What is a complying development certificate in NSW?

A complying development certificate, or CDC, is one approval that covers both planning and building for work meeting every fixed standard New South Wales sets. Because the standards are fixed, the assessment is a check rather than a judgement, and a registered certifier, private or at the council, can issue it. Work that cannot meet a standard cannot have a CDC and goes to the council as a development application.

Where does a CDC sit among the pathways?

New South Wales has three pathways for building work. Exempt development stays inside limits small enough that nothing is lodged. Complying development is a step up, with a certificate. Everything else takes a development application, or DA. The post on carports as complying development shows how the three play out for one common structure.

How is a CDC different from a DA?

The test. A CDC is yes or no against fixed standards, while a DA is weighed on its merits against the local plans and the effect on the neighbours
Who decides. A certifier decides a CDC, and the council or a planning panel decides a DA
The steps. A CDC covers planning and building at once, while a DA is followed by a construction certificate before work starts

What takes the CDC pathway away?

Either a missed standard, which a certifier cannot bend, or the land. The usual reasons on the land side are:

a heritage item on the lot, or a heritage conservation area for some kinds of work
environmentally sensitive land, or other land the state rules out
the highest bushfire attack levels, on land mapped as bushfire prone
a flood control lot, unless the part holding the work is confirmed as meeting the flood conditions

The council’s planning certificate for the lot lists most of these. The bushfire prone check and the flood overlay check give a first read from the address.

What goes with a CDC application?

Enough for the certifier to test every standard without guessing. For a small home project that usually means a site plan with the boundaries, the existing buildings and the distance from the new work to each boundary and the street, then floor plans and elevations with heights from the existing ground. The engineering for the structure, the owner’s consent and an estimate of the cost go in too, with a bushfire assessment where the land is mapped.

What happens after the CDC is issued?

The owner appoints a principal certifier, usually the one who issued the certificate, and the council is given notice before work starts. The principal certifier inspects at the stages the certificate sets, and where the work needs one, issues an occupation certificate at the end.

Reading it for your own lot

RapidSiteplan reads the council and building rules for your lot from its address, checks the design against them as you place it, lets you edit it as often as you like, and prints the site plan. Site plans and assessments in minutes. It shows the overlays on the lot and the distance from your structure to each boundary and the street, the measurements a certifier tests first.

Search your address, see what the plan shows for a shed, carport or other outbuilding, or read what we hold for Blacktown. New South Wales councils are listed by name, and site plans by council covers the rest of Australia.

Common questions

What is a complying development certificate in NSW? A complying development certificate, or CDC, is one approval covering both planning and building, for work that meets every fixed standard the state sets. A registered certifier, private or at the council, checks the design and issues or refuses it.

Who can issue a complying development certificate? A registered certifier, who can be a private certifier or the council acting as one, and you choose which. Neither can vary a standard the design misses.

Is a CDC quicker than a DA? Usually, because a CDC is a check against fixed standards rather than an assessment on merit. But a CDC cannot vary anything.