Release notes

PlanSA's ePlanning platform is routinely updated to introduce new functionality, enhance the customer experience and address technical issues.

After each update, changes are documented as release notes and published on PlanSA.

PlanSA components

PlanSA's ePlanning platform is made up of different online components:

PlanSA is committed to ensuring its ePlanning system is responsive to the needs of its customers.

To view or to check on the status of a current enhancement project, visit the PlanSA system enhancements.

System updates are made fortnightly. After each update, system enhancements are documented as Release Notes and published on PlanSA.

Requests for system enhancements can be submitted to the PlanSA service desk via PlanSA@sa.gov.au.

2024

DAP

Features

Development approval –statistics page updates

The development approval statistics questions were reordered and improved in response the Australian Bureau of Statistics requirements, to better capture data in terms of building component, classifications and dwelling counts.

Latest version

Bulk superseding documents

Relevant authorities can select and supersede multiple documents at once.

This only applies to documents uploaded by the relevant authority or the applicant.

Documents uploaded by referral bodies or other accredited professionals as part of their consent assessment cannot be superseded.

Latest version

Development Application Processing system (DAP) –subsequent requests for information

In response to Recommendation 72.22 of the Expert Panel Report, the DAP has been enhanced to provide relevant authorities and applicants further advice in relation to subsequent requests for additional information.

A new warning message advises relevant authorities, applicants and primary contacts about the rules for subsequent further information request applications involving planning consent. The letter and email templates are also updated to inform the primary contact for subsequent requests for information.

The additional details for subsequent request for information, applicant agreement and document upload are now hidden during building consent.

Variations – building notifications and essential safety provisions (ESPs)

Variations to building notifications and ESPs can now take place through the variation process.   Relevant authorities are given access to ‘conditions and notes’, ‘building notifications’ and ‘essential safety provisions’ tabs for minor variations to building consents. These items can be added, removed or modified where relevant to the variation.

Latest version

Fixes

Fix – insurance tab

Insurance details within the insurance tab in the DAP can be edited by applicants and relevant authorities.

DAP

Features

Planning and Design Code – design and functionality

In response to Recommendation 66 of the Expert Panel Report, the PlanSA system is routinely updated to introduce new functionality, enhance user experience, and address technical issues. We would like to take the opportunity to inform you of enhancements to the design and functionality of the Planning and Design Code.

Improvements have been made to enhance the user experience for both planning professionals and the wider community.

The Planning and Design Code landing page includes a link to browse the Code in its entirety or search for assessment pathways and policies by property. The new version of the Planning and Design Code features:

  • improved layout and navigation
  • the ability to expand and collapse the menu pane
  • improved search functionality with hyperlinks to relevant sections within the Code.

Improvements overview

More options to find the relevant assessment pathways and policies for a property are now available. Users can search for a property by their current location, browsing a map, property address or by entering a unique parcel identifier such as the valuation number, Certificate of Title or Plan and parcel details. Users can select specific individual land parcels where search results return multiple properties.

Users can search which policies apply to a development once they have completed the property search. Development types can now be searched or sorted by category and sub-category. Users can add or remove multiple development types to a search with the pathways and policies format retained.

Watch ‘How to Explore the Planning and Design Code’ and if you have any queries, please contact the PlanSA service desk at plansa@sa.gov.au or call 1800 752 664.

Land Division Certificate tab for volume applicants

The land division certificate menu is now available to volume applicants providing a better oversight over land division certificates. The new tab provides access to a dashboard that provides visibility and direct access to certificates submitted, under assessment, on hold, completed and deposited.

Electronic lodgement fee (ELF)

An enhancement to ensure that the ELF is charged on all development applications.

The checkbox for the ELF is automatically ‘checked’ and disabled during the verification of the first consent. An invoice for the fee and any other relevant fees within the DAP will be issued as part of the completion of the verification process. This will apply to new application and in-flight applications where the ELF has not yet been charged.

Council developments that are not subject to the ELF under regulation 11 of the Planning, Development and Infrastructure (Fees, Charges and Contributions) Regulations 2019, will not be charged the ELF. A new contact type has been included within the DAP to capture applications lodged for or on behalf of council. These applications will be prompted to advise whether the application is for the primary purpose of raising revenue for council. Where the development is not for the primary purpose of revenue raising, the ELF checkbox is selected by default but can be removed. Where the development is for the primary purpose of revenue raising, the ELF checkbox is automatically checked and disabled.

