Complying Development Certificates

The fastest approval path available. If your project meets the complying development standards, a CDC combines planning and construction approval into a single certificate — no development application, no council assessment.

When It's Required

The fastest path, if the site and the project qualify.

Where the proposal falls within the complying development standards and the site has no characteristic that rules the pathway out. It is worth a five-minute conversation before you lodge a DA — a CDC can save months.

Eligibility

Whether the project and the site qualify for the pathway at all.

Development standards

Setbacks, height, site coverage, landscaping and the rest of the numerical controls.

Site constraints

Overlays and hazards that can exclude a site from the pathway.

NCC compliance

The construction side of the certificate, assessed as it would be for a CC.

Eligibility check first

Before you spend money on documentation, we tell you whether the pathway is open.

Fixed-fee proposal

Scope and turnaround confirmed before we start.

Certificate issued

Planning and construction approval in one document.

What You Provide

What we need to start the eligibility check

Common Questions

Answers before you ask.

Is a CDC faster than a DA?

Materially, yes — there is no council planning assessment. The trade-off is that there is no flexibility: the project either meets the standards or it does not.

What if my design is close but not quite compliant?

We will tell you exactly which control it fails and by how much. Often a small design change brings it back into the pathway; sometimes a DA is the better route. We will say which.

Can neighbours object to a CDC?

Complying development is not notified and assessed the way a DA is, though there are notification requirements before work starts.

Ready to get your project moving?

Get in touch for a simple, no-obligation discussion about your building surveying and certification needs.