Lower North Shore · AS 3660.1
Collars, membrane and perimeter barriers installed to the pour date for Artarmon 2064 Federation rebuilds east of the line and apartment sites near the station.
Quick answer
A rebuilt Federation cottage or a new apartment in Artarmon both need a termite management system, because the City of Willoughby sits in a termite-prone area and its certifiers will not sign off without one. Installation follows AS 3660.1, finished before the concrete goes down. The certifier then receives the meter-box notice and a matching certificate for the works.
Termite barriers in Artarmon
Artarmon is a City of Willoughby suburb about 7.1 km north of the Sydney CBD, with a leafy residential character despite the industrial area south of the Gore Hill Freeway. Houses sit mainly east of the railway line, including a run of Federation cottages, while newer apartments cluster closer to the station on the North Shore line. Federation cottage rebuilds are steady work here, and apartment development near the station and Hampden Road shopping strip adds a different kind of slab, alongside the occasional warehouse conversion in the industrial pocket to the south.
Artarmon's Federation cottages tend to have timber floors and sub-floor spaces that have had over a century to accumulate the kind of gaps a rebuild has to plan around, from expansion joints to old garden beds pressed against the original footings. Apartment sites near the station are a different job again, with a single larger slab and many more service penetrations packed into a tighter footprint. Either way, the window to fit the barrier is before the concrete sets, because neither a Federation rebuild nor a station-area apartment slab can be treated properly once it is closed up.
Reviewed by Ismail, founder · Lower North Shore coverage · Updated September 2026 · More Lower North Shore suburbs
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Local conditions
Three things drive how a termite barrier is detailed on an Artarmon job.
Cottages east of the railway line are frequently rebuilt, and demolition on these blocks often exposes old sub-floor timber, garden beds and expansion joints from the original construction. That history has to be factored into the soil treatment before the new slab is poured.
Sites close to Artarmon station and Hampden Road support apartment and townhouse development, usually on a single slab with far more penetrations than a standalone cottage. Collar counts and sequencing are planned around the whole pour on jobs like these.
The warehouse and workshop area south of the Gore Hill Freeway occasionally sees new commercial slabs or conversions, which still carry the same NCC termite management obligation as any residential build elsewhere in the area.
What we install here
Our Artarmon work covers Federation cottage rebuilds east of the railway line, apartment and townhouse slabs near the station, and the occasional commercial job in the industrial pocket to the south. Waffle pod and raft slabs are standard on the cottage rebuilds, while apartment sites usually need an engineered slab sized to the building. We quote one fixed figure from the plans up front, and the visit is timed around the plumber's rough-in so the pour is never left waiting on us.
Local knowledge
Work near Artarmon station and Artarmon Village Green tends to be apartment or townhouse slabs, and the schedule there is driven by how many services penetrate that one large pour. East of the line, on the quieter Federation cottage streets, jobs are more often knockdown rebuilds where old sub-floor timber and garden beds need checking. Westfield Chatswood to the north adds a busy retail edge nearby, though it has little bearing on how we detail a residential barrier further into the suburb.
The City of Willoughby is the certifying council for Artarmon, and before it issues an Occupation Certificate it wants two items: a weatherproof notice mounted inside the meter box, and a certificate listing the products, coverage and licensed installer. We finalise both the day installation wraps up, and for Federation cottage rebuilds we record separately how the join to any retained original structure was detailed on the block.
Artarmon at a glance
| Suburb | Artarmon, NSW 2064 |
|---|---|
| District | Lower North Shore |
| Distance from Sydney CBD | 7.1 km north |
| Certifying council | Sydney CBD Council |
| Standard applied | AS 3660.1 termite management systems |
| Installed | Before the slab pour, then staged through the build |
| Documents supplied | Installation certificate and durable notice |
| Typical builds covered | New homes, knockdown rebuilds, granny flats, duplexes, townhouses |
Systems we install
Every photo below is from one of our own Sydney jobs. We look at your slab design, site and budget, then recommend a system or a combination.
01A termite-resistant sheet laid over the whole prepared footprint before concreting, so termites can't come up through the slab anywhere.
02A sealed collar on every pipe, conduit and service that passes through the slab. These gaps are the most common hidden way in.
03Protection at the slab edge and into the wall cavity, which stops termites building hidden tunnels up the outside of the slab.
04An APVMA-registered termiticide zone in the soil, with an optional pipe network under paving so it can be recharged later without digging.
05Barriers for bearers, piers and raised timber floors on sloping or elevated blocks, where there's no slab to protect.
06Detailing for sandstone cuts, block retaining walls, step-downs and cut-and-fill sites, which are common across Sydney.
Why during construction
A retrofit can only treat around a finished house. A pre-construction system protects the parts nobody will ever be able to reach again.
A barrier put in during the build costs a fraction of a post-construction system, and far less than repairing termite damage.
