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Notwithstanding the CDC architectural plans, here is an explanation of the most common documentation required for a complying development certificate.
Section 10.7 Planning Certificate
A Section 10.7 Planning Certificate is a legal document that confirms the zoning and applicable rules for the development of your property. You can purchase a planning certificate from your local council website.
Building Specification
Many design decisions and building details cannot be expressed in graphic form and therefore instead need to rely upon the text. Details and design decisions that cannot be shown on plans may be detailed in a building specification which complements the plans.
Survey Plan
A survey plan from a registered surveyor should show the position of all existing structures, with floor level & ridge height of the main building, the front setbacks of the two closet neighbouring dwellings (within 40m) on the same side of the street, existing ground levels and existing vegetation and building on the site.
Engineering Plans & Documentation
Most complying development projects require some plans and documentation from different specialist engineers and consultants. The documents that may be required are:
- Structural engineering plans
- Structural engineering design certificate
- Structural adequacy certificate
- Stormwater engineering plans
- Stormwater engineering design certificate
Certificate of Title
A certificate of title confirms the official ownership of land. It also confirms if any easements and positive covenants are present on the lot. You can purchase the certificate of title from any of these documentation brokers.
88B Instrument
If the certificate of title confirms either an easement or positive covenant is present on the lot, a 88B instrument and deposited plan must be purchased to provide further details about the easement and/or positive covenant. You can purchase the 88B instrument from any of these documentation brokers.
Deposited Plan
If the certificate of title confirms either an easement or positive covenant is present on the lot, a deposited plan must be purchased to provide further details about the easement and/or positive covenant. You can purchase a deposited plan from any of these documentation brokers.
Long Service Levy Receipt
The long service levy is applied to all NSW building and construction projects of $250,000 or more (inc. GST). The current rate is 0.25% of the total cost of the work. You can calculate the long service levy amount here.
Sydney Water Building Approval
Sydney Water must check your plans to make sure building work will not damage any water, wastewater pipes or structures on your property. If your proposed building works are close to Sydney Water pipes in the ground, your plans may need to be submitted to a Sydney Water Service Coordinator for further review and approval.
Bushfire attack level (BAL) report
Only required if the Planning Certificate confirms the lot is bushfire affected. The report, prepared by a bushfire consultant, will determine the bushfire attack level (BAL) specific to the lot. Remember, if the result of this assessment is BAL40 or BALFZ, unfortunately, complying development is not permissible.
Flood engineering report
Only required if the Planning Certificate confirms the lot is flood affected. The report, prepared by a flood/civil engineer, will list and detail how the proposed design complies with the requirements in clause 3.5 of the complying development legislation.
Acoustic report
Only required if the Planning Certificate confirms the lot is within an ANEF 20 to 25 contour. The acoustic report is required to be prepared by an acoustic engineer. The report will need to detail methods on how the design can comply with AS2021:2015 – Acoustics—Aircraft noise intrusion—Building siting and construction.
We hope you like this guidance.
– Darook Private Certifiers Team