Latest version

Visibility of stamped plans hidden until decision grantedThe 'stamped plans' and 'stamped plan – dev approval' document type will be hidden to the applicant and application contacts (i.e. primary contact, invoice contact and land owner/s) until decision is granted and/or endorsed and Decision Notification Form (DNF) generated.

Referral to council – ability to process a request to extend response period

The Commission can now process a request to extend the response period where an application has been referred to council.

Accredited professional reapplication page amendments

Wording changes to the ‘new application’, ‘renewal’ and ‘reapplication’ tick box options for accredited professional applications, and additional information on the reapplication page, to better clarify the difference between application types and address issues with applicants submitting incorrect applications.

Fixes

Retain insurance details when changing building classification

Fix an issue where insurance details are removed when adding a building class to an existing building work.

Application withdrawal – refund process

Refunds initiated by an accredited professional are now automatically endorsed by the system.

PlanSA portal

Features

Policies for a development at this property (SAPPA)

A direct link to ‘Policies for a Development at this Property’ has been added to SAPPA. This link directs users to the Planning and Design Code policies and pathways for the selected property and automatically opens the development type selection box.

Updates to the Public Register

The Public Register now displays Development Approval decision(s) details in the accordion of the assessment tab, when a decision is made for each consent stage.

DAP

Features

Building notifications – inspection option pop-up

A pop-up confirmation will now occur when a user chooses whether there will be an inspection on a building notification.  This replaces the confirmation details which were located hidden at the bottom of the screen.

Latest version

Certificate of Occupancy – Application – Description of building

When applying for a Certificate of Occupancy, either the building description previously provided (if applicable), or the selected building/building work, will default in the 'Description of Building to appear on the Certificate of Occupancy' field. This ensures that the description of the building is correctly populated into the Certificate of Occupancy form and reflects the building work that the Certificate of Occupancy relates to.

Latest version

Certificate of Occupancy – Information box in building consent assessment Info

An information box has been added to the Assessment Info tab to inform assessors that where the building work includes a class 1a building, a Certificate of Occupancy will be required for building consents verified on or after 1 October 2024.

Latest version

Certificate of Occupancy – Display of information

Additional information, including building address, building work, building classes and who the Certificate of Occupancy was submitted by, is now displayed on the validation and decision screens.

Latest version

Certificate of Occupancy – Visibility of building notifications

The building notification tab is now visible during the validation and/or decision of a Certificate of Occupancy application. Assessors can now check if all building notifications have been submitted and inspected.

Latest version

Certificate of Occupancy – New user interface for the validation form and new checklist items

The Certificate of Occupancy – Validation form, is now shown on a single page and includes additional checklist items specific to class 1A building/building works.

  • Statutory declaration and/or such other evidence to the satisfaction of the relevant authority confirming all relevant bushfire protection requirements have been installed and are operational as approved, including onsite water supply, pumps, pipework, hoses and fittings as applicable.
  • Statutory declaration and/or evidence has been received confirming the smoke alarms have been installed, are interconnected (where required) and are operational.
  • Statement of site suitability has been received certifying that the required remediation has since been undertaken and the land is suitable for the proposed use.

Question relating to upgrading works to existing for previously shown for class 2 building work is now removed.

Latest version

Essential Safety Provisions (ESPs) – View draft Forms 1, 2 & 3

The ability to Preview ESP Forms (Forms 1, 2 & 3) in draft format from the Essential Safety Provisions tab is now available.

Latest version

Essential Safety Provisions (ESPs) – Edit capability

The ability to edit the ESP NCC 2022 rules to reflect the building/building work is now available for columns 'Essential Safety Provisions', 'Applicable ESP Installation Standards' and 'Maintenance and Testing Standards' and includes option to add multiple performance solutions.

Latest version

Building consent – NCC modern homes concession indicators

To track and report on the modern homes concessions outlined in the Ministerial Building Standard MBS 007 – the energy efficiency and livable housing design concession indicators will be shown for building/building work containing a building class 1a 1b or 2.

