FAQs - Sole 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).

If you are no longer the holder of the approval, our records will need to be updated with the details of the new holder. Contact us our Customer Service Centre to notify us of any changes.

If your contact details are incorrect you should complete and submit the online Change of contact details form to notify us. Once we have updated your contact details we will notify you about extending your approval.

You can apply and pay online using our Water Applications Online service.

Contact us our Customer Service Centre.

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, the holder of the approval will be sent a letter from WaterNSW notifying them to apply 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 7).

When you have completed and submitted your online application, you can use your number to track the progress of your application (see FAQ 20 and FAQ 21).

No. You 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. You should post the completed and signed application form to WaterNSW using the address listed on the notification letter.

You should complete the following steps to log in to Water Applications Online to extend an approval.

• Step 1: On the Water Applications Online homepage select ‘Start new application’.
• Step 2: Read and agree with the terms of use.
• Step 3: Select ‘Extend an approval’ and specify whether you are applying as an individual or a company/corporation or organisation and then enter your details.

For an individual – enter your surname only as well as your personal application number. Then 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.

For a company/corporation or organisation – enter the name in full as listed on the notification letter as well as the personal application number. The person completing the form then enters their details and a valid email address (see FAQ 9). Once the email address has been verified the application process can continue.

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

If you have logged out and need to log back in to Water Applications Online follow Steps 1 to 3 again.

After you have logged in to Water Applications Online (see FAQ 7) there are three easy steps to complete to extend your approval:

• Step 1: Provide responses to questions related to the details of the approval to indicate if approval details have changed or not, for example, location of works (see FAQ 11 and FAQ 12).
• Step 2: Read and 'Accept' the terms in the declaration section (see FAQ 10 for a holder who is a company/corporation or organisation). If you do not 'Accept' the terms in the declaration section, the application cannot proceed.
• Step 3: Pay the application fee in full by credit card using a secure online payment service to complete and submit the application.

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 the holder of an approval who is a company/corporation, the declaration section of the application must be completed in accordance with section 127 of the Corporations Act 2001.

• 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 approval details to check they are correct and to complete the declaration section.

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, you 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, you 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 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 expires, you 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 13).

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, a water order will not be accepted where the water access licence nominates an approval that has expired.

No. If you 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 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, you will be notified on screen that your completed application has been submitted.

Additionally, if you have provided a valid email address in your online application you will be notified by email that your 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 may contact you 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 20) or our trackNOW phone app (see FAQ 21).

WaterNSW will either determine to grant the application with appropriate conditions or refuse it. Applicants will be notified in writing of the determination and, if granted, a copy of your 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 21).

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 issue

Find more information on the Application and fees page.

We only accept MasterCard and Visa credit cards.

A receipt/tax invoice will appear on screen when you complete the application online. You should print a copy of this for your records. If the receipt page does not appear please contact us our Customer Service Centre.

If you experience computer problems during a 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 and your application cannot be completed.

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.