You'd inspect a house before you bought it. Land hides more.

Five things a listing will not show you: what you are legally allowed to clear, whether the land is mapped bushfire prone, whether water will actually hold, whether access crosses Crown land, and whether the native vegetation is regulated or could earn income. Each is mapped by the NSW Government against the exact lot boundary. You can check any NSW property free, or order a full plain-English report from AU$499 incl. GST.

A section 10.7 certificate is the planning certificate your conveyancer orders from the local council under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. It states the council’s rules for the land: zoning, permitted uses, whether the land is mapped bushfire prone, and similar planning controls. It does not map native vegetation clearing categories, Plant Community Types, threatened species records, or biodiversity credit potential, which are state environmental datasets. A MapCheck report reads those layers against the lot boundary and sits alongside the certificate, never instead of it. Government source: Apply for a planning certificate, Service NSW.

The Native Vegetation Regulatory map is the NSW Government map that classifies rural land into clearing categories: Category 1 (exempt), Category 2 (regulated), plus vulnerable and sensitive classes. It decides what you can clear without approval. Across the 630,637 lots in rural zones regulated under the Local Land Services Act, 88 per cent carry at least some Category 2 regulated native vegetation, and 67 per cent carry it across at least a tenth of the parcel. That is close to 9 in 10 on any reading, and two in three on a strict one, far more than most buyers expect (MapCheck analysis of the NSW Native Vegetation Regulatory Map, March 2026). You can check any lot’s NVR categories free with MapCheck, or see the per-hectare breakdown in a full report. Government source: Native Vegetation Regulatory map, NSW Environment.

Not necessarily. NSW law regulates what is on the land now, not what was there historically, so native vegetation that regrew after past clearing can be Category 2 regulated today. A paddock described as “cleared” in a listing can still need approval to clear again, and unlawful clearing carries penalties under the Local Land Services Act 2013. The LCCA report (AU$499 incl. GST) shows the regulated and exempt areas in hectares against the boundary before you commit. Government source: Land clearing rules, Local Land Services NSW.

Because since 1788 at least 61% of the state’s original native vegetation has been cleared, thinned or significantly disturbed. The Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 and the Local Land Services Act 2013 now set what can be cleared on private rural land, and the Native Vegetation Regulatory map applies the categories lot by lot. The framework runs both ways: vegetation you cannot clear may be eligible to generate biodiversity credits instead. A MapCheck report shows which categories apply to your lot and whether the vegetation has credit potential. Government source: Clearing of native vegetation, NSW Threatened Species Scientific Committee determination.

It may. Native vegetation you cannot clear can sometimes be managed for conservation under a Biodiversity Stewardship Agreement (BSA) with the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust, generating biodiversity credits that sell in the NSW market. Eligibility depends on the type of vegetation on the lot, not on a promise. The PEA report includes a BSA viability score and an indicative credit value, so you know whether it is worth exploring before you pay for specialist assessment. Government source: Biodiversity Conservation Trust.

Bushfire prone land is mapped for each local government area and certified by the NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner. Being on the map changes what you can build and what you pay to insure. A section 10.7 certificate states whether the land is affected; a MapCheck report adds the bushfire prone category mapped to the boundary plus RFS fire history for the area, alongside every other constraint layer, in one document. Government source: Bush fire prone land, NSW RFS.

MapCheck reports cover any NSW lot in three tiers: the Land Constraint and Capability Assessment at AU$499 incl. GST (about 10 pages), the Property and Environmental Assessment at AU$1,499 incl. GST (about 24 pages, including land value and biodiversity credit potential), and the Education Package at AU$2,499 incl. GST (the PEA plus a guided walkthrough). Every report is delivered as a plain-English PDF and includes a 12-month refresh if the underlying records change. Compare the tiers.

A MapCheck report is a preliminary screening tool: an indicative, plain-English interpretation of NSW Government spatial data. It is not a formal BAM assessment, planning certificate, legal opinion or substitute for conveyancing. Every dataset in the report is cited with its source agency and reference date, and the underlying data is validated through independent verification rounds. Confirm anything you will act on with the relevant authority and your own advisers.

Land use zone (e.g. RU1, R1), Local Environmental Plan (LEP) provisions, State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) overlays including Housing and Biodiversity and Conservation. Minimum lot size, development standards where mapped.

NSW Native Vegetation Regulatory (NVR) map categories - Cat 1 Exempt, Cat 2 Regulated, Cat 3 Vulnerable, Cat 4 Sensitive. Plant Community Types (PCTs) drawn from NSW BioNet, with Endangered Ecological Community (EEC) status where listed.

NSW Biodiversity Values Map, Biodiversity Corridors, threatened species records (Atlas of Living Australia: BioNet, SPRAT, iNaturalist, eBird, museums). On the ADVANCED tier: BSA Viability Score and indicative biodiversity credit value.

Bushfire Prone Land categories (Cat 1, 2, 3), Asset Protection Zone (APZ) implications. Flood planning overlays where mapped at LGA level.

Drinking water catchment, groundwater vulnerability, groundwater-dependent ecosystems, salinity risk, landslide risk, BSAL (Biophysical Strategic Agricultural Land).

State Heritage Register, Environmental Planning Instrument (EPI) heritage layers, Aboriginal Places, Sensitive Aboriginal Land, Declared Wilderness, NPWS Estate, Wetlands (EPI), Littoral Rainforest, Coastal Environment and Use overlays.

Mining Titles, Mine Subsidence districts, EPA Licensed Premises, asbestos (NOA), and a range of buffer overlays (odour, STP, explosive storage, landfill, airport, defence comms).

Native Title status, Crown land overlays, Travelling Stock Routes, road frontage and access classification, Koala Habitat (SEPP Biodiversity & Conservation 2021) and Koala Management Area (KMA).