Latest version

Fixes

Certificate of Occupancy – Validation

An issue was resolved where applications for Certificate of Occupancy got stuck in processing if the person signing Part A and Part B of the Statement of Compliance has not been selected.

Inspection and rectification email notifications

Improvements have been made to email notifications for inspections and rectifications. All relevant parties are now advised of responses to building notifications and inspection outcomes for works involving affected building classifications.

PowerBI

Fixes

PowerBI reporting – decommissioning old reports

Early PowerBI reports prepared by PlanSA for councils have been superseded with new reports in recent releases (including the Workload Management Report, Council Area Report and the Notifications and Inspections Report). All information in the early reports remains available in the new reports.

Assessment timeframes segment update

Improvements to the timeframe segments in the Workload Management Report to reflect the different referral timeframes (i.e. 20 or 30 business days).

DAP

Features

Certificate of Occupancy (CoO) – inspection documents

The inspection tab of the CoO now shows inspection outcome uploaded documentation.

Latest version

Certificate of Occupancy (CoO) – building contacts

In the CoO summary tab, contact details have been added for the building owner, builder and building supervisor.

Application standard contacts

The feature 'Setup Application Standard Contacts' is now available to councils and regional assessment panels. The organisation administrator can now set up standard contacts for the following contacts: applicant, primary, invoice, builder, registered building work supervisor and private certifier. Standard contacts can be set to appear as application defaults or by selection throughout the application process.

Document upload - ability to upload additional documents post submission

In response to Recommendation 68 of the Expert Panel Report, applicants can now upload additional documentation immediately following submission and prior to the start of the verification process.

Lower Eyre Council – name change

As per the Gazette Notice published on 18 July 2024 on page 2211, the "District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula" formally changed its name to "Lower Eyre Council" by section 13 of the LG Act 1999. The ePlanning Platform has been updated to reflect this name where applicable.

Fix

Certificate of Occupancy (CoO)  – Statement of Compliance (SoC) document number visibility

Validation of the CoO now allows selection of the SoC document by file name and includes visibility of the document number.

Latest version

PlanSA portal

Features

Public register – transitional applications

A public notification status for transitional planning and land division consent applications has been added to the development register.  The status of these applications is 'Not applicable – Transitional Consent'.

DAP

Features

System generated email (accepted development / not required)

The system generated email has been updated to provide clarity in relation to consent outcomes (accepted or not required) and remaining approvals required.

Assessment and panel reports template updates

The Assessment Report and Panel Report have been updated to address recent case law relating to the question of 'seriously at variance'.  Standardised headings and text responses have been added including free text fields for user input relevant to the proposed development.

Recording minor variations in Deemed to Satisfy (DTS) development applications

In response to Recommendation 7 of the Expert Panel Report, a new question is asked whenever a relevant authority assesses DTS development applications. The Relevant Authority is required to provide the details of any minor variation from the DTS criteria.

Latest version

Development Approval Decision tab warning message

The Decision tab now shows a warning message 'Please ensure building statistics are updated prior to granting development approval.'

Latest version

Accredited Professional Application Register – electronic declaration text updates

Additional text has been added to the electronic declaration (signed by applicants when applying for accreditation under the Accredited Professionals Scheme), acknowledging that information in their application may be used for analytics and reporting purposes.

A typing error for the word ‘enquiries’ has been corrected under the ’Eligibility to Practice’ section.

New Wastewater Information Report

A new council report has been added to provide information about wastewater for each development application.

Update to wastewater information

In response to Recommendation 72.23 of the Expert Panel Report, the wastewater information question has been updated to provide notification to the applicant that they must lodge a waste control system application with council. A new facility is also provided for the Relevant Authority to confirm the wastewater information during verification and prior to granting Planning Consent.

Latest version

Fix

Request for information – follow-up request email notification

The subsequent request for information is now attached to the 'Request for further information' email notification received by primary contact(s).

Certificate of Occupancy (CoO) – apply for CoO task generation

The submission of the 'completion of building work notification' will generate an email and task to apply for a CoO for a building/building work.

Email reminders for Requests for Information (RFI).

Improvements have been made to email frequency and recipients relating to RFIs.  These include capturing both applicants and primary contacts for council initiated RFIs, and attaching the PDF request where relevant.  Recipients of this email type have been reviewed and updated where referral bodies initiate an RFI.

