Every commercial premises in NSW is approved for a use: shop, office, food and drink premises, medical centre, and so on. Fit out a shop as a shop and the use has not changed. Fit out a shop as a cafe and it has, and the change needs its own approval before you trade, however small the building work. This is the single most common reason a Sydney fitout runs late: the tenant priced the construction and found out about the use afterwards.
What counts as a change of use
The use is the planning category of the premises, defined in the Standard Instrument LEP. The ones that come up in fitouts are shop (retail premises), business premises and office premises, food and drink premises (cafe, restaurant, takeaway), medical centre, recreation facility (indoor) which includes gyms, and centre-based child care facility. Moving between two uses in the same category (a clothing shop becoming a shoe shop, a cafe becoming a cafe) is not a change of use. Moving between categories is.
Which changes are complying development
The Codes SEPP lets a private certifier approve a change of use between a shop, business premises and office premises in either direction, and a change to a food and drink premises in many cases, provided the building is not heritage-listed, the new use is permitted in the zone, and the work meets the code's limits on floor area, hours and parking. That is the CDC path: two to four weeks, about 3% of construction.
Which changes need a DA
- To a medical centre. Parking and traffic are assessed; an accessible path of travel is required. Eight to sixteen weeks.
- To a gym or indoor recreation facility. Hours, noise and parking.
- To a childcare centre. A DA plus the Department of Education service approval; four to eight months for the two.
- To a restaurant or bar with extended hours, outdoor dining or a liquor licence. Hours are a merit question for council.
- Anything in a heritage item, or on land the local plan excludes from complying development.
What it adds to the fitout
| Change | Usual path | Adds to the program | Adds to the cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shop to office, office to shop | CDC | 2 to 4 weeks | About 3% of construction |
| Shop to cafe | CDC or DA by council and hours | 4 to 16 weeks | 3 to 6%, plus the kitchen services the shop never had |
| Shop or office to medical centre | DA | 8 to 16 weeks | About 6%, plus parking and accessibility works |
| Anything to a gym | DA | 8 to 16 weeks | About 6%, plus acoustic treatment |
| Anything to childcare | DA plus service approval | 4 to 8 months | 6% and up, plus the fire upgrade and outdoor play |
Three things to do before signing the lease
- Ask the agent or landlord for the last approval on the premises. It states the approved use. If it is not the use you need, the change of use is your cost and your time unless the lease says otherwise.
- Check the zoning allows the new use at all. A medical centre or a gym is prohibited in some zones, and no approval can fix that.
- Make the lease conditional on the approval, or get a rent-free period long enough to cover it. A DA that takes four months on a lease that started on day one is four months of rent for an empty shop.
The approvals guide covers the exempt rules and the other approvals that run alongside; DA or CDC sets out the two paths side by side.