What can I build here?
Free site intelligence on any Australian address, for anyone weighing up a block. See what it is zoned for (the council rule that sets how land can be used), the overlays worth checking (extra controls like heritage or flood) and the likely approval path, in plain words. Most ideas don't die on the zone, by the way. They die on a setback, or on minimum garden area, or on an overlay nobody mentioned at the open home. And the fence, up front: Planning assembles the pack, you lodge it yourself on the NSW Planning Portal, and no approval comes with it.
Free site check
Type an Australian address and pick its state. We read the public planning data for that site and hand back a plain-words read, in one pass.
Size up a site before you commit
This reads the public planning data for an address so you can rule a block in or out before you spend money on it. Go deeper when it earns it: a registered planner confirms the detail and a full report follows.
Read the zoning
Zoning is the council rule that sets what a site can be used for. See what this address is zoned for, and what your council allows on it, in plain words.
Spot the overlays
An overlay is an extra council control, like heritage or flood. See which ones apply, so the surprise turns up now rather than after settlement.
Get the likely pathway
An early read on the approval pathway, so you know roughly what you are in for before you commission anything.
Grounded in real data
The read comes off the public planning data for that address, so it carries the actual controls on the site rather than a rule of thumb.
An address we can't match to a property returns nothing at all. No zone, and no default standing in for one. If it matches but your council's own controls aren't mapped, the figures are the state scheme's default and they are labelled as that rather than as your council's schedule. Any overlay layer we didn't read shows as Not checked, which is a gap to close, not a clearance.
Where the controls are mapped you also get the building envelope: maximum height, maximum storeys, front, side and rear setbacks, maximum site coverage, minimum garden area and car parking. Path Advisor names the likely route, complying development, a development application, or exempt, and what would push the proposal to a full DA. Knowing the zone tells you what's allowed. Knowing the envelope tells you what fits.
Ask it in seven states: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT. New South Wales goes deepest, because it's the only state where we pull the mapped overlays for you. Queensland runs on the councils' own rules, so what you see is your council rather than the state default. The Northern Territory is not live.
Put it in writing before the money goes in
Reading the screen is one thing. Putting a deposit behind the idea is another, and that is what a Preliminary Planning Investigation is for. You say what you have in mind, and the report checks it against the site: whether it's permitted in that zone, what envelope applies, which overlays bear on it, and the conditions you should expect if it goes ahead. It is built from public planning data and from what you told us you want to do, so it is indicative. Not advice, not an approval, and not a prediction of what your council will decide. Get a registered planner to confirm it before you rely on it.
From address to answer
Search an address
Type any Australian address and pick the state. No sign-up to see a first read.
Read it in plain words
See the zoning, the overlays to check and the likely approval path, explained.
Order the full report
When you need certainty, a registered planner confirms the detail and a full Property Planning report or due-diligence pack follows it.
You lodge it
Planning assembles the pack as one ready-to-lodge PDF. You lodge it on the NSW Planning Portal and record the lodgement against the job.
Preparing a pack is a tool you pay for. Lodging isn't something money buys here, from us or from anyone. A verified planning firm lodges in its own name, on the NSW Planning Portal, and Urban Pulse still lodges nothing.
Reading a site, answered
What does Urban Pulse tell me about a site?
The zone and zone name, what the council allows on it, the overlays we read and the likely approval pathway, in plain words off live state planning data. An address we can't match to a property returns nothing at all, with no zone assumed, and any figure drawn from the state scheme's default is labelled as that.
What is a Preliminary Planning Investigation?
An indicative written read of the site, built from public planning data and what you tell us you want to do. It sets out whether the idea is permitted, the envelope that applies, and the conditions to expect. It isn't planning advice and it isn't an approval, so get a registered planner to confirm it.
Who lodges the development application?
You do. Planning hands you a ready-to-lodge pack as a PDF, you lodge it on the NSW Planning Portal, then you mark it as lodged here. Urban Pulse never lodges on anybody's behalf. A verified planning firm lodges in its own name, which is still not us lodging, and no approval is promised.
Is any of this planning advice?
No. It is site information drawn from published planning data, plus a pack assembled out of what you and your consultants supply. Urban Pulse doesn't write, review or approve the content of an application. Your consultant and your council stay the authority on what actually gets approved.
What happens once I have the pack?
You lodge it yourself and record the lodgement, and then the job can move on to price. In Marketplace you invite the builders or consultants you want, they quote, you award. Nothing goes to an open board, and nobody you didn't invite ever sees the work.
When the free read isn't enough
The free read is a first look, and for a lot of blocks it is enough to walk away. For the ones worth keeping, a Preliminary Planning Investigation puts it in writing and Planning assembles the pack you lodge yourself on the NSW Planning Portal.
Urban Pulse is an Australian construction platform: site intelligence, town planning, contractor marketplace, Send & Sign, and project management in one workspace.
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