Sunrooms and glass rooms in Sydney: approvals, heritage areas and builders

Quick answer: in Sydney an open patio or deck can be exempt development under the NSW Codes SEPP, but not once it has an enclosing wall higher than 1.4 m, so a glazed sunroom normally needs either a complying development certificate (CDC) under the Housing Code or a development application (DA) to your council. Complying development is generally not available in a heritage conservation area, and the City of Sydney alone has 75 of them. Any builder you pay more than $5,000 for residential building work needs a written contract showing their licence, and over $20,000 they must give you a Home Building Compensation certificate before taking a deposit.

A note on words: in Australia a sunroom usually means an enclosed, glazed room with a solid or insulated roof; a glass room is a more fully glazed version, often sold as a four-season room; and a patio room or patio enclosure is an existing roofed patio or alfresco area closed in with glass, sliding doors or louvres. For approvals, what matters is whether it is still an open patio or has become a room. Our Australian costs guide explains how the choice changes the price, and our guide to enclosing an existing patio in Australia covers the structural questions.

Exempt, complying or DA: the NSW pathways

NSW sorts home building work into three pathways under the State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008, the Codes SEPP. The exempt development rules for balconies, decks, patios, pergolas, terraces and verandahs allow a structure with no approval at all, but only within limits:

Exempt patio or deck condition (NSW)	Limit
Floor area	Not more than 25 m²; all such structures on the lot together no more than 15% of the ground floor area (lots over 300 m²) or 25 m² (lots up to 300 m²)
Enclosure	No enclosing wall higher than 1.4 m
Height	Floor no more than 1 m above ground; structure no more than 3 m high
Position	Behind the building line; at least 900 mm from the boundary in most residential zones
Bushfire prone land	Non-combustible if less than 5 m from the house
Heritage	In a heritage conservation area, behind the building line; not on State Heritage Register land

Source: Balconies, decks, patios, pergolas, terraces and verandahs (planningportal.nsw.gov.au), which points to Part 2, Division 1, Subdivision 6 of the Codes SEPP.

The 1.4 m wall limit is the key point: fully glazing an open patio takes it outside the exempt rules. The next option is complying development under the Housing Code, a combined planning and building approval that the NSW Planning Portal says can be issued within 20 days and can save homeowners up to $15,000 compared with a DA. It applies in zones R1, R2, R3, R4 and RU5, must meet the code’s height, setback and landscaping standards, and is generally not available in a heritage conservation area, on a heritage item or in a coastal hazard area. If the Housing Code does not fit, you lodge a DA with the council.

Heritage conservation areas in the City of Sydney

“Sydney” covers more than 30 councils, each with its own Local Environmental Plan and heritage maps. The City of Sydney council area, which covers the CBD and inner suburbs, has 75 heritage conservation areas with more than 22,000 buildings, about 15,000 of them (70%) terrace houses, according to the council’s June 2025 conservation areas review planning proposal. Almost 13,000 of the buildings date from the Victorian period. Heritage is managed through the Sydney LEP 2012 and DCP 2012.

For a terrace with a small rear courtyard, a glass room at the back is therefore usually a DA assessed against heritage controls, even if nobody sees it from the street. Check a section 10.7 planning certificate before you commission drawings.

DA fees: the state maximum scale

Council DA fees are capped by Schedule 4 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021 and set by estimated cost including GST. For 2026/27:

Estimated cost of the work	Maximum DA fee (2026/27)
Up to $5,000	$153
$5,001–$50,000	$235 plus $3.00 per $1,000 (or part) above $5,000
$50,001–$250,000	$488 plus $3.64 per $1,000 (or part) above $50,000
Example: $40,000 sunroom	$235 + 35 x $3.00 = $340 (our arithmetic)

Source: Schedule of planning and development fees and charges for 2026/27 financial year (planning.nsw.gov.au). Additional fees can apply for referrals, notification and heritage; a construction certificate or CDC from a certifier is priced separately.

Bushfire-prone land: BAL and glazing

If the lot is mapped as bushfire prone, the building gets a Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) under AS 3959-2018: BAL-LOW, 12.5, 19, 29, 40 or FZ (flame zone). The glazing rules tighten at each step, so the BAL often decides which glass and frames a sunroom can use:

BAL	What it means for the glass (deemed-to-satisfy route)
BAL-LOW	No specific bushfire construction requirements
BAL-12.5 and 19	Metal, metal-reinforced uPVC or suitable timber frames; toughened glass at least 4 mm for low-level glazing (within 400 mm of the ground or a deck) and in doors; ember screens on opening windows
BAL-29	Toughened glass at least 5 mm in windows and 6 mm in doors; low-level window glazing screened externally
BAL-40 and FZ	Usually a window system tested to AS 1530.8.1 or .8.2, or bushfire shutters; ask for the test certificate

Sources: BAL 12.5 and BAL 29 construction reference guides, AS 3959:2018 (bushfiredesignconsultants.com.au). A summary only: the standard has several compliance paths, so the certifier and supplier must confirm the product.

Parts of the Hills, the Northern Beaches and the Sutherland Shire are mapped bushfire prone, so check your council’s map early.

Typical private prices

We have not found a reliable sunroom price survey for Sydney alone, so use the national ranges in our Australian costs guide. Barry Building Supplies (June 2026) puts a basic patio enclosure with a polycarbonate roof at $15,000–$25,000, a mid-range insulated-roof sunroom at $25,000–$45,000 and a full four-season glass room at $60,000–$90,000 or more; enclosing a patio that already has a roof and slab runs about $12,000–$30,000. Airtasker (July 2026) uses $1,500–$3,500 per m² as the national range. Jonathan Homes, a Sydney builder, quotes $2,500–$3,500 per m² for a Sydney sunroom extension, or $50,000–$70,000 for 20 m² including approvals and BASIX, and Barry Building Supplies says the same specification can cost noticeably more in inner Sydney than in Brisbane. Electrics, cooling, flooring, drawings and approval fees are often extra; see what to include in a realistic budget.

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How to choose a builder in Sydney

Check the licence. Use NSW Fair Trading’s online licence check. Over $5,000 (including GST) the builder must give you a written contract showing the licence holder’s name and number, and a company must hold the licence in its own name.
Insurance before money. Over $20,000 the builder must give you a Home Building Compensation (HBC) certificate before asking for a deposit; check it with HBC Check. The deposit cannot exceed 10% and contracts over $20,000 carry a five-business-day cooling-off period.
Get it in writing. Ask for a fixed-price written contract that says what is and is not included: slab or footings, drainage, electrics, approvals, engineering and the BAL assessment if you need one.
Who is the certifier? Ask whether the price includes the building approval or permit, who lodges it and whether the drawings treat the room as an enclosed habitable space or an open patio.
Glass and energy. Ask what glass is used (single or double glazing, low-E, toughened or laminated) and whether it meets the energy-efficiency and safety-glass rules for a habitable room. Our guide to glazing, U-values and safety glass explains the terms.
Pay in stages. Tie payments to finished stages. Our guide to surveys, contracts and payment stages has a checklist, and comparing quotes helps you line up like with like.

Sunroom and enclosure firms serving Sydney

These businesses appear in public business listings for the area. We have not checked their work, prices, licences or insurance, and they have not paid to appear. Check any licence on the state register yourself before you sign.