Accessing Building Application Records
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Accessing Building Application Records | Assessment Books 1845 - 1950 | Citations for Archival Records | Demolition Photographs 1900 - 1949 | Records of Councils Absorbed by Sydney City Council | Sydney Reference Collection
A quick guide to the records of building and development applications (and similar types of property records) held in the City of Sydney Archives, and how to get access to them.
Records that are available
This table summarises the different major categories of property applications records that may be available from the Archives.
Please note that the descriptions here are generalised and do not show exceptions and unusual cases.
| Category | Description | Date range |
|---|---|---|
| Plans | Plans of buildings submitted to the Council as part of an application. Not all plans are intended to show what was actually approved to be built (or altered) – some plans are intended to show what the developer or owner wanted the Council to agree to. Not every application includes plans. |
1909 onwards |
| Files | Folders of documents (letters, memoranda, forms) relating to applications for approval about particular properties (to construct, alter, change use, and so on). Unlike most other Councils, the City of Sydney has not created general purpose property files for each street address. However such files do often exist for the areas of Glebe and South Sydney that are now within City boundaries. |
1941 onwards |
| Street cards | Index cards that list all the building and development applications (if any) for a given street address. Go to the Planning Street Cards page on this site. | 1908 – 1970s and sometimes into the early 1990s |
| Consents | Consent documents (such as approved uses of buildings) are normally found on the files relating to a building. Development consents may also be available in the printed annual volumes of Proceedings of the Council. |
1946 onwards |
The Archives does not have application records for every building in the City of Sydney area. Records will only be available if …
- an application was submitted to the Council, and
- the records have survived and been archived.
Access to the records
Council’s policy on public access to archival records is available at Access to Archival Records.
It is not necessary to fill in a form for access to the archival records. However you will have to put your request in writing and send it to us by e-mail, fax or letter, or drop it in to us at Town Hall House. If you want to use it, an optional form is available. Look in the "Legal" section at the foot of this web page, then go to the "Access to Information" section.
Information we need in your request is…
- Your name, mailing address and a contact business-hours phone number. A mobile phone number is OK. A contact e-mail address is very helpful as we prefer to respond this way and may need to send you digital copies of documents.
- The correct street address of the property or properties you are chasing records for. It is essential you give us the correct address as the records are indexed in this way. Wrong address = wrong records. It is helpful to give additional information such as the building name of a commercial property (if it has one, such as “Ocean House”. We do not need Lot and DP numbers.
- A brief explanation of what you are trying to find out about this property. For example “what is the current permitted use?” or “structural plans of the basement”.
- Details of the records (files and plans) you have found by looking in the Archives Investigator catalogue, or that you have selected from a list we may have sent you. This is explained below.
- To see plans of a building that are likely to show current internal layouts, you will need authorisation from the current owner of the building. See below.
Owners consent - more information
Plans that may show current internal layouts or critical services of buildings will only be made available by the Archives if you have the consent of the current building owner.
The Government Information (Public Access) Regulation 2009 - made under the GIPA Act - restricts access to plans showing residential parts of residential buildings. We also limit access to plans of major buildings, for security reasons.
It is your responsibility to locate the owner and obtain the consent if required.
Because many sets of plans contain both internal layouts and others, and it is not practicable to sort them out in advance, in most cases you will need this permission to see any plans for residential or major building that may show its current state.
The requirement for owners’ consent is to mitigate concerns about security of premises that could be jeopardised, and about breach of copyright that could occur by making copies.
For buildings owned by corporate bodies (commercial entities or strata bodies), authority from the Secretary, Managing Agent or similar person is sufficient.
If you are the owner, please state this in your request, and attach a copy of a document that is adequate proof (such as a current rates notice addressed to you) and bring the original when you visit to inspect the records.
If you are a professional or firm in the building industry (architect, engineer, lawyer, tradesman) who is working on a project for the building owner, please state this in your request.
In all other cases we will need to see a letter or e-mail from the building owner or their authorised agent before you can inspect or make copies of the plans.
Responding to your request
We usually respond to your request within ten working days. It may take a little longer during the busiest periods.
If we need additional information we will contact you to obtain this before searching for the records you need. So providing all the information necessary, in your initial contact, saves time!
We will also get back to you if we cannot locate any records.
If you gave us a contact e-mail address, please keep an eye on your mailbox as we usually respond by e-mail where possible.
If all goes well our response will indicate what records are available, and advise you about arrangements to visit the Archives office to inspect them and make copies.
A confirmed appointment is necessary before you can come in to inspect the records.
Digital or paper copies of documents, including plans, are available unless the documents are very fragile. For more information about copying archival records, including costs, see Services for Researchers.
How to search for records
Records for the period up to 1978
All the available property application records (plans and files) held by the Archives, up to about 1978, are listed in our on-line catalogue Archives Investigator.
Archives Investigator search strategy
To locate your records, we recommend you follow this search strategy;
- Select the Structured Search option.
- Select ‘Function’.
- Tick Function 10 ‘Building and development regulation’) and click the option ‘view activities comprising the selected functions ’.
- Tick Activity 28 (Building applications) and Activity 29 (Development applications) and use the search box to enter your search term (such as the street address you are researching).
- Select “all words” rather than “exact phrase”
- This will return building and development records associated with the search term (address) you have entered. If you don’t find what you expect, try a more general search term. For example if “12-20 George St” is unsuccessful, try “12 George”.
- For each record you identify, click on it to see more details. The details screen will tell you the type of record you have found (building application, development application, plan) and the ‘records series’ it belongs to.
- Cut and paste the details screens of each selected record into your e-mail to the Archives, so we are clear about what records you wish to see.
Records from the period after 1978 (+ Glebe after 1968)
These records are catalogued only in the Council’s records management system (called TRIM) even if they have been archived. You will need to ask the archives team to check for you. We can send you a list.
Contact the Archives
The City of Sydney Archives is on Level 1 of Town Hall House, 456 Kent St (corner of Druitt Street), Sydney 2000.
Telephone 02 9265 9618
Fax 02 9265 9606
E-mail archives@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
An appointment is necessary before you can come in and inspect the archival records. We are open Monday - Friday 9am to 5pm except public holidays.
Last Updated: Monday 30 May, 2011 1
