FAQs - Multiple holder approval

You can use our NSW Water Register search tool to find out information about an approval.

• On the NSW Water Register homepage select ‘I want information about a particular water licence or approval (including conditions)’.
• Then select ‘Search for information about an approval issued under the Water Management Act 2000’
• Enter the approval number listed on your notification letter and click ‘Search’.
• The register will provide information such as: kind of approval; issue date; expiry date; water source; work type; use purpose; and location (lot/DP).

You and the other co-holders of an approval can apply online using our Water Applications Online service.

A personal application number enables you to log in to our Water Applications Online service to apply online to extend an approval.

Before the expiry date of a water supply work and/or water use approval, each co-holder of the approval will be sent a letter from WaterNSW notifying them to apply to extend the approval. Each co-holder will receive their own personal application number listed on their notification letter which can be used to apply online to extend the approval.

The personal application number listed on your notification letter is unique to you to keep your online application secure and is only valid for applying to extend the approval listed in the notification letter (identified by the approval number). You will need to enter your personal application number to log in to Water Applications Online to apply to extend the approval (see FAQ 8).

When the online application to extend the approval has been completed and submitted, each co-holder can use their own personal application number to log back in to Water Applications Online to track the progress of the application (see FAQ 21 and FAQ 22).

No. You and your co-holders will need to apply to extend the approval using a hard-copy application form.
The letter sent by WaterNSW notifying you about applying to extend an approval will include a hard copy application form and application guide.

Contact us our Customer Service Centre.

Yes. All co-holders of an approval will need to agree to apply online using our Water Applications Online service to extend the approval.

If one or more co-holders does not want to apply online then a hard copy application form will need to be completed and signed by all co-holders. A hard copy form can be requested by contacting our Customer Service Centre.

If all co-holders agree to apply online, there are three easy steps to be completed in Water Applications Online:

• Step 1: One co-holder firstly logs in to Water Applications Online (FAQ 8) and provides responses for the approval details to indicate if approval details have changed or not; for example, holder details or location of works. (see FAQ 11 and FAQ 12). This co-holder then reads and 'Accept' the terms in the declaration (see FAQ 10 for co-holders who are a company/corporation or organisation)
• Step 2: All remaining co-holders then log in to Water Applications Online and:
  1. A. Review the responses for the approval details to check they are correct.
     If a co-holder reviewing the responses believes the responses for the approval details are incorrect, they can select 'No' to the question 'Are the responses for the approval details correct?' They can then press 'Reset Responses' for the responses to be reset and be provided again. If the responses are reset, all co-holders who have previously logged in and completed Step 2 will be notified by email. The responses for the approval details will need to be provided again by one co-holder. All other co-holders will then need to log back in to review the responses provided to check they are correct.
  2. B. Read and 'Accept' the terms in the declaration (see FAQ 10 for co-holders who are a company/corporation or organisation)
     If any co-holder does not 'Accept' the terms in the declaration section, the application cannot proceed.
  All co-holders must complete Step 2 – both parts (A) and (B) – before Step 3 can be undertaken.
• Step 3: One co-holder (and only one co-holder) then pays the application fee in full (amount is listed in the notification letter) by credit card using a secure online payment service to complete and submit the application. This co-holder can be the last person to undertake Step 2 or another co-holder who logs back in. (Note: the application fee is one payment per application no matter how many holders of the approval – see FAQ 24).
  • Once payment has been received by WaterNSW, all co-holders will be notified by email that the completed application has been submitted.

Each co-holder should complete the following steps to log in to Water Applications Online to extend an approval.

• Step A: On the Water Applications Online homepage select ‘Start new application’.
• Step B: On the next screen you need to read and agree with the terms of use to continue with the application.
• Step C: On the next screen you will need to enter your surname/family name only (if you are a company/corporation or organisation enter the name in full as listed on the notification letter received from WaterNSW). You will also need to enter your personal application number listed on your notification letter (see FAQ 3).
• Step D: You will then be asked to enter a valid email address (see FAQ 9). Once your email address has been verified you will be able to continue with the application process.

Once you have logged in to Water Applications Online to extend an approval you can log out during the application process by clicking ‘logout’ on the online application screens.

If you have logged out and need to log back to continue with an application to extend an approval then follow Step A but instead of selecting ‘Start new application’ select ‘Continue application’ instead. Then follow Steps B and C as described above.

When you apply online to extend an approval using Water Applications Online you will be asked to enter a valid email address so you can receive email notifications from us regarding the application. You will be asked to verify your email address by clicking on a link in a confirmation email sent to the email address you supplied.

The verification link in the confirmation email will only be valid for 24 hours so if the link does not work when you click on it, restart the application process again by selecting ‘Start new application’ in Water Applications Online.

If you do not receive a confirmation email in your ‘inbox’, check to see if it was placed in your ‘spam’ folder. If the confirmation email is not in your inbox or spam folder, please contact our Customer Service Centre.

Yes.

For co-holders of an approval who are a company/corporation, the declaration section of the application must be completed in accordance with section 127 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).

• For a company, two directors of the company, or a director and a company secretary, must both agree to the terms of the declaration.
• For a proprietary company that has a sole director who is also the sole company secretary that director must agree to the terms of the declaration.

For other types of organisations, a duly appointed officer can agree to the terms of the declaration.

