By Phil Brown · Published 12 February 2026
Quick answer: A CDC (Complying Development Certificate) is a fast-track approval issued by a private certifier in as little as 1 to 2 weeks, available when your site and design meet every standard in the State policy. A DA (Development Application) is assessed by your council on merit, takes months rather than weeks, but works for sites and designs that don't fit the fast-track rules. The right answer depends on your block, and a draftsman can tell you in one site check.
Complying development is a set of pre-agreed standards in NSW State planning policy covering things like height, setbacks, site coverage and landscaping. If your project ticks every box, a private certifier can approve it without council assessment, usually within a couple of weeks of lodgement. The catch is the word every: one non-complying element, however minor, pushes you out of the pathway. That's why the site check matters more than the design wish list.
On the Northern Beaches the usual disqualifiers are hazards and overlays rather than the design itself. Heritage conservation areas around Manly and Palm Beach, flood-affected land near Narrabeen Lagoon, coastal hazard lots in Collaroy, and some bushfire-prone land can each rule out complying development. Flatter, unconstrained suburbs like Cromer and Wheeler Heights are CDC heartland.
A DA is assessed on merit against council's local controls, which means there's room for judgement on both sides. It takes longer and involves neighbour notification, but it also allows designs a CDC never could: variations argued on merit, character responses in conservation areas, and solutions for constrained sites. A well-prepared DA package that answers council's questions before they're asked is the single biggest factor in a smooth approval, and that's a drafting quality issue, not luck.
We check your site against the CDC standards first, because weeks beat months. If it qualifies and the design you want fits, we document for CDC. If not, we prepare the DA properly: complete drawing set, the right consultant reports, and lodgement handled for you. Either way you'll know the pathway, the cost and a realistic timeline before you commit. See our services for what's included in each package.
FAQs
Usually, yes. Certifier fees are often comparable to council fees, but the speed saves holding costs and the documentation is leaner. Our drawing fees are similar for both; the savings come from time and fewer consultant reports.
If your site qualifies, yes, though it's better to choose correctly at the start. We assess eligibility before any design work begins, free of charge.
We do. For a CDC we lodge with the certifier; for a DA we lodge through the NSW Planning Portal and manage council's questions through to determination.
Phil Brown is a Northern Beaches born and bred draftsman and building designer. Since 2016, Northern Beaches Drafting has prepared DA and CDC plans from Manly to Palm Beach and across the Central Coast. Get a free fixed-price quote or call 0414 978 499.
Free, no-obligation fixed-price quotes for drafting, DA and CDC plans across the Northern Beaches.