New houses (Class 1) and outbuildings (Class 10) with termite-susceptible framing need a compliant termite management system.
Pipe penetrations and slab joints can only be fully protected while they're still open, before the concrete goes in.
An under-slab system covers ground that no treatment from outside the finished house can ever reach.
Your certifier needs the certificate and durable notice before issuing the Occupation Certificate. We supply both together.
Documented, compliant protection gives buyers, building inspectors and lenders confidence when the home is sold.
Installation stages
A termite barrier isn't a single visit. Each part goes in when the site is ready for it, and we fit around your plumber, concreter and bricklayer.
Send your plans and slab details. We recommend a system and give you one fixed price that covers every stage.
Collars go on every service once the plumber has set out, then the membrane or soil treatment is installed across the prepared site.
Perimeter and cavity protection is fitted as the brickwork or cladding goes up, so there's no unprotected gap at the slab edge.
Where it's specified, the chemical perimeter or reticulation system is completed around the building before paths and gardens go in.
A durable notice goes in the meter box, and the installation certificate goes to your builder and certifier.
The owner gets simple care instructions and an inspection schedule so the system keeps doing its job for years.
Compare systems
Both can meet AS 3660.1. The best choice depends on your slab type, what surrounds the house and how much ongoing upkeep the owner wants.
Physical protection
Entry-point protection
Soil protection
Top-up protection
Most of the Sydney builds we work on use a combination: physical collars on every penetration plus a physical or chemical perimeter.
For builders & developers
Builders, developers and owner-builders get a fixed quote from plans, a technician who turns up when the site is ready, and paperwork that never holds up sign-off.
Consistent pricing across lots, one point of contact and a full document set for every dwelling.
Missing durable notices and unclear install records are a common reason Occupation Certificates get held up. We hand everything over together so your certifier has it all in one go.
Paperwork
A complete document set for the builder, the certifier and every future owner of the property.
A permanent notice in the meter box showing the system, install date, installer, any chemical's life expectancy and inspection advice.
For: certifier, owner, future owners
Written confirmation of the system and products used, the areas protected and our licence details.
For: builder, certifier, owner
Details of the physical system or termiticide installed, including safety data sheets for any chemicals.
For: builder, owner
How to keep the system working, plus the recommended inspection frequency under AS 3660.2.
For: homeowner
From real jobs
Photos from our own Sydney sites, not stock images. Tap any photo to see it larger.
Membrane barrier across a large residential slab
Barrier work on a Sydney Harbour site
Installation through sandstone excavation
Perimeter barrier and sleeves on a new slab
Waffle pod formwork with collared penetrations
Membrane detailed against a retaining wall
Membrane sealed around a column
Protected slab edge with collar in place
Collared penetrations before the pour
Perimeter barrier on a completed slab edge
Pipe penetrations sealed into the membrane
Collars fixed through mesh before concreting
Google reviews
Real, verified reviews from homeowners and businesses we've worked with.
Pricing
Every build is different, so we don't guess. We price from your plans and give you one fixed written quote. Quoting is free.
After handover
A barrier only works while it stays intact and visible. Pass these on to the owner.
Free fixed quote
Tell us about your build and get a clear, fixed price, fast. We usually reply within 30 minutes during business hours.
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Artarmon questions
Still unsure? Call and talk it through with a licensed technician.
+61 450 515 215Expect us to walk the site first, looking for old expansion joints, garden beds and sub-floor timber the original cottage left behind, since that history can steer activity toward the new slab if it goes unaddressed. Collars and the rest of the system then go in to AS 3660.1, sized to how the rebuild is footed.
The compliance requirement is the same, but an apartment slab near the station usually has far more service penetrations and shared party walls than a single cottage, which changes the scheduling: installation is timed against the whole building's services rough-in rather than fitted around just one dwelling, the way a standalone cottage job would run.
Yes. Any new or substantially altered slab in a termite-prone area needs a compliant system under the NCC, including a commercial conversion in the industrial pocket south of the Gore Hill Freeway. We size the collar and perimeter work to the building and issue the installation certificate for the whole slab.
In most cases, yes. The National Construction Code requires a termite management system for new houses and outbuildings in termite-prone areas where the primary building elements can be damaged by termites. Sydney is termite-prone, so the system is installed to AS 3660.1 and your certifier asks for the installation certificate and durable notice before the Occupation Certificate is issued.
It depends on slab area, perimeter length, the number of pipe penetrations, the system chosen, site complexity and how many visits the build needs. Send us the plans and we return one fixed written quote covering every stage. Quoting is free.
Nearby
Same crew, same staging and the same certifier-ready paperwork, right across the Lower North Shore.
Service areas
From the Eastern Suburbs and Inner West to the Hills, the Shire and the western growth corridors. Every suburb has its own page with the local ground conditions, the council that certifies the work and the questions builders there ask us.
Slab pour coming up?
Send us your plans today for a fixed quote, or call and talk to a licensed technician about your site.