Latest version

PlanSA Public Register

Features

Updates to the Public Register

The Public Register now displays Development Approval decision(s) details in the accordion of the Assessment tab.

Power BI

Features
Council Area Report

Application Dashboard – reconfiguration

An updated version of the Power BI Council Area Report includes cosmetic changes to simplify the presentation and navigation within the report.

The Application Dashboard page has been consolidated into two metrics tables, including application status and category.

Application Dashboard – new features

The Application Dashboard includes the following new features:

  • a table reporting on applications involving Regulated and Significant Trees
  • a table reporting on applications within the Urban Tree Canopy Overlay
  • a high-level application snapshot for submitted, lodged, first development approval and final development approvals.

Consent Dashboard

The Consent Dashboard page has been consolidated into two metrics tables containing authority type, category of development and consent.

The Consent Dashboard now includes the following new features:

  • a table reporting on Deposited Land Division Certificates
  • a table reporting on Granted Land Division Approvals.

Each table includes existing, proposed and additional allotment numbers and underlying data.

Contact and Location Details page

The Contact and Location Details page now includes additional columns for the parcel identifier, valuation number and title reference (volume and folio).

Volume and Individual Applicants (new)

A new page for ‘Volume and Individual Applicants’ includes a summary of applicants within the Council Area and is grouped by ‘volume applicant’ and ‘individual applicant’.

Fix

Workload Management Report – Development Approval Statistics Page and filter pane

The filter pane will now load when the user is using the Development Approval Statistics Report page.

DAP

Features

Fees and charges 2024-2025 financial year

New fees and charges take effect on 1 July 2024 as published on 6 June 2024 in the South Australian Government Gazette notice.

Land division certificate menu for council

A land division certificate menu is now available for council relevant authorities.

The menu is in the menu ribbon of the Development Application Processing system, between the ‘assessments’ and ‘your applications’ menu.

The new menu provides information for all land division certificate applications and the respective status within the council area.

Withdraw application and cancel an authorisation

Enhancements to the ‘Request Application Withdrawal’ and ‘Request Authorisation Cancellation’ processes were made, including:

  • a new user interface
  • requirement for the relevant authority to upload the applicant's request when making a request on their behalf
  • an event record is created, including the reason for the request
  • both applicants and primary contacts are included in system generated emails; this includes notification of the request, acceptance of the request and confirmation of withdrawal/cancellation
  • the following authorities are advised by email of a withdrawal: referral body, authorities for active consents (including internal referrals and public notification representors), granted consents, awaiting precursor consent and development approval

the following authorities are advised by email of a cancellation: authority for each consent granted, authority for development approval and referral bodies who have responded to a request.

Latest version

Fixes

Accredited Professional Assessment Fee Report(s)

Accredited Professional Assessment Fee Reports are now back online and available to provide a live count of consents assessed in the Development Application Processing (DAP) system, with the estimated cost based on their defined period.

The report for individual Accredited Professionals is available from the Accredited Professional Portal, and the report for Accredited Professional organisations is available in the DAP system.

Certificate of Occupancy – uploading documents for corresponding building work

When applying for a Certificate of Occupancy or responding to a Certificate of Occupancy 'Request for Documentation' and uploading supporting documents, users can now allocate a specific building work to ‘Statement of Compliance’ document types. This is applicable for document categories: 'Building documents’ and ‘Occupancy documents’.

Incorrect fee description for applicable payment to the Urban Tree Fund

The information box for Urban Tree Fund replacement tree fees has been updated.

The information box is now dynamic to reflect the applicable fee based on the submission date of the application.

DAP

Features

Receipt page

A receipt number is now available on the receipts page when a credit card payment is successful.

When a credit card payment is unsuccessful, the transaction record includes information returned by the bank.

Additional documentation and referral consideration

When a relevant authority accepts documentation uploaded by the applicant including ‘proposed plans of division’ or ‘survey plan’ (in relation to a Planning or Planning and Land Division Consent) the system will:

  • send an email to referral bodies for the application advising that documentation has been accepted (and may be of interest)
  • prompt the relevant authority to consider whether the accepted documentation requires a re-referral to relevant referral bodies.

New ‘operative dates’ tab available

A new ‘operative dates’ tab has been added to development applications and is visible to relevant authorities and applicants.

