Building Designer & Architectural Drafting FAQs 

Yes. We identify, engage, and coordinate the necessary external consultants for your project to proceed on the approval pathway. This often includes structural engineers, land surveyors, bushfire assessors, or heritage consultants. Coordinating these consultants' reports and certificates as part of our service ensures all technical information aligns with the design and architectural drafting for a smooth approval process.

Yes, we handle both Development Applications (DA) and Complying Development Certificates (CDC).We prepare the architectural plans and coordinate all supporting documentation required for the NSW Planning Portal. Whether your project requires a standard DA approval or qualifies for a CDC, we design your project to comply with local LEPs and DCPs from the start.We can navigate the portal and lodge the application on your behalf, or we can hand over the complete package for you to lodge yourself.We have extensive experience in councils right across Sydney including The Hills District, Hornsby, Parramatta, Blacktown, Penrith, the Inner West, Canada Bay and the Blue Mountains. While we cannot guarantee approval, we are committed to providing the highest care and quality work to avoid costly delays and resubmissions.

Concept plans establish the overall design, layout and building form.A CDC (Complying Development Certificate) is an approval for projects that meet strict state planning rules under the NSW Housing Code. It is typically assessed by a private certifier and can often be approved within 2 to 5 weeks.A DA (Development Application) is a merit-based assessment lodged through the NSW Planning Portal and assessed by your local council. It allows more flexibility in design but usually takes longer, commonly 2 to 4 months or more depending on council workload.Our Architectural Drafting page explains each stage in more detail.

We prepare residential plans from initial concept design through to DA or CDC approval and, where included in our scope, detailed Construction Certificate and construction plans. Depending on the project, this may include site plans, floor plans, elevations, sections, roof plans, demolition plans, shadow diagrams, dimensions, levels and construction details.Learn more about our Architectural Drafting services.

Clear and accurate plans help Council, certifiers, consultants, builders, trades and suppliers understand exactly what is being proposed.As the project progresses, detailed plans provide dimensions, levels, sections and construction information needed to coordinate, price and build the work with less ambiguity.See how we approach Architectural Drafting and Residential Plans.

We meet the mandatory NSW BASIX (Building Sustainability Index) requirements by integrating environmental performance into your home from the first sketch. Because our principal designer holds a Master of Sustainable Design from the University of Sydney, we do not just add expensive fixtures at the end to tick compliance boxes. We address the three core BASIX targets of water, thermal comfort, and energy from day one using correct site orientation, natural ventilation, and passive solar design. This approach naturally achieves the required state targets, potentially lowers your running costs depending on your usage habits, and makes your home more comfortable. Once the design is optimised, we coordinate the formal assessment to generate the required BASIX certificate for your DA or CDC application.

No professional designer or architect can ethically guarantee a decision by a Council or certifier, but we are committed to giving your project the best possible pathway to success.As a family business, we value your time and capital as much as our own. We prioritise rigorous pre-site analysis to determine the true feasibility of a project. If we believe a proposal is not viable, we will tell you honestly before we begin any work.For complex projects, a core part of our process includes pre-lodgement meetings with Council. This allows us to get an early feel for their desired outcomes, restrictions and concerns before we even put pen to paper. We operate with professional integrity. We do not take on projects and just hope for the best. Instead, we apply 30 years of industry experience to prepare robust, compliant applications. Ultimately, we cannot know or predict if a Council or certifier will find something they do not like during their assessment. However, our thorough approach is designed to minimise risk and give your project the highest chance of a positive outcome.

Our Concept Designs are drawn to scale with enough information for builders to provide an initial estimate or ballpark construction cost.We generally refine the concept first, with consideration given to the likely construction cost and your budget. Once the Concept Design is formally drawn to scale and approved, you can provide it to a number of independant builders of your choice for preliminary estimates.This gives you an opportunity to review the likely cost and, if necessary, scale back or adjust the design before proceeding to the formal DA and CC plans.Once the detailed plans are complete and key finishes, fixtures and specifications have been decided, builders can then prepare more detailed and comparable tenders for construction.