On 1 January 2022, two new Regulations were implemented in NSW to replace the existing Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000 (EP&A Reg 2000) which has been utilised by the building industry for more than 20 years. The EP&A Reg 2000 was officially repealed on 1 March 2022 to make way for these two Regulations:

1. Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021; and
2. Environmental Planning and Assessment (Development Certification and Fire Safety) Regulation 2021.

The Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation (Development Certification and Fire Safety) 2021 captures all of the clauses from the EP&A Reg 2000 that relate to:

1. Existing approvals process – Construction Certificates and Occupation Certificates;
2. Subdivision; and
3. Fire safety requirements.

Aside from the above, all other items within the EP&A Reg 2000 are captured within the new Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021 (EP&A Reg 2021).

Many professionals in the building approval and construction industry are well versed in the relevant Clauses in the EP&A Reg 2000. While many of the Clauses in the new Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation (Development Certification and Fire Safety) 2021 are the same or similar, we note that the new regulation does not follow the same clause numbering and order from the old EP&A Reg 2000.

Some notable fire examples relevant to fire engineering being:

1. Clause 144 – Referral to FRNSW is now captured under Sections 25-29 otherwise referred to as Division 3. The change has also simplified the wording of this section but has not changed the relevant trigger points for a building.
2. Clause 144A – Performance Solution Report is now captured under Section 18.
3. Clause 152B – Occupation Certificates with Performance Solution Reports is now captured under Section 40.

While these changes do not directly impact on how the certification process and fire engineering are undertaken for a building, it represents a change that is required when referring to the relevant legislation and applicable clauses.

The other notable change that has been made in both new regulations is the introduction of penalties to each section.