Ku-ring-gai Council
Private building certifier in St Ives
St Ives has no train line, yet its town centre still shapes the state housing rules here. Add plenty of bushland edges and each lot needs checking before you pick an approval path.
NSW 2075
Class 1 homes and Class 10 structures
Local rules
Bushland, a town centre and the rules in St Ives
Ku-ring-gai's biggest locality
In 2021, St Ives counted 18,384 residents living across 6,771 private dwellings. St Ives has the biggest population of all Ku-ring-gai localities. Around 66.1% of occupied homes were stand-alone houses, and apartments made up 26.1%. Semis and townhouses were 7.6%, the top share across the shire. Ku-ring-gai Local Environmental Plan 2015 is the main local instrument.
The town centre acts like a station
In February 2025 the state brought in new rules for lower and medium scale homes. They allow terraces, townhouses and apartment blocks of two to six storeys near Ku-ring-gai stations. St Ives has no station, but the rules name its town centre as well. The rules reach an 800 metre walk from the mapped edge of the centre. Because it is a walking route, two lots the same distance away as the crow flies can be treated differently.
Bushfire and heritage
No heritage conservation area is mapped by council in St Ives. The mapped areas sit along the railway, from Wahroonga down to Roseville. The bigger issue here is bushland. Those state housing rules simply do not apply on bushfire prone land. Dual occupancy is also off the table on bushfire prone land in the R2 zone, which covers most low density house lots. With bushland on several sides of the suburb, this catches many owners who assumed a code route was open.
Typical work
Common projects and how they get approved
What owners build here
Most St Ives work is on houses and their gardens:
- Additions at the back or on a new upper floor. Fix the bushfire construction level before drawings start, rather than having it imposed late.
- Garages, carports and decks. Decks near bushland may need fire-resistant materials.
- Pools and granny flats. Look at the bushfire map and the lot's area first.
- Townhouse and semi changes. Shared walls bring fire separation and owner consent questions.
How approval usually works
You can only use a CDC, the quick certifier approval, if the job meets each code standard. Bushfire mapping, heritage listing or a short lot can close it. A CDC dual occupancy requires a lot of 1,015 square metres or larger, and that applies across Ku-ring-gai. If the job cannot use a CDC, you can still lodge a DA with council and then obtain a CC. Through a DA, council can judge a design on merit even where it misses a standard. Send a planning certificate and site survey first. CertifiBuild then checks the bushfire and housing area questions together at concept stage.
Our services
From approval to sign-off.
One certifier for your whole St Ives job, from the first plan check to the occupation certificate.
Local questions
Questions we hear about this suburb.
No two lots in St Ives are the same. Give us your address and we will check every map that affects it.
See the council pageSt Ives has no station. Why do new housing rules apply here?
Because the state’s low and mid-rise housing rules, in force since February 2025, cover land near Ku-ring-gai’s train stations and also name the centre of St Ives. They can allow terraces, townhouses and apartment blocks of two to six storeys within an 800 metre walk of the mapped edge of the centre. The distance follows a walking route, so two lots the same distance off as the crow flies can get different answers. Bushfire prone land and heritage items are excluded. Check your lot’s walking distance and mapping before assuming anything.
Can I still extend if my St Ives lot is bushfire prone?
Yes, you can usually still extend, but the approval route and building standards change. On bushfire prone land, the newer state housing rules and dual occupancy in the R2 zone are both off the table, and the faster complying development certificate (CDC) may be harder to use. A bushfire assessment will set a construction level, which affects materials for walls, windows, decks and roofing. Get that assessment done early so the plans are drawn to it from day one, rather than having changes forced late.
Does St Ives have a heritage conservation area?
No, council has not mapped a heritage conservation area in St Ives. The shire’s conservation areas follow the railway line, from Wahroonga down to Roseville. An individual St Ives house may still carry its own heritage listing, which brings its own rules and can rule out some code approvals. The surest way to know is a planning certificate for your address. In St Ives, bushfire mapping is usually the bigger issue, so check that at the same time.
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.