FAQs
- the land division is primarily for residential purposes; and
- where the land division involves the construction of a public road or infrastructure that will become the local council’s asset; and
- where the land is located within the following zones within the Code:
- Master Planned Neighbourhood Zone
- Master Planned Renewal Zone
- Master Planned Township Zone.
- requirements set out in the Planning and Design Code
- requirements set out in a design standard have been satisfied
- water industry requirements under the Water Industry Act 2012 relating to the provision of water supply and sewerage services are satisfied
- where land is to be vested in a council or other authority, the council or authority consents to the vesting*; and
- requirements set out in the general regulations made for the purposes of this provision are satisfied*.
- 2.1 – Design of Roads
- 2.4 – Kerb and Channel
What are design standards?
Design standards are a planning instrument that can be used to deliver well-coordinated infrastructure design outcomes and integrate the design of development across public and private areas.
Design standards supplement the Planning and Design Code by providing design guidance for the public realm or infrastructure.
Design standards will promote good design in our streets and public places and help manage the interface between private and public areas.
Under the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016, design standards can be accompanied by advisory manuals or guidelines.
What are the benefits of the engineering design standard and why is it being implemented?
In 2024, the South Australian Government released the Housing Roadmap, which seeks to address land supply, construction and housing affordability across the state to help tackle the current housing supply crisis.
Standardised engineering requirements (particularly in greenfield areas) have the potential to reduce the assessment timeframes for land division applications where developers must incorporate uniform requirements into land division design and during construction.
The engineering design standard will be used when assessing the land division consent.
The design standard will be used to assess whether infrastructure such as roads, stormwater, footpaths and street landscaping has been designed to meet the suite of standard requirements.
Is the engineering design standard accompanied by any advisory material?
Yes. The South Australian Growth Areas Technical Manual and the standard drawings are key documents that support the engineering design standard and provide additional advisory material/guidelines to assist developers and assessors.
The technical manual provides the detail and context for the design and construction specified in the design standard.
The standard drawings are the detailed specifications required for construction, including dimensions, profiles, materials and construction methods.
The advisory material will be an approved document endorsed by the Chief Executive of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The State Planning Commission is seeking feedback on the draft technical manual and standard drawings.
Will the engineering design standard need to be used to assess all land division applications?
No. The engineering design standards will only be used for land division where:
If the land division does not meet all the criteria listed above, councils will assess the design against their own infrastructure requirements, as well as any prescribed requirements outlined in the Planning, Development and Infrastructure (General) Regulations 2017.
Will the land division consent only be assessed against the engineering design standard?
No, there are other matters that must be considered.
Section 102 (1)(c) of the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 states that a development is only an approved development if the assessor of the land division is satisfied that the development is in accordance with:
*Note: the Department for Housing and Urban Development has recently consulted on draft changes to the Planning, Development and Infrastructure (General) Regulations 2017 with respect to these matters where a design standard applies. More information is available on the YourSAy website.
If a land division has been designed to comply with the engineering design standard, will the council be able to refuse vesting of the infrastructure and infrastructure reserves?
Proposed amendments to the general regulations aim to provide greater certainty for developers, councils and community regarding vesting public land to the council.
The engineering design standards, technical manual and standard drawings have been drafted by engineers using industry best practices to provide consistency across different areas across the state.
Councils with existing Master Planned Zones (or that adopt Master Planned Zones in the future) will be bound by the engineering design standard requirements in assessment.
The proposed amendments to the general regulations would ensure that councils accept the vesting of land where it meets the requirements of the engineering design standard.
Is land division and infrastructure design innovation supported through the engineering design standard?
Yes. It is recognised that land divisions are complex and that it is difficult to standardise requirements for infrastructure due to site specific constraints such as gradient, climate, stormwater catchments and hazard risk.
In some instances, different designs and approaches may be required and due to site specific, topographical or environmental constraints which would vary outcomes between regions, councils and even within different areas of the same council.
Similarly, the ‘look and feel’ of a development in terms of materials used for the construction of kerbs, footpaths and street landscaping contribute to shaping the future character of an area.
The intent of the engineering design standard is to specify minimum requirements that must be met, but not to limit the design outcomes that are best negotiated between councils, relevant authorities and developers.
The design requirements within the Engineering Design Standard have been drafted to identify key requirements that must be met in all circumstances.
Where flexibility is required or encouraged the design requirements will reference the technical manual.
Example – Kerb and channels
A developer wants to use blue-stone kerbing within a proposed land division that is to be assessed against the engineering design standard.
The relevant design requirements of the engineering design standard are:
The design of roads will be undertaken in accordance with the specifications of Chapter - Road Designs of the technical manual.
Kerb and channel will be provided on both sides of all residential roads. Edge strips are to be used for application within laneways.
The assessor must consider the information contained in Chapter 5 of the technical manual and the accompanying standard drawings to determine if the kerb design in terms of gradient, location and profiles is being met.
In this case, the technical manual specifies that the kerbing should be constructed of concrete (or comparable product) and the kerb and channel is designed in line with applicable drawing numbers DH-RD-1000, DH-RD-1010, DH-RD-1015, or DH-RD-1020.
Provided the kerbing is proposed on both sides of a road and designed in line with the technical manual and standard drawings, the bluestone kerbing may be accepted as a comparable product to concrete.
Will all the design requirements of the engineering design standard need to be met?
The assessor for the land division consent must determine if the design standard has been met through an assessment of the design requirements (where those requirements are relevant).
As the technical manual is referenced in the design requirements, assessors must also refer to the guidance material in determining whether the land division has been designed appropriately and whether the design standard has been met.
If, after considering the technical manual and standard drawings, it is determined that a design requirement has not been met and cannot be met through a condition of approval, approval should not be granted.
If the engineering design standard has not been met, can the land division just be assessed against the local council’s engineering requirements/the requirements set out in the general regulations?
No. Where the land division meets the scope outlined in section 6 of the engineering design standard the consent must be assessed against the design requirements in the design standard.
What happens where conditions are applied to the land division consent?
If the assessor applies conditions to the land division consent, the applicant/developer must comply with the conditions of approval.
A condition applied to a consent must relate to provisions of the design standard or technical manual and should not seek to impose additional or varied design requirements than those identified in the technical manual.
Where detailed construction designs are submitted prior to construction, they must be assessed against the design requirements in the design standard and with regard to the technical manual and standard drawings to determine if the conditions of approval have been met.
Is the design standard for driveway crossovers for residential development still being progressed?
No. Following consultation on the draft Residential Driveway Crossover Design Standard, several significant matters were raised that required further and more detailed investigation to ensure a streamlined assessment process and enable roll-out to all residential sites across the state.
The Commission has decided to incorporate the previous work undertaken in relation to driveway crossovers into the new engineering design standard.