During the online application process, the person completing the application on behalf of a company/corporation or organisation will be asked to provide the contact details of appropriate signatories (director/s, secretary or appointed officer) who can agree to the terms of the declaration. The email address entered for each signatory must be a direct company/corporation or organisation email for the person, and not an assistant's email or generic company/corporation or organisation email.

The signatory/s for the company/corporation or organisation will then receive an email requesting they review the responses provided for the approval details to check they are correct and to complete the declaration section.

If a co-holder of an approval has changed, our records will need to be updated with the details of the new holder before an online application can be made. Contact us our Customer Service Centre to notify us of any changes to approval holders before applying online.

If you start your online application before notifying us of any changes to approval holders you will not be able to complete your application and will be asked during the application process to contact us.

If your contact details are incorrect you should complete and submit the Change a customer’s contact details form to notify. Once we have updated your contact details we will notify you about extending your approval.

If you apply online to extend an approval and respond 'No' to any of the options associated with the question 'Is the type, size or location of work(s) the same?', you will be able to continue to complete your online application. However, after you submit your application, the primary holder will be contacted by WaterNSW to discuss changes to your approval. If the type, size or location of the work/s has changed you must apply to amend your approval.

Offences apply for using a water supply work or using water other than as authorised by an approval.

If you apply online to extend an approval and respond 'No' to any of the options associated with the question 'Is the purpose and location of water use the same?', you will be able to continue to complete your online application. However, after you submit your application, the primary holder will be contacted by WaterNSW to discuss changes to your approval. If the purpose or location of the water use has changed you must apply to amend your approval.

Offences apply for using a water supply work or using water other than as authorised by an approval.

Yes, you and other co-holders can apply online. However, since you are applying to extend your approval after the expiry date you will need to pay a higher application fee.

No, if your approval has expired, you and other co-holders no longer have a right to use the relevant water supply work or to use water (unless you have permission as described above in FAQ 14).

You may be committing an offence under the Water Management Act 2000 if you continue to use water and/or any water supply work after your approval has expired.

The maximum penalty for such offences is:

• in the case of a corporation, $1,100,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, a further penalty of $132,000 for each day the offence continues; and,
• in any other case, $247,500 and, in the case of a continuing offence, a further penalty of $66,000 for each day the offence continues.

The expiry of an approval may also have other consequences. For example, WaterNSW is unable to accept a water order where the water access licence nominates an approval that has expired.

No. If you and other co-holders have applied online to extend your approval you should not also apply using a hard copy application form that may have been sent to you.

Vice versa, if you have received a hard copy application form from us in the mail to extend an approval and you have completed and posted this form back to us you should not also apply online.

Yes. Once your online payment has been received as part of the application process, the co-holder making the payment will be notified on screen that your completed application has been submitted.

Additionally, all co-holders who have provided a valid email address as part of the online application process will be notified by email that their completed application has been submitted.

Yes. To view your completed application, go to Water Applications Online and select 'View completed application'.

Enter your personal application number (included in your notification letter) which you used to apply online.

You cannot make edits to your online application once it has been completed and submitted for processing. If you've submitted your application and need to change it, please contact us our Customer Service Centre.

Applications will be assessed according to WaterNSW’s assessment procedures. One of our Water Regulation Officers will contact the primary holder if we need more information.

Applications are assessed in five stages. You can check the stage of your application using Water Applications Online (see FAQ 21) or our trackNOW phone app (see FAQ 22).

WaterNSW will either determine to grant the application with appropriate conditions or refuse it. The primary holder will be notified in writing of the determination and, if granted, a copy of the updated water use and/or water supply work Statement of Approval will also be issued.

To track your submitted application, go to Water Applications Online and select 'Track completed application'

Enter your personal application number (included in your notification letter) which you used to apply online.

Applications are assessed in five stages. You can check the stage of your application in the table shown on screen.

You can also track your submitted application using our trackNOW iPhone app (see FAQ 22 below).

To track your submitted application using the trackNOW iPhone app. Download the free trackNOW app from the Apple store.

Enter your personal application number (included in your notification letter) which you used to apply online.

There are five stages in the assessment of your application. You will be able to see the stage of your application in the table shown on screen. You will also be automatically notified of the progress of your application during the assessment process.

If a determination is made to extend an approval, it is usually extended for the period for which it was first granted. Therefore, if your approval was first granted for 10 years it will usually be extended for 10 years. In some cases, the period may be less than the period for which the approval was first granted but it cannot exceed the period for which that type of approval can be issued.

The application fee is one payment per approval no matter how many co-holders of the approval – for example, if there are three co-holders of the approval the application fee to extend the approval is only paid ONCE by one co-holder on behalf of all co-holders (and NOT paid three times by each co-holder).

Find more information on our Application and fees page.

We only accept MasterCard and Visa credit cards.

The co-holder making the payment should print a copy of the receipt/tax invoice that will appear on screen during the payment process. If a receipt page does not appear on screen please contact us our Customer Service Centre.

If you experience computer problems during a payment transaction, you must restart the transaction process. If you have already progressed to the 'confirmation of payment' screen, you should contact us our Customer Service Centre as your payment may have been processed.

You will receive an error message if any of the information you have provided in your online application is incomplete or does not match our records.

If you experience any difficulties during the online application process, contact us our Customer Service Centre.

Water Applications Online uses the most up-to-date Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption. More information on security is available under Privacy and security.