Fee waiver for bushfire-affected homes
The NSW Government announced that BASIX Certificate fees will be waived or refunded for development applications related to homes that have been damaged or destroyed during the 2019/20 bushfire season. The fee waiver or refund is also eligible to homes affected by the 2018 Tathra bushfire.
Eligibility criteria
BASIX fees will be waived or refunded if the following eligibility criteria are met:
- The development application must be for a lot identified as impacted by the fires, with the building or its structure being destroyed or damaged;
- The development application must be lodged within 5 years of the fire event (that is, before/on 31 March 2025 for homes affected in the 2019/20 bushfire season);
- The applicant must be the owner of the lot at the time of the fire or was in the process of purchasing the lot at the time of the fire.
Application process
If your home meets the above eligibility criteria, you (or the person preparing the BASIX certificate for you) can now apply for the fee waiver online before generating the BASIX certificate.
To apply, you need to start an online BASIX assessment for your home. If you are new to BASIX, please visit New to BASIX? for more information.
Before you generate the BASIX certificate from your online assessment, you can apply for fee waiver by providing:
- the lot owner’s name, and
- proof of ownership by uploading the rate notice of the lot, or first page of the sale contract of the lot that has been exchanged with the vendor dated during the bushfire season.
The uploaded document must be in pdf format with a file size not larger than 10MB.
The lot owner’s name must match the name indicated in the proof of ownership document.
You will be notified of the application outcomes within 2 business days. While the fee waiver application of your project is being processed, you are not able to access the project. You can still create a copy of the project.
If your application is approved, you can generate the BASIX certificate free-of-charge when all BASIX requirements are satisfied. Before you generate the BASIX certificate, please make sure that your address details are correct. You are not able to change the project address after the certificate is generated.
We may ask you to provide additional information if your application is rejected, or you will need to complete payments before generating the BASIX certificate.
| NOTE: We will check the address provided in your BASIX assessment with the record of properties affected by bushfire identified by the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS). You cannot proceed with the application if the address does not match the RFS records. Please check the address in your BASIX assessment or contact us (see below) for further assistance. |
What if I have already paid for my certificate?
You can apply for a refund of the BASIX certificate fee if the eligibility criteria for fee waiver are met. Complete and return the Refund Request Form with the lot owner name and proof of ownership document.
Note that certificates generated before the bushfire season are not eligible for refund.
Questions
Please call the BASIX bushfire helpline at 1300 054 464 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject “BASIX bushfire response”.