A CDC takes a median of 4 days in NSW. That is a complying development certificate: approval for work that meets fixed, published standards, issued by the council or a registered certifier.
37,152 complying development certificates were determined in NSW in the last twelve months. Over the same twelve months a development application took a median of 56 days.
Why a CDC is quicker
Nobody is weighing the proposal. A CDC is a check that the work meets standards set out in State policies such as the Codes SEPP and the Housing SEPP: it meets them or it does not. There is no merit assessment and no neighbour submissions to consider. A development application asks the council whether the proposal is acceptable, which takes longer and can go either way.
Why one CDC takes longer than another
- Missing information. A certifier cannot decide until it has everything it needs.
- The site. Bushfire, flood and other constraints add checks, and some rule complying development out altogether.
- Who issues it. A council or a private certifier can issue a CDC, and each works at its own pace.
Whether your work can be complying development at all is the bigger question: CDC or DA, and what pushes a project out of complying development.