A development application, or DA, is lodged online through the NSW Planning Portal, checked by the council for completeness, made public, referred to state agencies where the law requires it, assessed against the matters in section 4.15 of the planning Act and then decided. The decision is a consent with conditions, a refusal with reasons, or, less often, a consent that only operates once set matters are resolved.
General informationThis page follows the NSW planning department’s guide to the DA process, written for homeowners; its lodging and assessment stages were last updated on 4 May 2023 and its determination stage on 20 August 2025. It is not advice about any application. The council handling a DA, or a planning professional, can say how a stage applies to it.
From lodging to decision
Lodging. Every DA is submitted online, through a NSW Planning Portal account. The department says a complete one will generally include a description of the development, estimated costs, any specialist reports needed, the council’s DA form and checklist, everything the EP&A Regulation 2021 asks for in the approved form, and the fee. The fee is set by that Regulation, worked out from the estimated cost of the development, and paid with the application.
The clock. Once the application holds enough information and the fees are paid, a “clock” starts, measuring how long the council has to assess it. When the council needs more information, the clock stops until the applicant supplies it. The Regulation sets the time frames, and an applicant may have a right to go to court for a decision if the council misses them.
Exhibition. All applications and plans are public on the Planning Portal. The council may also write to local residents or put up a notice on the site, and while that notice is up the DA is on public exhibition: anyone may make a submission.
Referral and concurrence. Where a DA raises questions such as traffic, pollution, bushfire risk, building design or safety, the council may seek advice from a state approval body (a referral). Where part of it needs another body’s approval, that is concurrence, and some applications need it before any decision. The department’s example is a DA for land beside bushfire-prone land, which goes to the NSW Rural Fire Service for advice.
Assessment. The council allocates an assessment officer as the main contact, who usually sets a “call back” date to talk through progress; where a consultant applied on the owner’s behalf, the council deals with the consultant. The site is inspected, applicants and neighbours are consulted, and a report and recommendation are written. Some councils’ online tracking systems show that report.
Decision. Consent with conditions, refusal with reasons, or deferred commencement consent, which the department notes is not a common outcome.
Most councils decide straightforward, complete applications in this time or less, says the lodging page (updated 2023).
The average time to determine a DA, on the department’s complying development page (updated June 2026).
The two figures measure different things: one describes straightforward, complete applications at most councils, the other the average across applications.
The six matters the council weighs
Section 4.15 of the Act lists what the council has to consider. The department sets them out as:
- the plans and policies that apply, such as SEPPs, local environmental plans and development control plans
- the effects on the natural and built environment, and the social and economic effects in the area
- whether the site suits the proposal, including access and services
- the submissions received, from neighbours or others
- comments, agreements or approvals from NSW Government agencies
- the public interest.
The department’s guide links these matters to the Statement of Environmental Effects that goes in with a DA.
Reading the conditions
The department describes a development consent as a legal document: building outside its conditions risks penalties or costly rectification. Some conditions go on every consent, such as compliance with the Building Code of Australia. Others can change the design itself, by lowering the height, removing elements, or adding a privacy screen or retaining wall, and the department notes these can raise the cost of building.
Conditions are also tied to stages: before the construction certificate, before and during construction, and before the occupation certificate. Common ones include a sign on site naming the principal certifier and the principal contractor, limits on working hours, waste and run-off, bonds such as one to protect the footpath, and in some cases development contributions towards local infrastructure. The guide to development contributions explains those charges.
After the decision
| Situation | The option | Time limit |
|---|---|---|
| Refused, or approved with conditions the applicant cannot accept | A Review of Determination by the council, with amended plans if wanted; a fee applies | 6 months from the decision, to be both lodged and decided |
| The same | An appeal to the Land and Environment Court, which hears the applicant, the council, experts and possibly the community | 6 months to lodge |
| The same | Change the proposal and lodge it again | None stated |
| Approved plans or conditions need changing | A Modification of Consent under section 4.55, if the development stays substantially the same; otherwise a new DA | None stated |
The department warns that an appeal can take time and money, particularly when a matter is not settled through mediation before a hearing.
The certificates that follow
A consent is followed by a construction certificate before building and an occupation certificate before a new building is occupied or used. Since Part 6 of the Act began on 1 December 2019, construction certificates must be consistent with the consent, interim and final occupation certificates are gone, and subdivision works have a certificate of their own, separate from construction. Those occupation and subdivision certificate rules apply to consents granted from that date; earlier consents still run under the old provisions. Apartment buildings add their own steps before an occupation certificate, set out in the guide to apartment buildings.