Development Applications
35+ years of DA experience across Sydney councils. We know how to design for approval.
Council approval · Expert guidance
A Development Application (DA) is the formal submission to council for assessment of your proposed development. The quality of what you submit has an enormous impact on how smoothly it goes.
What a DA involves
- Full architectural drawing set (plans, elevations, sections)
- Statement of Environmental Effects (SEE)
- BASIX certificate (energy and water)
- Survey and site analysis
- Structural, shadow and other specialist reports
- Neighbour notification by council
- Assessment against the Local Environmental Plan (LEP)
- Determination — approval, refusal or modification request
Our approach
We design with approval in mind from the start. Understanding how your council interprets its controls — what it accepts, what it pushes back on, and where flexibility exists — comes from decades of submissions across Northern Beaches, North Shore and Eastern Suburbs councils.
We also maintain good working relationships with council planners, which means issues are often resolved with a phone call rather than a formal request for information — saving weeks from your timeline.
Typical timeline
Once lodged, council has 40 business days to determine a DA (though most take longer in practice). Complex projects, those near bushfire or flood areas, or those requiring referrals to other agencies take longer. We'll give you a realistic assessment of your specific project's likely timeline.
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