The operative dates tab shows all:

  • consent and approval dates
  • operative end dates
  • a record table of all extension of time requests.

An extension of time request can be made from this page.

Extension of time request

Enhancements have been made to the extension of time user interface and workflow.

The extension of time request form seeks additional information from the applicant. The applicant is required to include the reason for the request and can upload supporting documentation.

The applicant and relevant authorities for the application have visibility of any extension of time request and its progress status.

The extension of time workflow provides greater functionality and flexibility, including the ability to:

  • withdraw, or mark the request as ‘not required’ (ending the process)
  • charge or waive fees prior to deciding the extension of time request
  • refuse the request with reasons provided to the applicant
  • edit the operative date and grant the request.

Latest version

Fixes

ESP Form 2 – update to regulation reference

The ESP Form 2 template has been updated to reference ‘regulation 104’ instead of ‘regulation 109’, as follows:

  • "Endorsed by the licensed building work contractor responsible for carrying out the building work (and for providing the Statement of Compliance under regulation 104) or if there is no such licensed building work contractor, by the building owner or the building owner’s agent."

Statistic information for Class 10B swimming pools

Applications containing only Class 10B development will only require building classification details on the Development Approval Statistics Page, instead of during the consent assessment (building component and supplementary information details).

Latest version

DAP

Features

Accredited Professional Fee Report

The Accredited Professional Fee Report (APFR) is now available at an organisational level through the ‘reporting’ page (accessible from the ‘assessments’ homepage).  The APFR report includes all decisions made by all accredited professionals within the organisation and is accessible to all users in the organisation.

The APFR available for individual accredited professionals remains available through the Accredited Professional Portal.

Both versions of the APFR incorporate additional search fields, allowing users to filter by accredited professional, application ID and date range for the recorded decision.

The APFR has been updated to include:

  • Applicant
  • Fee dollar amount per consent.

If you have any queries regarding this or any other enhancement identified in the release notes, please contact the PlanSA service desk at planSA@sa.gov.au or call 1800 752 664.

External Refund Transactions

Ability to record external refund transactions processed through Basware.

Following the South Australian Government transition to a new banking provider (ANZ), specific refund transactions in DAP will require action by State Planning Commission Planning Services (SPCPS), referred to as ‘external refund’ transactions.

External refund transactions are required for the following applications:

  • where an application payment was via BPOINT and the payment date is over 12 months
  • where an application payment was via CyberSource and the payment date is over 6 months.

From 1 June 2024, all refund transactions in relation to applications processed via BPOINT will require an external refund.

Fixes

Land Division Applications (Leases)

Applications that seek land division consent for leases no longer require information to be entered in fields for the number of existing allotments and proposed allotments.

Certificate of Occupancy page

Removed a link appearing on council and SPC Certificate of Occupancy pages to "add from your application contacts" as that link is not functional for those users.

PlanSA portal

Features

Subscribe to be Notified – Applications on Notice

Users can now subscribe to receive alerts for development applications that have commenced public notification within a specified council area(s) and suburb(s).

Public Register – Application public notification status updates

The public notification status for an application will now provide additional information on whether public notification has been determined, not applicable, not required or required with progression updates.

The following provides a breakdown of each of the statuses and when they are shown. (Note, not available for Crown applications on consultation.)

  • ‘Not Yet Determined’; shows when building consent is being assessed before planning consent.
  • ‘Not applicable’; shows when planning consent is assessed as 'accepted' or 'exempt' or 'not required'.
  • ‘Not required’; shows when planning consent is assessed as 'deemed-to-satisfy or public consultation is not required.
  • ‘Required’ and ‘Start date to be confirmed’; shows when public consultation is required and not yet created.
  • ‘Required’ and ‘Start date’; shows when public consultation is required and not yet started.
  • ‘Required’ and ‘Make a submission link with the start and closed date’; shows when on public consultation.
  • ‘Required’ and ‘Completed on date’; shows when public consultation was completed.

PowerBI

Fixes

Refunds Report

The following additional information has been added to the existing Power BI Refunds Report to display external refund outcomes:

  • External Refund Complete (yes/no)
  • Basware Payment ID
  • Basware Payment Date

PowerBI

Fixes

Workload Management Report (Workload Analysis)

The Public Notification tile has been updated to include 'active' public notifications. The tile now includes the number of 'completed' and 'active' public notifications with a public notification commencement date within the date range specified.

