A survey tells you where your boundaries are, the level of everything, and where existing buildings and services are located. Council usually requires this with the DA. It also shows existing services so you do not plan to build over a sewer main, which can be expensive.
Contact council to discuss what you can do on your property — they will call you back.
A town planner has experience submitting projects to council and can tell you if your proposal is likely to be approved, or whether it has no chance. Avoiding non-viable projects can save you a lot of money.
Get your architect to prepare drawings for a pre-DA meeting with council, then book the meeting through the council pre-development meetings page.
Council will want to see this and the structural engineers need it to design footings at a later stage.
Council will want a cost estimate, and you will want to make sure you can afford to build it.
Send the architectural set to a stormwater engineer who will design the stormwater system.
Your town planner writes this for submission with the DA. It outlines how the submission complies with or varies from the applicable planning laws.
BASIX consultants make sure there is enough insulation, windows are thick enough and there is enough rainwater storage. BASIX is required by the NSW government for all additions over $50,000.
Council may request additional consultants depending on the project — an arborist report if removing trees, a bushfire report in a bushfire zone, an acoustic report near a busy road, or a social impact statement for larger proposals.
After approval, council provides conditions of consent. Common conditions include providing a concrete driveway and pedestrian path, and per-dwelling contributions (around $12,000 per dwelling) payable before the Construction Certificate is issued.
Send the updated architectural drawings to a structural engineer to design the structure.
Send the updated architectural drawings to a civil engineer to design the civil works.
Add a finer level of detail including wall types and concrete setout plans.
Your stormwater engineer updates their drawings for CC after the structural and other engineering drawings have been coordinated.
Either council or a private certifier. It is often a good idea to engage them at the start of the process so they can give you a checklist, although they will only assess it at the end.
Pick everything from tiles to paint. This means the builder can price it accurately and you will not get stuck with a builder's margin.
Get your architect to do detailed design drawings of everything that is not a typical detail, and all wet areas. Anything you want to be brilliant — get drawn up. Standard details can be left out.
Look carefully at what each builder is including and excluding in their quote.