Introduced way back in 2004, the objective behind the Building Sustainability Index (BASIX) is to bring about the reduction of water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in New South Wales. The scheme was implemented in Australia under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act.
BASIX has set sustainability goals concerning water and energy and minimum performance requirements regarding each proposed development’s capacity to provide thermal comfort to residents.
BASIX encompasses all types of residential dwellings and is a critical requirement in the development application process in New South Wales. Building and development proposals cannot be lodged with a council without a BASIX assessment. Therefore, all residential building owners must submit their proposed development design for BASIX assessment.
When your design is established to be BASIX-compliant, a BASIX certificate in PDF format is generated online through the New South Wales Government’s Department of Planning and Infrastructure website. The BASIX certificate is attached and submitted during the development application (DA) stage for project approval by the relevant council. It is also required to issue a construction certificate (CC) and final inspection.
However, if the results of the BASIX assessment show that your proposed design is not BASIX-compliant, whether due to conflicts with heritage controls or because the new technology included with the design is not acceptable to BASIX, you may request an alternative evaluation.