The tile total excludes ‘cancelled’ public notifications, where a notification commenced and was subsequently cancelled. Note: the cancelled records can still be found in the tile underlying data.

DAP

Features

Urban Tree Canopy Offset Scheme - Update to Fees

Fees payable under the Urban Tree Canopy Offset Scheme (section 197 of the PDI Act 2016) and for the killing, destruction or removal of a regulated or significant tree (section 127(4) and (6) of the PDI Act 2016) have been updated to reflect the Ministerial Fee Notice on 16 May 2024.

PowerBI

Features

Council Performance Indicators Report (NEW)

A new Council Performance Indicators Scheme Report has been created providing councils with an annual report measuring applications lodged, decisions made and assessment timeframes.

The report follows the State Planning Commission Performance Indicators Scheme summarising data obtained from the Development Assessment Processing (DAP) system and a comparison with previous reporting years.

The Council Performance Indicator Report relates to data for the 2022-2023 financial year. The report will be updated annually, coinciding with the release of the State Performance Indicators.

Workload Management Report

Workload Analysis Public Notification Tile

Update – the Public Notification tile has been updated to reflect the number of ‘completed’ public notifications with a start date within the date range specified. The tile total now excludes ‘cancelled’ public notifications, where a notification commenced and was subsequently cancelled. Note: the cancelled records can still be found in the tile underlying data.

Workload Analysis Page  Zone Filter

New – a new filter has been applied to the Workload Analysis Page for ‘Zone’.

Definitions

The following definitions have been amended/updated:

  • Public Notification
  • Consents Granted
  • Consent Outcomes

A new definition has been provided for ‘PN Required’.

A new column has been provided to identify superseded definitions.

Development Approval Statistics Page

New – an additional column has been included for the ‘Building Component Group’ (residential, other, industrial, commercial).

Development Approvals Page

New – additional columns have been included providing the following Development Approval information

  • Inconsistency notes
  • Inconsistency reason
  • Inconsistency resolution
Fixes

Workload Management Report – Export Underlying Data

Export functionality has been fixed to show dates as a date instead of a value.

Council Area Report – Consent Dashboard

The Consent decision date calculation has been updated to include all consent decisions. Previously, refused consent decisions were not appearing in the Consent Decision Metrics table.

DAP

Features

Statement of Compliance template

The latest version (5) of the "Statement of Compliance Form" can now be generated, from the development application "Building Notifications tab" (for relevant authorities) and "Notifications & Inspections tab" (for applicants).

Report Generation when Consent on Hold

Assessment reports are now able to be generated when consents are on hold.

The ‘Generate Assessment Report’ and ‘Generate Panel Assessment Report’ buttons are now visible on the consent page when the application is on hold.

Accredited Professional (AP) portal update - New Report for APs

The Accreditation Portal now includes a new report for APs to monitor the number of consents determined.

The report provides a summary and list of consent decisions made in any given date range - including the total fee amount based on the Ministerial fee notice.

Fixes

Requests for Further Information (RFI) - Email Notifications

Applicant responses to a variation RFI will now send an email notification to the organisation email and the allocated assessor.

Building notifications for designated building product & checklist

The signatory for Part A and Part B of the Statement of Compliance is now hidden when submitting the following notifications:

  • Commencement of installation of designated building product.
  • Commencement of provision of completed supervisor’s checklist related to the installation of the designated building product.

Upload Statement of Compliance form

On upload of the Statement of Compliance form, the document number is now generated and shown in the document file name.

PlanSA portal

Statement of Compliance template

Effective from 5 April 2024 is version (5) of the Statement of Compliance (SoC) template, with the following PlanSA pages have been updated accordingly:

The new Statement of Compliance form must be used from 5 April 2024 in accordance with regulation 104(3) of the Planning, Development and Infrastructure (General) Regulations 2017 (the Regulations). Any Statement of Compliance forms uploaded into the DAP after this date, using the previous version (version 4) are not compliant and will not be accepted.

Currently, the latest version (version 5) of the Statement of Compliance is not yet available for generation from the DAP but will be made available shortly. Until then, the new version is available from the resources library.

