Development Compliance

Should your application be for a Material Change of Use, the next important approval you require is a building approval so you can begin construction.

A building approval is issued by a private certifier, not the Council (in Queensland). To get to the point of gaining a building approval, you will need to review your development approval issued by the Council, in particular the conditions stipulated within the approval. The conditions will often refer to a couple of important items required before a building approval can be issued. This includes operational works applications (i.e engineering and landscaping), plumbing and drainage applications etc. You will also need structural engineering drawings and possibly additional engineering drawings (i.e. hydraulics etc). For a simple Material Change of Use Development Approval, a building certifier can often aide a client through the process to gain a building approval. This would include land uses such as Dual Occupancy, Houses etc. For larger Material Change of Use Applications, a project manager or expert is often required to assist the developer to gain building approval. This includes projects such as Multiple Dwellings and Industrial and Commercial developments. Align provides project management services to aide developers in gaining building approval for most Material Change of Use Developments.

It is important to note that all the conditions of your development approval must be satisfied to gain a final certificate of occupancy. Although this occurs after construction is completed, it is critical your builder and private certifier have a copy of the conditions of approval to ensure they are all satisfied. City of Gold Coast offer a free service called a town planning final. This involves a planning officer attending your development with a copy of the development conditions and reviewing them one by one to ensure you have satisfied all the conditions. Align has a strong relationship with the planning Officers who issue the town planning finals, and we can facilitate the Officer’s attendance, and provide evidence that conditions have been satisfied. This would also involve Align reviewing the conditions and confirming the conditions appear to be satisfied prior to the Officer’s attendance to ensure a smooth process.

A Reconfiguration of a Lot or as they are more commonly referred to as a subdivision, require all conditions of approval to be satisfied prior to the completion of plan sealing with Council.

Plan Sealing is when council confirms all conditions of approval are met and they are happy for the subdivision to be finalised and given titles. First time developers often believe that once they have the subdivision approval, they can sell off the new pieces of land, but that is not the case. Conditions of the approval require all new allotments to be provided with all infrastructure which includes water, sewer, electricity, and data. Before the physical construction of infrastructure and the subdivision in general, further approvals are often needed. This includes operational works (including new driveways, possible sewer extensions etc), new water meters, easement registration and survey confirmation of no structures straddling boundaries.

It is critical to ensure all conditions of approval are satisfied as Council officers will review the conditions closely when an application for plan sealing is made. Align is often engaged to review the conditions of approval prior to plan sealing, to ensure all the conditions of approval are satisfied.

Align’s team has been involved in many subdivision developments and project managed subdivisions through to completion and the issuing of titles. Align welcomes any enquires regarding the subdivision process to ensure your project runs as smooth as possible.