Development Approval
With a project this nature, getting Development Approval (DA) through town planning is part of our puzzle as we are changing more than just the inside of the house. The rules, defined in the Brisbane City Plan 2014, are ever-changing. Town planning though does not automatically mean that a Development Application (DA) must be made, your TP consultant will let you know eitherway.
Getting DA is a complex process, something that you must outsource to an expert such as Peta Charles from Brisbane Town Planning.
Some general principles are:
- Take lots of photos of the existing house, both outside and inside
- Do not change (e.g. demolish, replace) anything on the outside
- Be patient, very patient. It will take months. It can get annoying when having to wait to get into demolishing and feeling that you’re making progress.
We got BCC Development Approvals on Wednesday 15 February 2025.
Getting DA is complex and time consuming but not very costly. You cannot do this yourself and must use experts. There are a reasonable number of town planners in Brisbane who can assist but it is definitely worth while finding out which are most suitable to work on your specific project to increase your chances to get it through Council without too many hiccups.
So we can start building now…??? NO, getting DA does not mean that you can start building…. So what does DA mean? Well, what it means is that council assessed and approved the intended changes proposed by you based on the detailed designs (which are not for construction) and engineering plans. It includes consultation with the neighbours.
So what can we do now? We can start the partial demolition part in preparation for the house move. BCC does like us to have a pre-demolition meeting though to run through the requirements.
So when can we start building? Next we need to get the detailed designs to be “for construction” and work with our private certifier who will certify the detailed designs and engineering plans to be fit for Building Approval which means that our Building Certifier will be issuing the development permit for carrying out building work.
Copies of our plans etc. can be found on the BCC Development-i website here.
Lessons Learnt
These are some of the things we learnt:
- Be patient; this phase is also tedious, reasonably expensive and can be very time consuming (take 12mths +)
- Let the experts do their thing, they will draft all the relevant content and prepare all the required forms
- Don’t ask for copies of the final forms as you can download your own once they have been submitted
- Check the materials that have been submitted to Council and ask your town planner to clarify anything you’re not sure about (e.g. easements)