We will keep you posted when the new form is available for generation through the DAP.

DAP

Features

Operative end date and extension of time form

Amendments to regulation 67 clarify that the operative period of any consent aligns with the operative period of the Development Approval.

Where a Development Approval is granted, the operative period of related consents will be updated to align with the operative date of the Development Approval. The date will be reflected in the ‘operative period end date’ history table of the Consent Decision tab and recorded in the event audit history of the application.

Where an application has Development Approval and an extension is required, the extension of time request form will only show the Development Approval.

An extension of time can still be applied for on a consent where development approval has not been granted.

Notification period for out of council areas

The notification period for completion notifications has been updated to five business days for out of council areas (per regulation amendments to the prescribed period in regulation 96).

Fixes

Extension of time update

The extension of time decision maker column in the operative history table has been updated to reflect the relevant authority who granted/refused the extension of time request.

PlanSA portal

Features

Approval Wizard – Amendments to Dam Selection

When searching for ‘Dam’ within the Approval Wizard on the PlanSA website, and in circumstances where the results identify that you may not need approval, the following additional note has been added:

Note: The Landscape South Australia Act 2019 requires authorisation for dam construction under 5 ML and/or wall height less than 3 m. Please contact your local Landscape Board to confirm permit requirements.

DAP

Features

Review variation request – mark as “assessment not required”

An additional option “assessment not required” is now available when responding to a variation request on a consent.

Selecting “assessment not required” will progress the variation request to the next Consent or Approval authority for consideration. The outcome “assessment not required” will not be displayed on the Decision Notification Form.

Latest version

Fixes

Mandatory indemnity insurance upload before or at the submission of the commencement of building work notification.

When the answer to the question “Has the Applicant Entered into a Building Work Contract Agreement” is “Yes”, the system now requires that building indemnity insurance documentation is supplied before or at the submission of the commencement of building work notification. Where there is an exemption, an exemption notice is required to be uploaded to be able to submit the commencement of building work notification if not already provided.

PowerBI

Features

Building Inspections Report

A new version of the PowerBI Building Inspection Report includes cosmetic changes to simplify the presentation and navigation within the report, and the following enhancements:

  • Builders Contact Page – a new page containing information related to builder contacts which can be filtered by Builder Name, license number, contact type etc.
  • Documents Report Page – a new page has been created for Form 2 documents that have been uploaded.
  • Further Analysis – within the Practice Direction page, additional tiles and underlying data filters have been included to identify completed building works inspected and completed building works not inspected, on or after the completed date.
  • Statement of Compliance Page – a description has been added to the building work column describing the building work.
  • Certificate of Occupancy – the CoO report page has been amended to exclude Class 1A development where a CoO is not required.
  • Certificate of Occupancy – the CoO report page has been enhanced to include the following information about the CoO process and whether all pre-requisites have been met:
    • Statement of Compliance uploaded (yes or no)
    • Form 2 document uploaded (yes or no)
    • all non-conformances have been rectified (true or false)
    • Certificate of Occupancy clock expiry date.

DAP

Features

Save and default frequently used contact details

Volume applicants and Accredited Professionals organisation administrators can now set up standard contacts for the following: applicant, primary, invoice, builder, registered building work supervisor and private certifier. Standard contacts can be set to appear as application defaults or selected throughout the application process.

Latest version

Online submission form (Crown Development)

The online submission form for Crown development has been updated to include an additional question. The question relates to whether the representor would like to present their submission in person at a hearing.

Development Application Processing (DAP) system Building Notifications Report

The DAP Building Notifications Report now shows rectification notifications and includes the ability to filter by Rectification Required and Rectification Submitted.

Application form updates

When submitting an application for accreditation, a new question has been added to ask the applicant if they want their contact information (email/phone number) to be published in the Accredited Professional Register.

Code Rules Checklist Tool - Deemed-to-Satisfy (DTS)

The Code Rules Checklist tool can now be used for Planning Consent applications that have a status of "in verification" or "awaiting verification" to identify refined elements of an application that has a Deemed-to-Satisfy (DTS) pathway in the Planning and Design Code (the Code).

The checklist can be downloaded, completed, and saved back to the document store as evidence that elements within an application are able/unable to be assessed as a DTS form of development.

