When do you need a development application?

You need a development application when the planning rules for your lot ask for one. That usually comes down to the zone, an overlay on the land, a use the zone does not allow outright, or work that falls outside the limits the state sets for simpler pathways. Small backyard work on an ordinary lot often avoids one, and the same structure on a heritage or flood mapped lot may not.

What usually brings in a development application?

an overlay on the lot, such as heritage, flood, bushfire or vegetation, that names your kind of work
a structure larger, taller or closer to a boundary than the simpler pathway allows
a use the zone asks to assess, such as a home business, a second dwelling or a rural use on a house lot
a large change to the ground, such as cut and fill

The post on planning overlays explains what each kind tends to change.

Does every state use the words development application?

The idea is everywhere, but the words change. In New South Wales a DA is what is left when work cannot go ahead as exempt or complying development. In Queensland the planning scheme decides, and many small structures need only a certifier’s building approval, with a council application where the scheme or a siting question calls for it. The post on the Queensland forms explains which form goes with which work. In Victoria the same question decides whether you need a planning permit. In Western Australia it is development approval, and in Tasmania a planning permit. South Australia sends almost all development through one state portal for its consents.

How do I find out for my lot?

Work through it in order. Find the council with the council finder, then look up the zone and every overlay on the lot. Compare your structure with the limits for the simpler pathway in your state, and where it falls outside one, ask the council before you draw it in detail. The post on zoning shows where to look.

What goes in with a development application?

It varies with the work and the council, but the common set is a site plan to scale, elevations, the owner’s consent and an estimate of the cost, with any report an overlay asks for. The post on site plans for a DA covers what that sheet carries.

What happens after it is lodged?

The authority checks that the application is complete, may ask for more, and may refer it to other agencies. Some applications are publicly notified so the neighbours can comment, and others are not. It then decides, usually with conditions, and the building approval follows where the work needs one.

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 zone and the overlays on the lot beside your design, the two things most likely to bring in an application.

Search your address, see what the plan shows for a shed, carport or other outbuilding, or read what we hold for Logan. Site plans by council covers the rest of Australia.

Common questions

When do you need a development application? When the planning rules for your lot ask for one, which usually comes down to the zone, an overlay, or work that falls outside the limits the state sets for simpler pathways. The council, or the planning authority where there is no council, can tell you for your address.

When is a DA required for a small structure? When the structure falls outside the exempt or fast pathway on that lot, or an overlay or a heritage listing brings the planning question back in.

Do I need a DA if I have a building permit? You can. The two answer different questions, so a building approval does not settle the planning side. Where both are needed, the planning decision usually comes first.