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Heritage Impact Statement (HIS)

A Heritage Impact Statement (HIS) is the heritage consultant's report on proposed works to a listed item or in a conservation area. Required at DA lodgement, not after.

By Chalkline. Last updated 14 May 2026. Verified 14 May 2026.

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A Heritage Impact Statement (HIS), also called a Statement of Heritage Impact (SoHI), is a specialist heritage consultant’s report addressing the effect of proposed works on a listed heritage item or on the character of a heritage conservation area. It is one of the standard DA-supporting documents in NSW and is typically required at lodgement, not after first review.

When an HIS is required. Three triggers, any one of which is enough:

  1. The site is a heritage item on the LEP schedule or the State Heritage Register (under the Heritage Act 1977).
  2. The site is in a Heritage Conservation Area (HCA) shown on the LEP heritage map.
  3. The site adjoins a heritage item and the proposed works could affect its setting or views.

Any of these triggers appears as a “matter affecting” notation on the Section 10.7 planning certificate issued by council.

What goes in an HIS. Most councils accept the NSW Heritage Office template:

  • Brief identification of the heritage item or HCA, its significance, and the relevant listing.
  • Description of the existing fabric and its condition.
  • Description of the proposed works.
  • Assessment of impact under the NSW Heritage Manual criteria (visual, fabric, setting, curtilage).
  • Mitigation or design responses to address impact.
  • Photographs, drawings, and supporting documentation.

The HIS is prepared by a heritage consultant (architect, historian, or planner with heritage practice experience). For State Heritage Register items the consultant must be on the Heritage NSW endorsed list.

Why builders care. A missing or weak HIS is the most common cause of a DA being thrown into an RFI (Request for Further Information) loop on heritage-affected sites. Each RFI adds typically four to eight weeks to the determination clock and is at the consultant’s expense to address. Cost a heritage consultant into the quote at DA stage; do not assume the certifier or the architect will absorb that work.

Sequencing. Engage the heritage consultant before the architect locks the design. Late-stage heritage advice frequently triggers redesign at the worst possible moment (after structural engineering and BCA reports are committed).

Other states. VIC equivalent is the Heritage Impact Assessment under the Heritage Act 2017 (Vic). QLD has heritage-place statements under the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. The NSW HIS template is the most prescriptive of the three.

Also known as: HIS, Statement of Heritage Impact, SoHI, heritage report.

Category: Approvals / DA documentation / heritage.

See also

Last updated: 2026-05-14. Verified: 2026-05-14.

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