Development application types
Find information about development application types, including code and impact assessable applications.
Under the Planning Act 2016 (the Act), there are several ways Council may assess your development application. This depends on the proposed development and details of the development site.
To find this information, you can use:
- Brisbane City Plan 2014 (City Plan)
- Development.i.
Once you’ve found the relevant information, you can find out how Council will assess your application under City Plan.
Code assessment
A code assessable development application is development that is typically anticipated within the locality. This means it doesn’t require public notification.
A code development application is assessed against all relevant codes in City Plan. These codes include:
- use codes
- prescribed secondary codes
- overlay codes
- neighbourhood plan codes.
Each of these codes has a range of requirements your development must comply with. These are known as acceptable outcomes.
If your proposal doesn’t meet one or more of the acceptable outcomes, your application must address this by outlining how the broader requirements of the codes are met.
Impact assessment
Impact assessment is generally required where there’s a need to consider a proposal’s potential impacts.
An impact assessable development application is assessed against:
- all identified codes
- the whole of City Plan (to the relevant extent).
This is to make sure that any impacts from the proposed development are appropriately addressed.
These applications must also be publicly notified.
Understanding development assessment
If your development requires assessment under City Plan, you need to:
- submit a development application to Council
- have it approved before starting any activity or development
- advertise the application publicly, if it’s impact assessable.
What type of assessment is my development?
You can use Part 5 of City Plan to find out if your development is code or impact assessable. Refer to the relevant table of assessment for that component of development in Part 5. This will be one or a combination of the following:
- material change of use
- reconfiguring a lot
- operational work
- building work.
Next, find the category of assessment that applies to the zone or zone precinct of the site. Overlays and neighbourhood plans may change the category of assessment that applies to the zone or zone precinct.
Part 5.3.1 outlines the process for determining the level of assessment. These include:
- zone category of assessment (lowest)
- neighbourhood plan category of assessment
- overlay category of assessment (highest).
What are the assessment benchmarks?
Code assessable applications are assessed against:
- only the identified codes in the assessment benchmarks column of the category of development and assessment table for that development type. This includes prescribed secondary codes.
Impact assessable applications are assessed against:
- all identified codes in the assessment benchmarks column of the category of development and assessment table for that development type. This includes prescribed secondary codes.
- any other relevant parts of City Plan.
Application fees
You need to pay application fees after you lodge a development application. This applies to code and impact assessable applications.