South Australia · Planning guide
Do I need a DA in SA?
In South Australia the question is not whether you need a DA but which pathway your project falls into. Section 101 of the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 says no development may be undertaken unless it is approved, and development includes building work, a change of use and the division of an allotment. Some minor works are excluded from the definition by Schedule 4 of the General Regulations. Accepted development under the zone's Table 1 needs no planning consent. Everything else is code assessed, either deemed-to-satisfy, which must be approved, or performance assessed on merit. A development approval also needs building consent against the Building Rules. You lodge through the PlanSA portal, and the pathway is decided by the zone and overlays mapped to your site.
Sources read on 9 September 2026. Provisions are quoted word for word from the instrument.
What counts as development in SA
The Act's definition of development is wide. It includes a change in the use of land, building work, the division of an allotment, road construction, and work affecting State or local heritage places. If your project is development, section 101 requires it to be approved before it is undertaken, unless the Regulations exclude it.
Schedule 4 of the Planning, Development and Infrastructure (General) Regulations 2017 lists acts and activities declared not to be development. For a homeowner the important exclusions are in clause 4, sundry minor operations, which covers small outbuildings, low fences, shallow or unfiltered pools and small flagpoles within stated limits, subject to regulation 3C and excluding local heritage places.
development means— (a) a change in the use of land; or (b) building work; or (c) the division of an allotment; or. Subject to this Act, no development may be undertaken unless the development is an approved development.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
An act or activity specified in this Schedule is declared not to constitute development for the purposes of the Act, subject to the limitations set out in regulation 3C. For example, that regulation provides that an exclusion under Schedule 4 does not apply in respect of a State heritage place.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
The construction or alteration of, or addition to, any of the following (including any incidental excavation or filling), other than in respect of a local heritage place: (a) an outbuilding (other than in a designated flood zone, subzone or overlay or in any other zone, subzone or overlay identified under the Planning and Design Code for the purposes of this paragraph) in which human activity is secondary, and which— (i) is detached from and ancillary to another building which is erected on the site, or for which consent has been granted by the relevant authority, or which is classified as accepted development or deemed-to-satisfy development; and (ii) has a total floor area not exceeding 15 m2; and (iii) has no roof span (being the horizontal distance between supporting walls, posts or columns of the outbuilding) exceeding 3 m, and no part of the building being higher than 2.5 m above the natural surface of the ground;
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
The consents that make up a development approval
A development approval in SA is a bundle. Section 102 says a development is approved only if a relevant authority has assessed it against, and granted consent for, each relevant matter. For most house projects that means planning consent against the Planning Rules, which is the Code, and building consent against the Building Rules. A land division adds a land division consent. Once every consent is granted, a development approval issues.
This is why an accepted development that needs no planning consent can still need building consent. The planning pathway and the building pathway are decided separately, and a shed that is accepted development for planning purposes may still be building work that needs building consent.
Subject to this Act, a development is an approved development if, and only if, a relevant authority has assessed the development against, and granted a consent in respect of, each of the following matters (insofar as they are relevant to the particular development): (a) — (i) the relevant provisions of the Planning Rules; and (ii) to the extent provided by Part 7 Division 2—the impacts of the development; and (iii) if relevant, requirements applying under Part 15 Division 2 (other than under section 198), (planning consent); (b) the relevant provisions of the Building Rules (building consent);
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
The planning pathways
For planning consent the Act sorts development into accepted, code assessed and impact assessed. Accepted development, listed in the zone's Table 1, does not require planning consent. Code assessed development is either deemed-to-satisfy, listed in the zone's Table 2 with criteria, or performance assessed. Impact assessed development includes restricted development listed in Table 4, which goes to the State Planning Commission.
A deemed-to-satisfy proposal must be granted planning consent without public notification, and minor variations do not disqualify it. A performance assessed proposal is judged on its merits against the policies in Table 3, is notified to adjacent owners unless excluded, and can be refused only where it is seriously at variance with the Code.
The Code's rules of interpretation say classification starts with location. The zone, subzone and overlays at the site come first, then the class of development, then the criteria. Two identical houses on different streets can therefore sit on different pathways because of an overlay.
Development will be divided into 3 categories for the purposes of assessment in relation to planning consent as follows: (a) accepted development; (b) code assessed development; (c) impact assessed development. (1) Development falls within the category of accepted development if it is classified by the Planning and Design Code or the regulations as accepted development. (2) Accepted development does not require planning consent.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Subject to subsection (1a), if a proposed development is classified as deemed-to-satisfy development, the development must be granted planning consent. A planning consent under this section must be granted without undertaking a process for public notification or submissions in relation to the proposed development. In a case where proposed development is to be assessed as code assessed development and the development cannot be assessed, or fully assessed, as deemed-to-satisfy development, the development will be assessed on its merits against the Planning Rules.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
All development is classified firstly by reference to its location and the zone, subzone and overlays that are applicable to the location. Classification tables applicable to each zone identify development as accepted development, deemed-to-satisfy development or restricted development. All development not classified as accepted, deemed-to-satisfy, restricted or impact assessed development will be categorised as code assessed development and classified as “performance assessed development” under sections 105(b) and 107 of the Act, and will be assessed on its merits against the Code as contemplated by section 107 of the Act.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Notification and who decides
Performance assessed applications are notified under section 107(3): notice goes to the owner or occupier of each piece of adjacent land and to the public by a notice on the land, unless the Code's notification table for the zone excludes that class or a practice direction applies. Representations can be made within the prescribed period and the applicant can respond.
