Do you need council approval to replace a roof on the Northern Beaches?

Published 23 October 2026

When a re-roof doesn’t need council approval

Clause 2.53 of the Codes SEPP lists “the repair to or replacement of a non-structural wall or roof cladding” as exempt development “if it is not constructed or installed on or in a heritage item or a draft heritage item or in a heritage conservation area or a draft heritage conservation area”. Clause 2.54 then sets standards the work must meet:

Codes SEPP clause 2.54: standards for exempt re-roofing

State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008, clause 2.54, in the version in force from 12 December 2025. The building-type and combustible-cladding standards are written for work that “involves cladding”; our reading is that they cover roof cladding.

Exempt work must also meet the Building Code of Australia, be installed to the manufacturer’s instructions, and not involve removing more than 10 m² of bonded asbestos, or any friable asbestos, unless a licensed asbestos removalist does it (clause 1.16). Exempt development needs no development consent and no construction certificate (clause 1.15). Northern Beaches Council says that when a project meets the standards, “approval from Council may not be needed”.

Changing material, say from concrete tiles to Colorbond, isn’t excluded by the clause’s wording. A new skylight is: it has its own exempt rules, in our skylight guide.

When replacing a roof needs a DA or a CDC

• A heritage item, or a home in a heritage conservation area (or a draft one). Council’s heritage FAQ says: “If you wish to repair, change or renovate your heritage-listed property you need to lodge a development application.” Sympathetic work “may mean retaining the form and architectural style of the building, such as the original roof pitch, materials, window placement, setback and colour.”
• A change to the roof’s shape, pitch or height. That’s no longer a minor, non-structural alteration. Outside a conservation area, the Housing Alterations Code allows external alterations as complying development, approved by council or a private certifier; its standards include no increase in the building’s height and no “more than a 5% change in the pitch of the roof”. Beyond that, it’s a development application.
• Structural work, such as new rafters or reframing, by our reading of the words “non-structural … roof cladding”.
• A building that isn’t a one or two storey house, attached or detached development, such as an apartment block (our reading of clause 2.54).

Your section 10.7 planning certificate, or council’s property search, shows whether your home is a heritage item or in a conservation area. Council’s planning line is 1300 434 434.

Roof colour rules: Pittwater, Warringah and Manly

The Northern Beaches still has three sets of planning controls, from the former Pittwater, Warringah and Manly councils, and each development control plan (DCP) treats roof colour differently. These are their roof colour controls, read on council’s planning viewer on 22 October 2026:

Roof colour controls in the three Northern Beaches DCPs

Pittwater 21 DCP Section D locality controls (D1.5 Avalon Beach and the same wording in the other localities with a colour clause), Warringah DCP 2011 D10, D11, D12 and G5, and Manly DCP 2013 3.4, 3.5.7.4 and 5.4.1.1.

When do these apply? Each DCP describes itself as something council considers when it assesses an application. The Warringah DCP says the consent authority must take its provisions into consideration “in determining applications for development”, and Pittwater’s says council must be satisfied the development is consistent with its controls “Before granting development consent”. So they bite on a re-roof that needs a development application.

None of the plans says in terms whether a colour change on an exempt re-roof is caught. If you’re changing colour, especially to a lighter or brighter roof in the former Pittwater area, ask council before the steel or tiles are ordered. On Manly’s two lines, Monier, a roof tile maker, says a lighter roof “will not necessarily produce more glare or light reflection”. The Colorbond range is on our roof replacement page.

Which council’s rules cover your suburb

Council doesn’t publish a suburb list for the three plans. This is our reading of NSW zoning map data, so treat it as a guide and check your planning certificate:

• Former Manly: Manly, Fairlight, Balgowlah, Balgowlah Heights, Clontarf and Seaforth.
• Former Warringah: Freshwater, Queenscliff, Curl Curl, North Curl Curl, Brookvale, Dee Why, Cromer, Narraweena, Collaroy, Collaroy Plateau, Wheeler Heights, North Manly, Allambie Heights, Beacon Hill, Forestville, Killarney Heights, Davidson, Frenchs Forest, Belrose, Oxford Falls, Terrey Hills, Duffys Forest and Cottage Point.
• Former Pittwater: Warriewood, North Narrabeen, Elanora Heights, Mona Vale, Bayview, Church Point, Newport, Bilgola Beach, Bilgola Plateau, Clareville, Avalon Beach, Whale Beach, Palm Beach, Scotland Island and the western foreshores.
• Split between plans: Narrabeen, Manly Vale and North Balgowlah (mostly Warringah) and Ingleside (Pittwater and Warringah). Parts of Belrose, Oxford Falls, Terrey Hills and Duffys Forest are deferred lands still under the older Warringah LEP 2000.

Bush fire prone land and asbestos roofs

Council’s bush fire prone land map was certified on 7 August 2020, and council notes that it “does not identify a property’s Bush fire Attack Level (BAL) rating”. On mapped land, an exempt re-roof must be sealed against embers and use equivalent or improved materials; the BAL roofing requirements checker summarises the NSW roof rules at each level.

An old fibro roof changes the job. Any friable asbestos, or more than 10 m² of bonded asbestos, must be removed by a licensed asbestos removalist, and SafeWork NSW recommends a licensed professional for any amount of bonded asbestos. It says the removalist must notify it “at least five calendar days before” removing any friable asbestos or more than 10 m² of bonded asbestos, and must give notice to the owner, the occupier and immediate neighbours before the work starts. See asbestos roof removal for the rest.

The single Northern Beaches LEP and DCP in 2027

Council exhibited a draft single LEP and DCP for the whole Northern Beaches from 20 July 2026 and received 711 submissions. Its consultation page says a report on them “will be presented to Council in 2027”, and that “When the new Northern Beaches LEP and DCP commence (expected mid‑2027), they will replace all current planning controls.” Until then, the Pittwater, Warringah and Manly plans above apply. This guide reflects the rules as at 23 October 2026, and we’ll update it when the new plans start.

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