Development requirements of food premises

Before buying an existing food premises, renovating, or construction of a new food premises, you must be aware of the development and construction requirements of Council.

Our Environmental Health Officers are available to offer advice regarding the required construction standards for a food premises, conduct pre-construction inspections, review development consents and provide advice regarding your proposal.

Please contact our Environmental Health Officers on 02 4645 4000 for further information.

Buying an existing food business

As part of the process of purchasing an existing food business, you must transfer the registration from the current owner to you.

When purchasing an existing food business it is important that you contact us before the sale is finalised to ensure the premises has development consent and to find out the conditions of the consent. There maybe certain restrictions on the premises which can affect the way in which you operate the business.

You can contact Council for more information about transferring food business registration on 02 4645 4000.

Pre-purchase inspection report

Prior to the purchase of the business it is recommended that you apply for a pre-purchase inspection report on the compliance status of the food premises(PDF, 74KB).

• Our Environmental Health Officers will carry out an inspection of the premises and compile a report detailing any food hygiene faults with the premises and will alert you to any potential problems that will require fixing.
• Please be aware that once you purchase the business from the previous owner/s you are legally responsible to rectify any works required to ensure the food shop complies with legislative requirements.
• It is advisable to lodge an application for the inspection report with the appropriate fee and charges and written permission to release information from the current owner, at least 14 working days prior to settlement is required.

For more information about development applications please contact our City Development Division on 02 4645 4000.

Establishing a new food premises

When establishing a new food premises you are required to lodge a development application outlining how the internal construction of the proposed development will comply with the Food Act 2003, Food Regulation 2015, Australian New Zealand Food Safety Standards, and the Australian Standards AS4674-2004 Design, construction and fit-out of food premises.

Our guide the Development Application requirements for the Internal Construction of a Food Premises(PDF, 100KB) details the food premises construction requirements that must accompany the development application.

We are not permitted to copy Australian Standards AS4674-2004 Design, construction and fit-out of food premises due to copyright reasons. If you require a copy of the Standard please contact Australian Standards on 1300 654 646.

Under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 Section 4.15:

• Charcoal exhaust systems require development approval from Council before installation.
• A Private Certifying Authority is not permitted to approve a charcoal exhaust system.
• All hoods and associated exhaust systems for use over charcoal and solid fuel appliances must be provided with a separate system and not be combined with a system serving grease or oil heating appliances (AS1668.2-2012 Section 3.4.6).

It is recommended that you consult with our Duty Planner on 02 4645 4000 to determine other requirements of the development application.

Renovating or altering an existing food premises

If you are proposing to carry out any renovation works to a food premises or change any of the existing fit-out you must contact our Duty Planner on 02 4645 4000 to check whether a Development Application is required.

Any works carried out at a food premises must be designed, constructed and fitted out in accordance with the Food Act 2003, Food Regulation 2015, the Food Standards Code as published by Food Standards Australia and New Zealand and AS4674-2004: Design, construction and fit out of food premises.