New design standard for land divisions

A design standard for new housing developments has been prepared to help streamline assessment processes and enable more homes to be built faster across South Australia’s growth areas.

Set to be the first design standard adopted under the new South Australian planning system, it introduces consistent infrastructure standards that also aim to reduce costs for residential developments.

The draft Design Standard 1 – Engineering Requirements for Land Division (PDF, 195.9 KB) provides technical guidance, building on existing planning rules to deliver more transparent and consistent design standards, construction specifications and infrastructure costs for land divisions.

The draft engineering design standard specifies requirements for:

• pavement design
• stormwater design
• road design
• road corridor design
• service infrastructure
• water sensitive urban design
• street landscaping including trees.

A draft technical manual (PDF, 1.1 MB) has also been prepared, underpinning the design standard and providing detailed, best-practice engineering specifications for these types of infrastructure.

The draft engineering design standard applies to land division for large residential developments in Master Planned Zones that include constructing a public road or infrastructure that will become council property.

The State Planning Commission worked closely with South Australian government agencies, councils and industry to prepare the draft engineering design standard.

Design standards are a new planning tool that promote good design in our streets, parks and other public places, help manage the interface between public and private areas and contribute to delivering high-quality infrastructure as part of new developments.

This engineering design standard is part of the South Australian government’s Housing Roadmap to deliver more homes for South Australians.

Consultation on the draft engineering design standard, technical manual and standard drawings closes on Tuesday, 15 July 2025.

For more information about the engineering design standard and how to provide feedback, visit the YourSAy website.