South Australia · Planning guide
Fast-track approvals in SA
Yes, in three layers. Some minor works, such as a small outbuilding or a fence within the limits in Schedule 4 of the Planning, Development and Infrastructure (General) Regulations 2017, are not development at all. Accepted development, listed in each zone's Table 1 of the Planning and Design Code, does not require planning consent under section 104 of the Act. Deemed-to-satisfy development, listed in each zone's Table 2, must be granted planning consent under section 106 without public notification if every criterion is met. Everything else that is code assessed is performance assessed on its merits under section 107. Which table row and criteria apply depends on the zone and overlays mapped to your site.
Sources read on 9 September 2026. Provisions are quoted word for word from the instrument.
The four categories in SA
The Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 sorts development into three categories for planning consent: accepted, code assessed and impact assessed. The Planning and Design Code then splits code assessed development into deemed-to-satisfy and performance assessed. The rules of interpretation in Part 1 of the Code explain that classification always starts with location, because the zone, subzone and overlays at a site decide which tables apply.
Accepted development does not require planning consent. Deemed-to-satisfy development must be granted planning consent if all its criteria are met. Performance assessed development is judged on merit. Restricted development, a form of impact assessed development, goes to the State Planning Commission. For a homeowner the fast lanes are the first two.
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. Development falls within the category of code assessed development if— (a) it is classified by the Planning and Design Code as deemed-to-satisfy development; or (b) it— (i) does not fall within the category of accepted development; and (ii) does not fall within the category of impact assessed development.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
The Code divides development into 3 categories of development depending on whether it is classified under the Code as: (a) accepted development (see section 104(1) of the Act); and (b) deemed-to-satisfy development (see section 105(a) of the Act); and (c) restricted development (see section 108(1)(a) of the Act). 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.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Works that are not development at all
Schedule 4 of the General Regulations declares a list of acts and activities not to be development, subject to regulation 3C, which among other things switches the exclusions off for a State heritage place. Clause 4, sundry minor operations, is the one homeowners use most.
It excludes a detached outbuilding in which human activity is secondary, with a total floor area not exceeding 15 m2, a roof span of no more than 3 m and no part higher than 2.5 m, provided it sits behind the building line to the primary street and clear of a secondary street boundary and corner, and is not in a flood zone or an overlay the Code nominates. It also excludes a fence not exceeding 2.1 m in height outside the flood, historic area and other nominated overlays, shallow or unfiltered pools, and small windmills and flagpoles. Local heritage places are carved out of the whole clause.
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
a fence not exceeding 2.1 m in height (measured from the lower of the 2 adjoining finished ground levels), other than— (i) a fence in— (A) a designated flood zone, subzone or overlay identified under the Planning and Design Code for the purposes of this subsubparagraph; or (B) in any other zone, subzone or overlay identified under the Planning and Design Code for the purposes of this subsubparagraph; or (ii) a fence in the Historic Area Overlay under the Planning and Design Code, or any other area identified under the Planning and Design Code for the purposes of this paragraph, that is situated on the boundary of the relevant allotment with a road (other than a laneway); or
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Accepted development: no planning consent
Each zone's Table 1 lists accepted development classes with criteria. In the General Neighbourhood Zone the list includes air conditioning units on an existing dwelling, brush fences within height limits, and building alterations that do not increase floor area, wall height, overall height or the roof profile and do not reduce on-site parking. Each class carries exclusions, typically the heritage and historic area overlays.
Accepted development still needs building consent if it is building work, and it must be exactly within the criteria. A class that misses a criterion falls into code assessed development.
Each zone contains a table - Table 1 - which specifies classes of development which will be classified as 'accepted development' under section 104 of the Act in that zone if all of the corresponding criteria in the table are satisfied. Accepted development does not require planning consent.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Building alterations Except where any of the following apply: Local Heritage Place Overlay State Heritage Area Overlay State Heritage Place Overlay 1. The alteration does not: (a) increase the floor area of the building (b) exceed the existing wall height (c) exceed the existing overall building height (d) alter the roof profile (e) alter an approved privacy screening arrangement or window treatment (f) result in less on-site car parking than specified in Transport, Access and Parking Table 1 - General Off-Street Car Parking Requirements or Table 2 - Off-Street Car Parking Requirements in Designated Areas. 2. Where located within the Historic Area Overlay, there will be no external alterations to the external appearance of the building where visible from the public realm.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Deemed-to-satisfy: consent must be granted
Each zone's Table 2 lists the deemed-to-satisfy classes, including dwellings, ancillary accommodation, ancillary buildings and land division, with the zone, general development policy, subzone and overlay criteria that must all be met. Where a proposal covers more than one class, the criteria add together.
The reward is certainty. Section 106 says a deemed-to-satisfy development must be granted planning consent, that minor variations must still be treated as deemed-to-satisfy, and that consent is granted without public notification. The relevant authority also does not assess the proposal against the performance outcomes at all.
Table 2 rows also list the overlays that exclude a class. A dwelling in the General Neighbourhood Zone is excluded from deemed-to-satisfy inside the Character Area, Historic Area, heritage, bushfire and flooding overlays, among others, so the same design can be fast-tracked on one street and performance assessed on the next.
