structures. On that land, an addition usually means a DA, then a construction certificate. Elsewhere, a CDC, a fast-track approval under state rules, may suit if no other mapping stands in the way. Look up the dual occupancy restriction layer before planning a second home, since it covers part of the suburb. CertifiBuild works out which catchment and heritage layers apply to your exact lot, so you choose the pathway that genuinely fits.
Our services
From approval to sign-off.
One certifier for your whole Naremburn job, from the first plan check to the occupation certificate.
Local questions
Questions we hear about this suburb.
No two lots in Naremburn are the same. Give us your address and we will check every map that affects it.
See the council pageDo the state’s newer housing rules for low and mid-rise homes work in Naremburn?
Quite possibly, for part of the suburb. Using straight-line distances, around 70% of Naremburn sits less than 800 metres from Northbridge Plaza or the Crows Nest and St Leonards stations. Eligibility is measured along a walking route, though, so the land that truly qualifies is smaller. Heritage items are excluded, but conservation area lots are not. A dual occupancy restriction layer also takes in roughly 13% of Naremburn’s land. Measure the walking route from your lot and check both maps before planning a second home.
How do I tell which Naremburn conservation area I am in?
Look up your lot on the heritage map in the Willoughby local environmental plan. Naremburn has three conservation areas, Naremburn Central Township, the Naremburn Civic Centre area and one simply called Naremburn, covering roughly 27% of Naremburn between them. Your lot may sit in one of them or in none. The heritage controls in the development control plan (DCP) apply to all three. If you are inside one, an addition will usually need a development application (DA) rather than a fast-track code approval.
Does Naremburn have State Heritage Register items?
No. All twenty-six of Naremburn’s heritage items are listed locally, and there are no State Heritage Register items or listed archaeological sites here. In practice, there is no extra layer of Heritage NSW sign-off sitting above your planning approval. Local listing still matters, though. A listed item is excluded from the low and mid-rise housing changes, and complying development is generally not open to it, so work usually goes through a development application (DA). Find out whether your lot is an item, inside Naremburn Central Township, the Civic Centre area or the area called Naremburn, or none of these.
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.