Find out what you can do with your block, and who you'll need.
Put your address in to see what the council allows and the likely approval path. When your builder sends the contract or a variation, you read exactly what you're agreeing to and sign it on your phone.
Building once in your life means taking someone's word for most of it. This gives you your own copy. Put your address in and you'll see what your block is zoned for, what the council allows on it, and the overlays that quietly decide what's realistic, in words rather than clause numbers. Then, when the paperwork arrives, you read all of it before you sign.
What you can do with your block
You get the zone and its name, what the council allows on the site, the overlays to check and the likely approval path, without the clause numbers. It's free, and you don't need an account.
Where your council's controls aren't fully mapped yet, the read tells you so on screen, and any overlay layer still to be looked at is marked Not checked. You're never working from a guess.
Whether you need a DA at all
Plenty of work doesn't. The read tells you the likely route: exempt, complying development (a quicker certificate for work that fits set rules) or a development application. In New South Wales it also shows the mapped overlays, so a heritage, bushfire or flood flag turns up early.
If you do need one, Planning Pro builds your planning pack, including a list of the documents to attach, shaped by the mapped overlays on the site (for NSW, separate lists for a development application and a complying development certificate), naming any layer we could not check and marking each document attached or not started, so you know what's missing before it goes in. You lodge it yourself, or bring in a town planner through Marketplace to help.
Who you'll need
Some jobs need only a builder. A DA usually means a designer or draftsperson for the drawings, and a heritage, bushfire or flood flag on your read usually means a specialist report on top. Ask your planner early, because those reports take time.
On any paid plan you can post the job on Marketplace, invite the builders and consultants you want to quote, and compare their quotes side by side. Each one records their licence, insurance and ABN on their profile. Urban Pulse doesn't check them against a register, so ask for them and check with your state's licensing authority.
What happens next
Read your block
Zone, overlays and what the council allows, from your address.
Check the route
Exempt, complying development or a DA, from the same read.
Get the pack together
Planning assembles it from what you and your consultants supply.
Lodge it
When it's complete, you lodge it. If you'd like help, you can bring in a town planner from Marketplace.
Choose your builder
On a paid plan, compare quotes, then ask each builder for the licence and insurance recorded on their profile.
Read what you're signing before you sign it
When your builder sends a quote, the contract or a variation, you get a private link. Open it on your phone, read the whole thing and sign on the same page, with no account and no password to remember.
Your builder can also invite you into the chat on their job, so questions and answers stay with the work rather than in your texts.
What homeowners ask
How do I find out what I am allowed to build on my own block?
The zone and its name, what the council allows on it, the overlays to check and the likely approval path, in words rather than clause numbers. It's free, with no account, and your address gets its own page you can send to your builder.
Who lodges my planning application?
You lodge it, and you stay the applicant. On Planning Pro, Planning builds your planning pack for you to review and lodge, including a list of the documents to attach, shaped by the mapped overlays on the site (for NSW, separate lists for a development application and a complying development certificate), naming any layer we could not check and marking each document attached or not started. If you'd like help, bring in a town planner through Marketplace.
How do I know a builder's licence is current?
You check it. Each builder records their licence, insurance and ABN on their profile, and recording them is not checking them against a register. Ask the builder for them and check with your state's licensing authority before you sign.
Do I need an account to sign the contract my builder sends?
No. You get a private link, open it in your browser, read the whole document and sign on the same page.
Does every state read the same way?
In seven states and territories: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT. How far the read goes differs. New South Wales is the only one where we pull the mapped overlays for your block. In Queensland we hold the council's own rules for five councils.
Start with your block.
What your block allows, who you'll need, and every document read in full before you sign. Check your block free now, and leave your email to hear when you can join.
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Urban Pulse is an Australian construction platform: check what a site allows, build the planning pack, get quotes from trades, send contracts and reports for signing, and run the build. Payments & Finance is coming soon.