Each zone contains a table - Table 2 - which specifies classes of development which will be classified as “deemed-to-satisfy development” under section 106 of the Act in that zone if all of the corresponding criteria in the table are satisfied, insofar as they are relevant to the nature of the particular development. Section 106(2) of the Act specifies that if a relevant authority is satisfied that development is deemed-to-satisfy development except for 1 or more minor variations, the relevant authority must assess it as deemed-to-satisfy development. Deemed-to-satisfy development must be granted planning consent subject to the requirements of section 106 of the Act and therefore does not require assessment against the policies and rules applicable to performance assessed development.
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. If a relevant authority is satisfied that development is deemed-to-satisfy development except for 1 or more minor variations, the relevant authority must assess it as being deemed-to-satisfy (and that determination will then have effect for the purposes of this Act). A planning consent under this section must be granted without undertaking a process for public notification or submissions in relation to the proposed development.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Ancillary buildings satisfy (a) to (k), inclusive: (a) are ancillary to a dwelling erected on the same site (b) have a floor area not exceeding 60m2 (c) are not constructed, added to or altered so that any part is situated: (i) in front of any part of the building line of the dwelling to which it is ancillary
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Performance assessed: the slower lane
Anything code assessed that is not fully deemed-to-satisfy is performance assessed. The parts that are deemed-to-satisfy are taken to have consent, and the rest is assessed on merit against the policies in the zone's Table 3. Adjacent owners are notified unless the zone's notification table excludes the class, and the relevant authority can only refuse where the proposal is seriously at variance with the Code.
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. (a) to the extent that 1 or more elements of the proposed development may be classified as deemed-to-satisfy under the Planning and Design Code (if any)—that part of the development will be taken to have been granted planning consent; and (b) to the extent that paragraph (a) does not apply (including on the basis that that paragraph does not apply at all)—the development will be assessed on its merits against the Planning and Design Code; and (c) to the extent that paragraph (b) applies—the development must not be granted planning consent if it is, in the opinion of the relevant authority, seriously at variance with the Planning and Design Code (disregarding minor variations).
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 and overlays at a site are set by the Planning and Design Code and mapped spatially, so the accepted and deemed-to-satisfy tables that apply differ by zone and location rather than by council.
- Overlays such as the Historic Area, Character Area, heritage, bushfire, flooding and coastal overlays are listed as exclusions in Table 1 and Table 2 of each zone, and they also switch off some Schedule 4 exclusions in the Regulations.
- Technical and numeric variations mapped to a site change the numbers inside the deemed-to-satisfy criteria, for example minimum site area and building height.
- Subzones prevail over zone policy and can add or remove deemed-to-satisfy criteria.
- The council's assessment manager is usually the relevant authority for deemed-to-satisfy applications, and an accredited professional can also act for some classes, so lodgement practice varies locally.
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 pathway is open for the project type you describe: not development under Schedule 4, accepted development under Table 1, deemed-to-satisfy under Table 2, or performance assessed. It lists the criteria and the overlay exclusions that apply at that address. It does not grant planning or building consent.
Common questions
Can I build a garden shed in SA without approval?
A detached outbuilding with a total floor area not exceeding 15 m2, a roof span of no more than 3 m and no part higher than 2.5 m, placed behind the building line and outside the nominated flood and other overlays, is not development under Schedule 4 clause 4 of the General Regulations, other than on a local heritage place. Larger sheds are assessed as ancillary buildings under the zone's Table 2.
What is accepted development in SA?
Development a zone's Table 1 classifies as accepted when all its criteria are met. Section 104(2) of the Act says accepted development does not require planning consent. Building consent may still be needed.
What does deemed-to-satisfy mean?
A class in the zone's Table 2 that meets every listed criterion. Under section 106 it must be granted planning consent, minor variations do not disqualify it, and there is no public notification.
Can council refuse a deemed-to-satisfy application?
No. Section 106(1) says the development must be granted planning consent, subject to conditions the Act, the Regulations or the Code allow.
Why is my neighbour's identical house performance assessed?
Usually an overlay. Each Table 2 row lists overlays such as Character Area, Historic Area, heritage, bushfire and flooding that exclude the class from deemed-to-satisfy, and overlays are mapped to individual sites.
Does a fence need approval in SA?
A fence not exceeding 2.1 m in height is not development under Schedule 4 clause 4 unless it is in a flood or other nominated overlay, or on a road boundary in the Historic Area Overlay or another nominated area. Brush fences are separately listed as accepted development in the General Neighbourhood Zone with their own criteria.
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
- Schedule 4 clause 4(1)(a)(iv) and (v) (position relative to the building line, secondary street and corner cut-off) are summarised in prose and not quoted in full because the sub-paragraph numbering is interleaved in the extracted text.
- Regulation 3C itself was not read. Its effect is described only as the Schedule 4 note states it.
- The General Neighbourhood Zone Table 1 and Table 2 were read for the classes named. Other zones have different accepted and deemed-to-satisfy lists that were not extracted.
- 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
- Height and setback rules in SA
- Do I need a DA in SA?
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