Council orders, notices and local government

Councils and other regulators have wide powers to require work to be done, stopped or undone. An order or notice can range from a request for information to a direction to cease a use, carry out urgent works, or demolish. Whatever its form, the safest first step is to confirm exactly what it requires, and by when. The Notice Decoder can help identify which notice you have received.

Orders and notices we advise on

The power behind a notice usually tells you which regime applies and what your options are:

• Development control orders under Schedule 5 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, including orders to stop work, to demolish or remove work, or to cease a use.
• Orders to do, or to stop doing, something under section 124 of the Local Government Act 1993.
• Fire safety orders and other building-related orders and directions.
• Clean-up and prevention notices under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997, issued by a council or the EPA as the appropriate regulatory authority. Since 12 December 2025 the regulatory or public authority that gave a clean-up or prevention notice may apply to the Registrar-General to register it in relation to the land to which it relates. Registration can be identified in title due diligence, and the authority that applied for registration may later apply for it to be varied or removed. An appropriate regulatory authority that has given a clean-up notice may also direct restrictions on access to the premises or a substance if it reasonably believes the restrictions are needed to allow clean-up action or because the substance that is the subject of the pollution incident poses a risk to human health.
• Orders under other Acts, such as the Swimming Pools Act 1992.
• Cost-recovery notices, where a council has carried out work and seeks to recover the cost.

Notices of intention

Many orders must be preceded by a notice of intention, which gives you a chance to make representations before the order is made. That window is an opportunity: considered representations can narrow an order, change its terms, or avoid it altogether. It is worth using, rather than letting it pass.

Acting on a strict timeframe

Orders and notices carry compliance deadlines, and some, such as a stop-work order, take effect immediately. Lodging an appeal does not by itself suspend an order: unless the Court grants a stay, the compliance date still runs. Not complying can have serious consequences, including penalties and the council carrying out the work at your expense. Rights to appeal or respond are also time-limited, commonly to 28 days from service of the order and 21 days for a prevention notice. Identifying the deadline that applies to you is the first thing to get right.

Responding, or appealing

Depending on the order, the right course may be to comply, to negotiate the terms, to make representations, or to appeal. Many development control orders and Local Government Act orders can be challenged on their merits in the Land and Environment Court, and some decisions can be judicially reviewed. Which evidence matters, planning, building, engineering, fire safety, environmental or valuation, depends on the order.

Identify the issuing power, the action required, the response or compliance date and any review or appeal right before deciding how to respond.