The Code also carries referral tables. Where a class of development in an overlay is listed in Schedule 9 of the Regulations, the application must be referred to the prescribed body under section 122 of the Act, for example for bushfire or coastal matters.
subject to a decision of a relevant authority made in accordance with a practice direction, notice of the application for planning consent must be given, in accordance with the regulations, to— (i) an owner or occupier of each piece of adjacent land; and (ii) members of the public by notice placed on the relevant land; and (b) a person may, in accordance with the regulations and within a period prescribed by the regulations, make representations to the relevant authority in relation to the granting or refusal of planning consent;
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
A table headed 'Notification' in the section of a policy relating to procedural matters specifies classes of development to be assessed under section 107 of the Act which are excluded from the requirement to give notice of an application for planning consent under section 107(3) and (4). The Code also interacts with regulation 41 and Schedule 9 of the Planning, Development and Infrastructure (General) Regulations 2017 for the purposes of section 122 of the Act. Schedule 9 prescribes classes of development that must be referred to a body prescribed in Schedule 9.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
A homeowner's checklist
First, look up the site in the South Australian Property and Planning Atlas to read the zone, subzone, overlays and any technical and numeric variations. The Code's rules of interpretation say that is where spatial application is determined. Second, decide whether the work is excluded from development by Schedule 4 of the Regulations. Third, find the class of development in the zone's Table 1 and Table 2 and check the criteria and the overlay exclusions. Fourth, remember that building consent is separate from planning consent. Fifth, if you are dividing land, expect the additional land division consent under section 102(1)(c).
Reference to the South Australian Property and Planning Atlas of the SA planning database will be made to determine whether a zone, subzone, overlay or TNV is relevant to the site of the proposed development application.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
What changes council by council in South Australia
The state instruments set the frame. These points are set by each council's own instrument or mapping, so the answer for an address depends on which council it sits in.
- SA has no council planning schemes. The zone, subzone, overlays and technical and numeric variations at a site are set by the Planning and Design Code and mapped spatially, so the pathway differs by location rather than by council.
- Overlays listed in each zone's Table 1 and Table 2 remove the accepted or deemed-to-satisfy pathway for affected sites, and some Schedule 4 exclusions in the Regulations are switched off inside nominated overlays.
- Each zone has its own notification table, so whether a performance assessed application is advertised depends on the zone.
- The relevant authority for a given class can be the council's assessment manager, a council assessment panel, an accredited professional or the State Planning Commission, depending on the category and the Regulations.
- Referral bodies are triggered by overlays mapped to the site under Schedule 9 of the Regulations.
For your address
How the $150 report settles this for one site
A Casa preliminary planning report reads the Code zone, subzone, overlays and mapped technical and numeric variations at your parcel from the SA planning database and states which planning pathway applies to the project type you describe: excluded under Schedule 4, accepted under Table 1, deemed-to-satisfy under Table 2, or performance assessed, and whether an overlay triggers notification or referral. It lists the criteria to meet at that address and does not grant planning, building or land division consent.
Common questions
What is a DA called in SA?
An application for development approval, lodged through the PlanSA portal. It bundles planning consent, building consent and, for a division, land division consent, and a development approval issues once each required consent is granted under section 102 of the Act.
Can I do anything without approval in SA?
Yes. Schedule 4 of the General Regulations declares listed acts not to be development, including a detached outbuilding with a floor area not exceeding 15 m2 and no part higher than 2.5 m within stated siting limits, and a fence not exceeding 2.1 m outside nominated overlays. Local and State heritage places are excluded from those exclusions.
What is the difference between accepted and deemed-to-satisfy?
Accepted development, listed in Table 1, needs no planning consent at all under section 104(2). Deemed-to-satisfy development, listed in Table 2, needs planning consent but the consent must be granted under section 106 without notification if every criterion is met.
Will my neighbours be notified?
Not for accepted or deemed-to-satisfy development. Performance assessed development is notified to adjacent owners and occupiers and by a notice on the land under section 107(3), unless the zone's notification table excludes that class.
Do I still need building approval if planning consent is not needed?
Yes if the work is building work. Section 102(1)(b) requires building consent against the Building Rules as a separate matter, and the planning category does not remove it.
Who decides my application?
The relevant authority set by the Act and Regulations for the category, most often the council's assessment manager for accepted and deemed-to-satisfy development and the council assessment panel for performance assessed development, with restricted development decided by the State Planning Commission.
Sources read for this guide
- Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 (SA), version 30.7.2026read 9 September 2026
- Planning, Development and Infrastructure (General) Regulations 2017 (SA), version 13.8.2026read 9 September 2026
- Planning and Design Code (SA), Version 2026.15 (13 August 2026), State Planning Commissionread 9 September 2026
Not covered here
- The statements about which relevant authority decides each category (assessment manager, assessment panel, accredited professional, Commission) are general and are not tied to a quoted provision of the Act or Regulations Part 5.
- Section 108 (restricted and impact assessed development) was not read in full and is described only through the Code's Part 1 summary.
- Building Rules and the building consent process under Part 7 Division 3 of the Act were not read beyond section 102(1)(b).
- Planning and Design Code quotes were taken from Casa's cached copy of the plan.sa.gov.au PDF (Version 2026.15, sha256 ca767fce, fetched 2026-09-08 and re-read 2026-09-09). The Act and Regulations were fetched live from legislation.sa.gov.au on 2026-09-09.
More SA guides
- Granny flat rules in SA
- Dual occupancy rules in SA
- Subdivision rules in SA
- Fast-track approvals in SA
- Height and setback rules in SA
Do I need a development application? in other states
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