Build a multi storey apartment building — New South Wales

The longest pathway in the database: design review, a Class 2 building under the National Construction Code, fire engineering, extended referrals, and strata registration at the end.

developmentClass 2 residential apartment building, multi storey, site already held skeleton compare across jurisdictions

This is a structural skeleton, not a measured process. The steps, the authorities and the sequence are researched from this jurisdiction's published requirements and are broadly right. The durations are a uniform template applied across all jurisdictions, so the differences between them on the comparison page are mostly an artefact of that template rather than evidence about Australia. Do not quote the day counts. Replacing them with sourced figures for even one jurisdiction would make this page genuinely useful.

870 days elapsed
longest dependent chain

19 discrete steps
across 3 bodies

34% waiting on availability
scheduling or queue, not assessment

42 days saved by concurrency
vs. 912 if run end-to-end

Where the time goes

Critical-path days only. Steps that run alongside others are real work but do not lengthen the process, so counting them here would overstate the prize.

applicant	334d	Waiting on the applicant to supply or fix something.
assessment	240d	Someone is genuinely evaluating the merits.
queue	181d	Waiting behind unrelated work in a backlog.
scheduling	115d	Waiting for a person or committee to become available.

296 of 870 elapsed days are spent waiting for a person or a meeting rather than for a judgement to be formed. Removing that time changes no assessment standard and lowers no bar -- it is the cost of scheduling alone.

The process, step by step

Applies when: A Class 2 residential apartment building on a site the developer already controls, assessed by the local consent authority rather than as a state significant development.

#	Step	Who	Why it waits	Clock	Typical	Basis
1	Prepare design and consultant documentation application Architectural, civil, traffic, waste, landscape, stormwater and acoustic documentation.	—	applicant	—	300 estimate	—
2	Design review panel assessment An independent panel reviews the design against the applicable apartment design standards. after Prepare design and consultant documentation 525d slack	Consent authority (NSW council)	scheduling	—	45 estimate	—
3	Fire engineering performance solution assessment only if triggered Where the design departs from the deemed-to-satisfy provisions of the National Construction Code for a Class 2 building. Triggered when: The design relies on a performance solution rather than deemed-to-satisfy provisions. after Prepare design and consultant documentation 525d slack	—	assessment	—	45 estimate	—
4	Lodge the development application application after Prepare design and consultant documentation, Design review panel 522d slack	Consent authority (NSW council)	applicant	—	3 published	Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW)
5	Pay the assessment fee fee after Lodge the development application 521d slack	Consent authority (NSW council)	applicant	—	1 estimate	—
6	Lodgement and properly-made check assessment The authority checks the application is complete before assessment begins. after Pay the assessment fee 500d slack	Consent authority (NSW council)	queue	—	21 estimate	—
7	Public notification and submissions notification after Lodgement and properly-made check 472d slack	Consent authority (NSW council)	statutory	28	28 estimate	—
8	Internal and external referrals referral Traffic, engineering, waste, landscape, heritage and state agency referrals, each responding separately. after Lodgement and properly-made check 430d slack	Consent authority (NSW council)	queue	—	70 estimate	—
9	Assessment against the planning rules assessment after Lodgement and properly-made check, Public notification and submissions, Internal and external referrals 310d slack	Consent authority (NSW council)	assessment	—	120 estimate	Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW)
10	Information request and amended plans assessment only if triggered The clock commonly stops while the applicant answers questions. Triggered when: The authority requests further information. after Assessment against the planning rules 220d slack	Consent authority (NSW council)	applicant	—	90 estimate	—
11	Determination and issue of development consent decision after Assessment against the planning rules 265d slack	Consent authority (NSW council)	scheduling	—	45 estimate	Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW)
12	Third party appeal period appeal only if triggered A legislated window in which a submitter may seek review of the decision. Triggered when: Submissions were received and a submitter has standing to seek review. after Determination and issue of development consent 237d slack	—	statutory	28	28 estimate	—
13	Pay development contributions fee after Determination and issue of development consent 251d slack	Consent authority (NSW council)	applicant	—	14 estimate	—
14	Obtain the construction certificate certification Certifies that construction documentation complies with the National Construction Code and the planning approval. after Determination and issue of development consent 190d slack	Registered certifier (NSW)	assessment	—	75 estimate	Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW)
15	Lodge regulated designs and compliance declarations certification Registered design practitioners must prepare and declare every regulated design, lodged on the NSW Planning Portal before the work it covers is built. after Obtain the construction certificate 160d slack	Registered certifier (NSW)	applicant	—	30 published	Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 (NSW)
16	Mandatory inspections during construction inspection Inspections at prescribed stages. Counted as booking delay only, not as construction time. after Lodge regulated designs and compliance declarations 135d slack	Registered certifier (NSW)	scheduling	—	25 estimate	—
17	Obtain the occupation certificate certification Authorises the building to be occupied. after Mandatory inspections during construction 90d slack	Registered certifier (NSW)	assessment	—	45 estimate	—
18	Obtain the strata certificate certification Authorises registration of the plan creating separate titles. Cannot begin until the works are complete and certified. after Obtain the occupation certificate 30d slack	Consent authority (NSW council)	queue	—	60 estimate	—
19	Register the plan of strata registration The land registry records the plan and issues the new titles. after Obtain the strata certificate	NSW Land Registry Services	queue	—	30 estimate	—

on the critical path scheduling/queue = delay not caused by the assessment itself

Machine-flagged questions

These are produced automatically from the dependency graph. They are questions for a practitioner, not findings. Each one needs a person who has run this process to say whether the constraint is real.

The same body asked more than once

nsw-council-consent (assessment) appears at Design review panel, Lodgement and properly-made check, Assessment against the planning rules, Information request and amended plans. Could these be a single sign-off?
nsw-private-certifier (certification) appears at Obtain the construction certificate, Lodge regulated designs and compliance declarations, Obtain the occupation certificate. Could these be a single sign-off?

Sources

New South Wales published development assessment and building approval guidance, accessed 2026-08-30
National Construction Code, Class 2 building requirements

Something wrong here?

This page is wrong in some way -- every page like it is. If you have run this process, the most useful thing you can do is tell us which step took longer than we say and why. Edit data/processes/nsw-apartments.toml and open a pull request, or send us the correction.