Building Your Forever Home: A Step-by-Step Guide to Approval and Construction

Building your forever home is an exciting and rewarding journey, but it involves navigating through various stages of approvals and consultations. To ensure your dream home becomes a reality, it's essential to follow the right steps and engage with the right professionals. In this comprehensive guide, we'll walk you through the process, from initial planning to obtaining the Construction Certificate, all while making sure your dreams stay firmly on track. If possible it is better to get approval through complying development so if what you are thinking fits into the parameters we highly recommend using this approval process. Complying Development Approval is faster and cheaper than DA/CC and will save you time and money in consultant fees and council fees.

The reason you would use the DA/CC process instead is that some zonings cannot be done as complying development and it is less flexible. Also some areas of high bushfire risk and flood risk cannot be done as comlying development. For example if you have a sloping site and need to create a carparking space in the from setback then you will need to lodge a DA/CC.

Lodge a CDC for a new home

1. Check if you can do complying development. Here is a link to the Exempt and Complying Development SEPP. It is a bit hard to navigate though so we recommend simply filling out our Free Site Assessment and we'll take a look and let you know if it can be done as complying.

2. Get a survey. This means that you know where your boundaries are, what the level of everything is and where your existing building is located on the site. Council usually requires this to be submitted with the DA. This will also show the location of existing services so that you do not plan to build over a sewer main which can be expensive. Surveyors that we have found to be good in the past are shown on our list of consultants here.

3. Find images of what you would love to live with, create a pinterest account or create a folder in your phone with inspirational images, send them to your architect.

4. Get a Geotech for the site. Council will want to see this and the structural engineers will need it to design the footings at a later stage. Geotech we have found to be good in the past are shown on our list of consultants here.

5. Get Stormwater drawings. Send the Architectural Set onto the stormwater engineer and they will provide you with stormwater drawings that look at the flow of water on the site and design the stormwater system. Stormwater engineers that we have worked with in the past are shown on our list of consultants here.

6. Send the updated Architectural drawings to a civil engineer and get them to design the civil works. Civil engineers we've worked with in the past are shown on our list of consultants here.

7. Co-ordinate the structure into the Architectural drawings and provide a finer level of detail including wall types and concrete setout plans.

8. Engage a certifier, either council or a private certifier to approve the Complying Development Certificate. Its often a good idea to engage them at the start of the process to give you a checklist, although they will only assess it at the end.

Part A - Pre-DA

Before lodging the DA it is a good idea to talk to council to see if what you are thinking of is viable or has any issues that need to be resolved.

9. Get a survey. This means that you know where your boundaries are, what the level of everything is and where your existing building is located on the site. Council usually requires this to be submitted with the DA. This will also show the location of existing services so that you do not plan to build over a sewer main which can be expensive. Surveyors that we have found to be good in the past are shown on our list of consultants here.

10. Contact council to get them to give you a call back to discuss what you can do on your property. Here is a link to the council form for a call back from their town planners.

11. Check if you are prone to flooding or bushfire. If you are prone to flooding you will need to get a flood information certificate. If you are bushfire prone, you will need to get a bushfire report. Here is a guide to finding out if your site is subject to flooding. Here is a guide to find out if your site is prone to bushfires.

12. Get a town planner on board, they have a lot of experience submitting projects to council and can often tell you if what you are submitting is likely to be approved or better yet if there is no chance it will be (not pursuing projects that are simply not viable can save you a lot of money). Town Planners we have used in the past are shown on our list of consultants here. 

13. Find images of what you would love to live with, create a pinterest account or create a folder in your phone with inspirational images, send them to your architect.

14. Get your architect to prepare drawings for a pre-DA meeting with council. Here is a link to council to book in a pre-DA meeting:

https://www.centralcoast.nsw.gov.au/plan-and-build/development-applications/pre-development-meetings

Part B - DA or if you are amending an existing approved plan lodge a 4.55(1a)

After going to a pre-DA meeting with council and resolving any issues they bring up, its time to bring other consultants on board to create Development Application documents.

