Do I need a DA for a medical centre?
Usually. Here is how the approval works in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, and why it’s the part of the program that moves your opening date.
The short answer
Builders quote construction. Construction is the predictable half.
Key points
- A change from retail or office use to a health-care use is an approval in its own right.
- NSW: a DA to council, or complying development under the Codes SEPP where it qualifies.
- Victoria: a planning permit from council, then a building permit from a building surveyor.
- Queensland: a material change of use under the planning scheme, then private building certification.
- Parking and amenity are what usually decide it, not the fitout drawings.
Builders quote construction. Construction is the predictable half.
The half that decides when you actually open is the approval in front of it, and it is the half almost nobody prices when they’re comparing two quotes.
Why a clinic needs approval at all
Because you’re not just building partitions. You are changing what the building is used for.
A tenancy last occupied by a hairdresser or an accountant sits in a particular use class under the planning scheme, and a health-care use is a different one. That change gets assessed on its own terms: how much parking the use generates, what it does to the amenity of neighbours, how waste is stored, what hours you intend to operate, whether the entry is accessible.
None of those questions are about your drawings. All of them can stop your project.
New South Wales
Assessment runs under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. Two routes.
A development application to council is the default. Council advertises it where required, considers submissions, and determines it.
Where the zoning, the tenancy and the works all meet the criteria, you may instead be able to use complying development under the Codes SEPP, with a complying development certificate issued by a registered certifier. Considerably faster, and worth establishing early because it’s not a decision you make later.
Construction then needs a construction certificate, and an occupation certificate at the end. Both can come from a private certifier rather than council, which is usually the quicker route once planning is settled.
Imaging equipment brings the NSW Environment Protection Authority into it: shielding designed by a radiation consultant, and a premises licence under the Radiation Control Act 1990.
Victoria
A planning permit from council under the Planning and Environment Act 1987, assessed against the relevant planning scheme.
In Melbourne, car parking is very often what the decision turns on. A medical centre generates a parking requirement, and a strip-shop tenancy with no on-site spaces needs a reduction granted. That is a judgement, not a formality, and it is the single most common reason a Melbourne site that looks ideal does not proceed.
A building permit follows separately, issued by a registered building surveyor, covering the works and the building classification. Radiation licensing sits with the Victorian Department of Health under the Radiation Act 2005.
Queensland
A material change of use application, assessed by council against the planning scheme. In Brisbane that’s City Plan 2014.
The distinction that matters here is whether your application is code assessable or impact assessable, and that depends on the zone. Impact assessable means public notification, and it changes the timeframe substantially.
Building work is then approved by a private building certifier under the Building Act 1975, with a certificate of classification at the end. Imaging needs both a possession licence and a use licence from Queensland Health under the Radiation Safety Act 1999.
What this means for your program
Construction on a suburban clinic of 150 to 250 square metres is measured in weeks. Design, documentation and approvals in front of it are usually the longer half, and they vary far more between councils than construction does between builders.
Which is why a builder quoting you an opening date without reference to your approvals pathway is quoting the easy part with confidence and the hard part with optimism.
Find out before you sign
Whether your use is permitted in that zone, and what approval it needs, is knowable before you commit to a lease. It is question two on the lease checklist for a reason.
Sources and further reading
Planning frameworks change and councils interpret them differently. Check the current position with the authority for your state before you commit to a site.
Where development applications and complying development certificates are lodged and tracked in New South Wales.
The National Construction Code: building classification, fire separation, egress, sanitary provisions and access.
Radiation licensing for premises and users in New South Wales, under the Radiation Control Act 1990.
The national radiation protection authority. Codes and safety guides that sit behind every state's licensing scheme.
Questions
Do I need development approval to open a medical centre?
Usually, where the tenancy is changing from retail or office use to a health-care use. The change of use is assessed separately from the construction works, and parking and amenity are typically what the decision turns on.
How long does council approval take?
It varies more than any other part of a fitout program, and more between councils than between builders. Impact assessable applications in Queensland and advertised DAs in New South Wales take longer because they involve public notification.
Can I avoid a DA in New South Wales?
Sometimes. Where the zoning, tenancy and works meet the criteria, complying development under the Codes SEPP allows a certifier to issue a complying development certificate instead. Whether you qualify needs establishing before you sign, not after.
Is the building permit the same as the planning permit?
No. In Victoria the planning permit comes from council and deals with the use; the building permit comes from a registered building surveyor and deals with the works and the classification. New South Wales and Queensland have equivalent two-step structures.
Send us the floor plan
A site assessment tells you what the tenancy can take and what it will cost to get there, ideally before you have signed for it.