Latest Version

Fixes

Updates to Building Notifications and Inspections Email Recipients

An Accredited Professional who issued the building rules consent, now only receives an email notification on submission of the completion of building work notification – PDI (Gen) Regs. 104(3)(b).

An Accredited Professional who is nominated to issue the Certificate of Occupancy, now receives an email notification when:

  • an inspection is required for the completed building/building work – PDI (Gen) Regs. 103E (2)(a)
  • unsatisfactory inspection of the completed building/building work – PDI (Gen) Regs. 103E (2)(b)(ii)(A)
  • submission of the rectification notification of the completed building/building work
  • an inspection is required for the rectification of the completed building/building work – PDI (Gen) Regs. 103E (2)(b)(ii)(B).

PlanSA portal

Fixes

Planning and Design Code Extract – Formatting

Updates have been made to the formatting of the PDF Planning and Design Code Extracts to improve:

  • consistency of font sizing
  • table formatting and readability.

Hard Copy Development Application Form – New Version

An amended version of the hard copy development application form has been published on the PlanSA website. The fields in the revised form now align with the mandatory submission fields in the PlanSA Development Application Processing (DAP) system.

DAP

Features

New Banking Provider –  ANZ

The South Australian Government has recently entered into an agreement with a new banking provider and is in the process of transitioning to ANZ. Credit card payments made via the Development Application Processing (DAP) system and the PlanSA planning portal will no longer be processed via BPOINT, and will automatically be made to the new bank account via the ANZ payment gateway.

Latest version

Building Statistics –  ABS Building component hierarchy changes

The building statistics page has been modified to properly group the building component hierarchical structure by splitting the questions based on the four divisions, eighteen classes and thirty-three subclasses in accordance with the ABS Functional Classification of Buildings.

www.abs.gov.au/statistics/classifications/functional-classification-buildings/latest-release.

Latest version

Apply for a Certificate of Occupancy

The existing button has been renamed and now reads ‘Apply for Certificate of Occupancy’; the application page heading has also been updated to match.

Additional information has been added to the email titled 'Confirmation. Received Certificate of Occupancy application' to include the building consent stage, name of the building/building work, the authority issuing the CoO and contact who signed Part B of the Statement of Compliance.

Latest version

Land Division Certificate Status – Applicant's View

The applicant's view of the progress for issuing the Land Division Certificate now aligns with the actual status.

Fixes

Building Indemnity Insurance

On updating missing building indemnity insurance information (names of person(s) insured, limitations or builder), the uploaded 'building indemnity insurance' document now remains and is no longer removed from the document store.

The 'Upload building indemnity insurance documents' section is now hidden when changing response to the question 'Has the applicant entered into a domestic building works contract' to 'not applicable' or 'owner builder'.

Building Notifications – Building indemnity insurance details

When submitting the Commencement of Building Work Notification from the Notification & Inspections tab, all insurance details now show in the insurance section of the selected building notification.

Generation of Form 2 Document

The Form 2 Document now generates at decision, and the error that was causing the document not to generate in some scenarios has been resolved.

Accessing Document Store – Error message

An error message has been resolved which was occurring in the application document store, for applications which had been reassigned to another Relevant Authority and a file no longer exists.

Request for Further Information (RFI) – Recall Request

A relevant authority user can now recall a previous Request for Further Information (RFI) which they have issued within an application. Upon actioning the recall, the assessment clock will resume from the day the initial request was made and remove any "pause" days associated with the request.

Latest version

Development Application – Review Additional Document Task

Where an applicant uploads additional documentation on the consent or development approval, the Relevant Authority cannot progress to issue a decision without first evaluating and confirming whether these documents are accepted or rejected.

Latest version

Variation Requests

An applicant can now submit a variation request in circumstances where the operative date of the Development Approval has exceeded 2 years, and where a building notification has been received to indicate that the building work has been substantially commenced.

PlanSA Portal

Features

Public Development Application Register

Granted consents no longer appear as 'under assessment' if the Consent has been marked inconsistent by the relevant authority at development approval.

Public Development Application Register - Location Details

When a land division occurs on a property, the original allotment is considered the 'parent' location, and the newly created allotments are often referred to as the 'child' locations. The public development application register has been updated to display both the parent location, and any child location details where applicable.