Phase 3 of 5 — before the DA goes in
Approve the house you actually want to live in
The drawings that go to council become the project. The full Concept Design checklist carried forward, plus the ten approval stage checks to lock in before the DA is lodged, most of them about the thing that actually destroys houses: water.
A development approval feels like a finish line. It is actually a lock. Whatever is on those drawings the day council stamps them becomes very hard and very expensive to change, and the details that are not on them have a way of becoming permanent too.
I am Shea Cullen, a registered architect on the Central Coast. Most of my repair call outs trace back to a decision that was visible on the DA drawings years earlier: the box gutter that finally blocked, the single skin retained garage wall whose membrane gave up, the driveway that delivers every storm to the front of the house. None of them were expensive to draw differently. All of them are expensive now.
This checklist is the ten things I make sure are on the drawings before any DA of mine is lodged. The waterproofing and drainage geometry. The windows and insulation worth writing down before a builder value engineers them away. The two energy decisions, solar and battery provision, and getting rid of gas, that are nearly irreversible after the building contract is signed.
The Concept Design checklist is carried inside this document in full, so everything the drawings inherit is checked in one place. Then lodge a DA you will not spend the next decade paying for.
What's inside
25 checks across 7 sections, each with the why behind it and the cost of skipping it.
Orientation and light
- Most rooms and most windows face north
- Use east for rooms that wake early
- Put bathrooms and the laundry on the west
- Keep the south side lean
The block and the ground
- Cut and fill are roughly equal
- The driveway is not too steep
- No big retaining walls
- Water drains away from the house, especially off the driveway
The rooms themselves
- Check every room against my minimum sizes
- High ceilings in the living areas
- Windows placed for cross ventilation, no more than 6 m apart
- The dryer sits on the floor, never hung on a wall
The shape of the building
- Two storeys share the same footprint
- Eaves at least 450 mm, ideally 600 mm
- Keep at least 80 square metres of roof facing north or west for solar
Water is the enemy
- No box gutters, anywhere
- Any retained wall touching the house is two walls, not one
- Drainage in front of the garage, sized for a real storm, ideally twice
- A downpipe at least every 9 metres of gutter
- Show where the big storm goes
The envelope
- uPVC windows with double glazing
- Insulation above the minimum, in writing
- Eaves of at least 450 mm are drawn on every elevation
Energy
- Maximise the solar array and include the battery
- Get rid of gas
This is for you if
- Your DA drawings are being prepared and you want them checked before they are lodged
- You are reviewing a designer's drawings and do not know what a missing detail looks like
- You have been burnt before by leaks, damp or drainage and never want to repeat it
Your investment
$29
Australian dollars, one time, instant download.
The full amount is credited toward a $220 Initial Consultation with the single use code in your delivery email, valid for 12 months.
If your download does not arrive or the checklist is not what this page describes, reply to your delivery email and I will make it right, refund included. Australian Consumer Law guarantees apply to every purchase. Terms of sale.
Questions people ask
How do I get the checklist after paying?
Instantly. Payment takes you straight to your download page and the link is emailed to you as well. It works for 12 months.
Why does a DA checklist talk so much about water?
Because water is what I get called back to fix. Box gutters, retained walls against living spaces, undersized garage drainage and missing downpipes are all decisions that live on the DA drawings, and all of them are close to unfixable once built.
Does it cover changes after the DA is approved?
Changing approved drawings means amendments, delays and sometimes a fresh application, which is exactly why this checklist exists: to catch the details while they are still just lines.
Is the $29 credited back?
Yes. Your delivery email includes a single use code that takes $29 off the $220 Initial Consultation, valid for 12 months.
Once the DA is approved, these details are either in your drawings or in your future repair bills.