Most residential work in NSW goes down one of three routes. Some small jobs need no approval at all, which is exempt development. Straightforward projects that meet every rule in the state's code can go through as complying development, with a complying development certificate (CDC). Everything else needs a development application (DA) to council. Getting the route right at the start saves a lot of time and money, so it's worth checking properly before anything gets drawn.
A CDC is a combined planning and building approval. Council or a registered private certifier can issue it, and it's assessed against fixed numbers in the State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008, which most people call the Codes SEPP. Setbacks, height, site coverage and landscaping all have set limits. If your design meets every one of them it gets approved, and if it misses even one it can't be a CDC.
In metropolitan Sydney, neighbours within 20 metres get 14 days' written notice before the certificate can be issued, and a CDC can be issued in as little as 20 days. Once it's approved you give those neighbours at least seven days' notice before work starts. Neighbours can't make a submission on a CDC the way they can on a DA.
One thing that catches people out is that a CDC application can't be withdrawn once it's lodged. It can only be approved or refused, so you want to be confident the design complies before it goes in.
A DA goes to council and is assessed on its merits against the local environmental plan (LEP), the development control plan (DCP) and any state policies that apply. The planner looks at how the design responds to the controls and to the neighbours, and council can approve something that doesn't meet every number if it's justified. Going over a development standard like height or floor space needs a written clause 4.6 variation request.
That flexibility takes time. DAs usually run for a few months, longer when council asks for more information, and neighbours can lodge submissions during exhibition. Once a DA is approved you still need a construction certificate before building starts, which a CDC already covers.
The land has to allow complying development before the design even comes into it. Depending on the type of work, complying development generally can't be carried out on:
The section 10.7 planning certificate for the property says whether complying development can be carried out on the land, and why not if it can't. Council issues it and it's usually in the contract for sale. If you don't have one, order it before you do anything else.
When someone sends me an address I start with the zoning and whether what they want to build is permitted. Then I go through the 10.7 certificate for anything that rules out a CDC, and then I test the Codes SEPP numbers against the plan. If it fits, a CDC is usually faster and cheaper. If it's close, small design changes can sometimes bring it into line, and that's often worth doing. If it can't fit, you go to a DA knowing why, with the right consultants lined up from the start.
A Site Snapshot ($49) gives you the zoning, the likely route and the first red flags for an address, back within two business days. If you're about to buy or start design, the Site and Pathway Review ($700) tests every available pathway against what you want to build. Send me the address and I'll take a look.
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