Sydney and Woollahra councils
Private building certifier in Paddington
Paddington is shared by Woollahra and Sydney city councils, and about 99% of its land is heritage conservation area. A private certifier in Paddington starts by finding which council’s plan covers your terrace.
NSW 2021
Class 1 homes and Class 10 structures
Local rules
Terraces, lanes and two council plans
A terrace suburb
Paddington had 12,701 residents at the 2021 Census. Roughly 60% of occupied homes fell into the semi, terrace or townhouse group. Nearly a third were flats. Separate houses were rare. That is almost the reverse of the wider Woollahra area, where terraces are only about one home in five.
Two councils, two sets of rules
Woollahra holds the bigger share of Paddington. The City of Sydney covers a smaller southern section that includes Victoria Barracks, and the line dates from 1968. Woollahra-side work follows that council's 2014 local plan, the LEP, with design detail in its 2015 DCP. City-side work follows Sydney LEP 2012, with detail in Sydney DCP 2012. Your address decides which pair you follow.
Heritage almost everywhere
Woollahra's Paddington conservation area spans roughly 125 hectares and reaches into pockets of Edgecliff and Woollahra. Most remaining land sits in three City conservation areas: Paddington Urban, Victoria Barracks and Paddington South. Woollahra's DCP has a Paddington chapter arranged by building type, such as terrace housing, corner buildings and timber cottages, rather than by street.
Typical work
Common projects and how they get approved
What owners build here
Nearly every job here alters an existing building. Common Class 1 and 10 work includes:
- Terrace rear additions. Each council pushes new floor space rearward, keeping the original roof and street-facing scale intact. A rear position still has to suit the neighbours and the lane.
- Attic rooms. Keep the original roof form readable to passers-by. An approved design from one council's side cannot just be copied across the boundary.
- Lane garages and studios. For City land, the DCP wants low-scale buildings in narrow lanes, with simple pitched roofs. On some one-sided streets it also asks for windows facing the street and a pedestrian entry.
- Verandah and ironwork reinstatement. Restoring lost detail to a terrace front is common and usually welcomed.
Flat buildings are Class 2, so they need a differently registered certifier.
How approval usually works
Complying development, a fast-track approval a certifier can issue, is limited here. Conservation area status shuts out the Housing Code. The exceptions are detached outbuildings, swimming pools and certain other freestanding structures. Studios are not among them. The Housing Alterations Code offers a little room, but only for ground-level work that adds no height and does not touch the wall facing the street.
Most extensions and attic conversions therefore need a development application (DA) to the right council, then a construction certificate. Keep the approved roof and envelope unchanged when the construction drawings are prepared, so the two stages match.
Send photos of the front, rear and lane, plus a survey. CertifiBuild settles which council you are dealing with, and which codes are open, before you pay for drawings.
Our services
From approval to sign-off.
One certifier for your whole Paddington job, from the first plan check to the occupation certificate.
Local questions
Questions we hear about this suburb.
No two lots in Paddington are the same. Give us your address and we will check every map that affects it.
See the council pageIs my Paddington terrace under Woollahra or the City of Sydney?
Most of Paddington sits in Woollahra, and Sydney’s city council looks after a smaller southern slice that includes Victoria Barracks. That boundary was drawn in 1968. Check your rates notice, or order a planning certificate, to confirm. Woollahra-side work follows its 2014 local environmental plan (LEP) and 2015 development control plan (DCP), while the City side uses Sydney’s 2012 versions. Because almost all of Paddington is heritage conservation area, knowing the council steers every later decision.
Could a Paddington pool or garden shed be approved by CDC?
Possibly. Pools and freestanding outbuildings can still use complying development on conservation area land, as long as every code standard is met. A studio is not included in that exception. Land holding a listed heritage item faces tighter limits, so check the listing first. Most other work, such as extensions and attic rooms, needs a development application (DA) to the right council. Send photos of the back yard and a survey so we can check the setbacks.
For a terrace in Woollahra’s part, which DCP chapter governs?
Woollahra’s development control plan has a dedicated Paddington chapter covering its whole conservation area, which spans roughly 125 hectares and reaches into pockets of Edgecliff and Woollahra. Rather than going street by street, it is arranged by building type, such as terrace housing, corner buildings and timber cottages. Find the section matching your building. Keep in mind that a design approved by Sydney’s city council cannot simply be copied across the boundary.
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.