Subdivision Certificates
A plan of subdivision divides a parcel of land into parts for separate use. It can only be prepared by a Registered Surveyor. The land to which the plan refers assumes the lot and plan number as its new title.
NSW Land Registry Services (LRS) is the key provider of land information services in New South Wales. The Office of Registrar General was created to monitor and enforce performance of the land titles registry business of LRS. It is the responsibility of the Registrar General to ensure that plans and associated titles comply with the requirements set out in legislation.
A plan of subdivision generally cannot be registered by LRS unless it has a subdivision certificate. LRS lists several exemptions to this requirement, however the majority require a subdivision certificate even if development approval is not required.
A Subdivision Certificate must generally be issued by Council (see section 109D(1)(d) of the EP & A Act).
A Subdivision Certificate can not be issued unless all the following matters have been satisfied:
- in the case of subdivision that may not be carried out except with development consent, a development consent (or, in the case of complying development, a complying development certificate) is in force with respect to the subdivision
- in the case of subdivision for which a development consent has been granted, the applicant has complied with all conditions of the consent that, by its terms, are required to be complied with before a subdivision certificate may be issued
- in the case of subdivision that relates to land within a water supply authority’s area of operations, the applicant has obtained a certificate of compliance from the water supply authority with respect to the subdivision of the land
- all other matters in section 6.15 of the EP & A Act have been satisfied.
Use the NSW Planning Portal to apply for a Subdivision Certificate.