1. Update your architectural drawings with the advice from the pre-DA meeting.

2. Get a Geotech for the site. Council will want to see this and the structural engineers will need it to design the footings at a later stage. Geotech we have found to be good in the past are shown on our list of consultants here.

3. Get Stormwater drawings. Send the Architectural Set onto the stormwater engineer and they will provide you with stormwater drawings that look at the flow of water on the site and design the stormwater system. Stormwater engineers that we have worked with in the past are shown on our list of consultants here.

4. Get landscape drawings from a landscape architect, here are landscape architects that we have worked with in the past shown on our list of consultants here.

5. Get your town planner to write their Statement of Environmental Effects to be submitted with the DA, this outlines how the submission complies or varies the applicable planning laws.

6. Get the Architectural Drawings stamped by a BASIX consultant, they make sure that there is enough insulation, windows are thick enough and there is enough rainwater storage to create a sustainable dwelling. BASIX is required by the NSW government for all additions over $50,000. BASIX consultants we have worked with that have been good are shown on our list of consultants here.

7. Submit the DA to Council. Council may also request other consultants depending on the project and the zoning, for example they may request an arborist report if you are removing trees or you may need to get a bushfire report if you are in a bushfire zone. For bushfire advice and reports people we have worked with in the past are shown on our list of consultants here.. The pre-DA meeting will give you a good idea of what consultants need to be engaged, although council often requests other consultant reports after the DA is submitted as RFIs so it it important to keep this in mind as an additional expense during the DA process. Council may request an acoustic report if your site is near a busy road or other source of sound, some are shown on our list of consultants here.

Part B - Apply for a CC

1. After council approves your DA they will provide you with conditions of consent. Go through these to get a better sense of what you need to provide for the DA. Some common conditions of consent include: provide a concrete driveway and provide a concrete pedestrian path in front of the house. You'll need to get your structural engineer to draw this up or a separate civil engineer. It will also normally include contributions for each additional dwelling on the site, these are updated each year and are around $12,000 per dwelling at the moment, this will need to be paid before you can obtain your Construction Certificate.

2. Update the Architectural drawings with the DA conditions.

3. Send the updated Architectural drawings to a structural engineer and get them to design the structure. Structural engineers we've worked with in the past are shown on our list of consultants here.

4. Send the updated Architectural drawings to a civil engineer and get them to design the civil works. Civil engineers we've worked with in the past are shown on our list of consultants here.

5. Co-ordinate the structure into the Architectural drawings and provide a finer level of detail including wall types and concrete setout plans.

6. Get your stormwater engineer from the DA to update their drawings for CC after the structural and other engineering drawings have been coordinated into civil.

7. Fulfill any other conditions in the conditions of consent.

8. Engage a certifier, either council or a private certifier to approve the Construction Certificate. Its often a good idea to engage them at the start of the process to give you a checklist, although they will only assess it at the end.

The above is the minimum required to start building and is fine if you are only building an envelope and plan to do the interior fitout yourself. If you intend to get the builder to do everything, it is best to get a detailed design done as it means that the builder can price everything accurately and there are less items with a builders margin.

Detailed Design/ Interior Design/ Tender Set

1. Select all the finishes you want in your home, everything from tiles to paint. This means that the builder can price it accurately and you will not get stuck with a builders margin.

2. Get your architect to do detailed design drawings of everything that is not a typical detail and all wet areas. If you want window sills to be a particular way, get them drawn up. Anything you want to be brilliant - get them to draw up, anything that is a standard detail can be left out.

3. Get quotes in from a builder, look at what they are including and what they are excluding, for more information look at this article How to Select a Builder.

4. Select a builder and start building.

While the consultants mentioned in this guide have been recommended based on past experiences, it's essential to conduct your own research and due diligence before engaging any professional. Remember, building your forever home is a unique and personal journey, and finding the right team to bring your vision to life is crucial. With careful planning, expert guidance, and enthusiasm, your dream home will soon be a reality, providing you and your loved ones a place to cherish for generations to come.