Setting up a home-based skin penetration beauty business

Advice about what beauty treatments are considered to be skin penetration activities is available on our skin penetration information page.

Home-based skin penetration business – planning legislation

Under current planning controls, ‘home business’ is permissible with consent in the residential zones (R2, R3, R4, R5, E3 and E4). Check the zoning of your property.

Development consent through a development application (DA) is required for a home business that involves skin penetration procedures.

For apartments in a residential flat building or townhouse development, please check the property’s strata by-laws. You will require strata consent when applying for a DA for your proposal.

Definition of home business

Under Ku-ring-gai’s Local Environmental Plans (LEPs) and NSW Department of Planning and Environment's Standard Instrument Definitions, ‘home business’ is defined as:

a business that is carried on in a dwelling, or in a building ancillary to a dwelling, by one or more permanent residents of the dwelling and that does not involve:

a) the employment of more than 2 persons other than those residents, or

b) interference with the amenity of the neighbourhood by reason of the emission of noise, vibration, smell, fumes, smoke, vapour, steam, soot, ash, dust, waste water, waste products, grit or oil, traffic generation or otherwise, or

c) the exposure to view, from any adjacent premises or from any public place, of any unsightly matter, or

d) the exhibition of any signage (other than a business identification sign), or

e) the sale of items (whether goods or materials), or the exposure or offer for sale of items, by retail, except for goods produced at the dwelling or building,

but does not include bed and breakfast accommodation, home occupation (sex services) or sex services premises.

Development application (DA)

You can lodge a development application (DA) with Council to obtain development consent for operating a skin penetration business from your home.

Your DA would need to demonstrate that your proposal to operate a skin penetration business complies with planning policies (eg. zoning permissibility and how the proposal meets the definition of a 'home business').

You will need to demonstrate how you would be able to comply with these requirements as part of the DA. You can do this by including within the Statement of Environmental Effects a written statement outlining how the requirements will be achieved.

A DA for operation of a skin penetration business at home would require the following plans and information to be submitted with a completed DA form:  

  • Owners consent. Strata consent is required if the premises is located within a residential flat building or townhouse development.
  • Site plan (with the room(s) of the dwelling to be used for the business shown in colour so we know where they are located in relation to the rest of the house).
  • Floor plan (details of the room(s) being used for the business – e.g. indicate on the plan the treatment room, storage areas etc.).
  • Statement of Environmental Effects –  whilst not an exhaustive list, the statement should include discussion about:
  • What activities you intend to undertake in your business. 
  • Hours of operation.
  • Relevant development controls in Council’s planning policies. For example, how your proposed home business is a type of development permitted by the zoning of the property and how it meets the objectives of the property’s zoning, and how the proposal will not interfere with the amenity of your neighbours.
  • Waste disposal arrangements. Note: Used sharps and clinical waste (e.g. single use equipment soiled with blood) are considered  hazardous waste. Used sharps must be placed into an Australian Standards approved sharps bin. All hazardous waste must be collected and disposed through a licensed contractor. Used sharps must not be placed in general waste bins.
  • Photographs including external photos for context of the site, proposed treatment room, wash-up and storage areas.

Refer to our DA guide(PDF, 5MB) for further information about what needs to be included in each plan or document. You may find that much of the information you need to provide is not relevant to your specific circumstances since the DA Guide is also aimed at people lodging a DA for many other types of development. For the site and floor plans, check pages 12 and 31. For the Statement of Environmental Effects, check pages 18 and 32.

Once the DA is lodged, Council’s officers will visit your premises to ensure it is suitable for the development proposal. 

Once you have approval and are ready to operate your skin penetration beauty business, you must notify council of your business via Council’s skin penetration notification form before trading.

Skin penetration notification form

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