Before beginning the exciting process of designing your new home, it’s important to gain as comprehensive an understanding of your project and construction site as possible. This starts with collating the required documentation, to ensure that you and your chosen builder or architect are adequately prepared.

From land surveys to council certification, the more planning and research you do before commencing the design stage, the more seamless your experience will be. Too often homeowners waste time looking at designs that don’t fit or work on their site – and when they fall in love with a design only to find out it’s unachievable, it can be heart-breaking.

Keep reading to discover which documents you’ll need before designing your custom home. 

10.7 Certificate

By thoroughly planning your new home, building limitations can be recognised and addressed before they create any concern. A 10.7 certificate, purchased from your local council, provides details on the development potential of your land, including any planning restrictions your builder needs to know about. This includes land zoning, heritage items, information on flood or bushfire affected properties, acid sulfate soils and much more. All of these need to be considered before any design work is commenced.

To ensure a smooth design and building process, we suggest obtaining a 10.7 certificate as your first step in the design and construction of your new custom home.

Land Survey

As you consider your new home, we advise setting time aside for a licensed surveyor to perform a detailed survey on your land. The resulting survey will provide information about necessary dimensions, proximity of surrounding buildings, and other measurements including land contours and spot levels.

A land survey is a basic prerequisite for any building development. Your builder will use these results to identify any site constraints that may affect your project budget and timeline. Your chosen designer’s ability to bring your design ideas to life is heavily informed by the results of this survey. Furthermore, you should note that you will be required to submit a land survey to council for your Development Application.

Certificate of Title

A certificate of title is a legal record of land ownership. In NSW, the state’s land registry hold title information. A title search is important for site investigation as it includes the names of the owners, restrictions on the land, and other relevant information that will impact your design. The title search will also show which deposited plan is associated with the property. This document will be required by the surveyor, so be sure to discuss who is responsible for its purchase as some surveyors prefer to obtain the title themselves.

Deposited Plan

A deposited plan shows the legal boundaries of a property on the date it was registered. It also contains other information such as the size and shape of the property, right of way or easements, dimensions and distances of other items on the property, and the location of survey markers. Again, just like with the certificate of title, it is important to have a discussion with your surveyor before purchasing the deposited plan.

Sewer Service Diagram

When designing your new home, its essential that you consider practical elements of the build – including sewerage. A service diagram shows your builder where the property sewer lines are located and where they connect to the main wastewater system. By organising this document ahead of time, you can help to speed up the pre-construction and planning stages. Any construction over Sydney Water’s assets can be costly, as it involves encasing the pipes in concrete – so it’s important to know their location before commencing any design work.  

To learn more about the pre-construction process or if you require assistance obtaining these documents, get in touch with Pilot & Pine Homes today.