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Building and Development Information Guides
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- Development / Building and Construction / Building and Development Information Guides / Change of Use
A change of use occurs when the use of a building or part of a building changes from one land use to another.
If the change of land use meets the relevant development standards for Exempt Development, development consent will not be required.
The NSW Government’s Exempt Development Code can be used to determine if the proposed change of use development is exempt.
If the change of use proposal does not qualify as exempt development, development consent will need to be sought through the appropriate approval pathway, whether by a complying development certificate of development application.
Food and drink premises and beauty salons are among the development types that cannot be exempt development.
You may also find some types of development permitted without development consent in the Newcastle Local Environmental Plan 2012. Use the ePlanning Spatial Viewer to find the zoning of the property address the proposal relates to.
Development consent may be sought via Complying Development for the change of use of an existing building, provided it meets the development standards as outlined in Part 5A Industrial and Business Buildings Code.
If the proposal does not qualify as complying development, you will need to lodge a development application.
Development consent can be sought through a development application for change of use or initial use, provided the proposal meets the relevant planning controls.
Planning controls for development can be found in the Newcastle Local Environmental Plan 2012 (LEP) and Newcastle Development Control Plan (DCP)
Please see the below helpful links to access information regarding the application process, checklists, guides and recourses as well as how to lodge an application with City of Newcastle.
- A change from one type of retail shop to another type of retail shop is not a change of use – it is considered a change of tenant
- Minor building works can be undertaken in conjunction with the change of use if the work is considered exempt development. For example, if a shop were changing to an office, minor internal work that may not require approval include the installation of workstations, re-carpeting the floor, repainting the premises, changing light fittings, and upgrading existing sanitary fittings
