What NSW Property Owners and Development Applicants Need to Know in 2026
By Adam Murphy, Principal Building Designer — ANS Design
Information current as at 22 August 2026
Anyone involved in a Development Application in NSW may have noticed councils becoming increasingly focused on assessment timeframes.
Requests for additional information may come with relatively short response periods. Extensions of time that might previously have been readily accommodated may be harder to obtain. Applicants may also be warned that if the requested information is not supplied by a particular date, Council may proceed to determine the application based on the information already available.
There is an important NSW planning reform sitting behind this changing assessment environment.
On 1 July 2026, the NSW Government’s updated Environmental Planning and Assessment (Statement of Expectations) Order 2026 came into effect.
It establishes a statewide expectation that councils determine Development Applications within an average of 90 calendar days from lodgement during 2026–27. That target becomes progressively shorter over the following years.
However, the reform is frequently misunderstood.
It does not mean that every individual Development Application must legally be approved or refused within 90 days.
The 90-day figure is principally a council performance expectation, and understanding that distinction is important for homeowners, developers, designers and consultants dealing with the DA process.
What Changed on 1 July 2026?
The NSW Government introduced council league tables in 2024 as part of its broader Faster Assessments Program.
The updated Statement of Expectations Order, which commenced on 1 July 2026, strengthens the assessment targets applying to NSW councils.
The statewide DA determination expectations are:
| Period | Average DA determination target |
|---|---|
| 1 July 2026 – 30 June 2027 | 90 days |
| 1 July 2027 – 30 June 2028 | 80 days |
| From 1 July 2028 | 65 days |
These targets apply to the council’s average performance rather than imposing a universal 90-day deadline on each individual DA. NSW Planning specifically acknowledges that applications vary considerably in scale, complexity, planning merit and the quality of the documentation submitted.
The official NSW Government explanation can be found through the NSW Planning Statement of Expectations Order page.
The Important Detail: Council Performance Is Measured in Gross Days
This is arguably the most important part of the reform for applicants.
The NSW Government’s Council League Table measures DA assessment periods using gross calendar days.
That means the calculation runs from the date the DA is lodged until the date it is determined and includes weekends and public holidays.
More importantly, NSW Planning expressly states that the league-table calculation does not deduct “stop the clock” periods when Council is waiting for additional information from the applicant.
This creates an important practical consequence.
If Council asks an applicant for revised architectural drawings, engineering information, stormwater documentation, BASIX or NatHERS amendments, bushfire information, acoustic information, arborist documentation or some other specialist report, the time taken by the applicant and their consultants to prepare that response continues to count towards Council’s gross assessment performance.
In other words, from a league-table perspective, the clock keeps running.
Why Could This Affect Requests for Information?
A Request for Information — often referred to as an RFI — is a common part of the DA assessment process.
Council may identify matters that require clarification or further documentation before it can properly assess the proposal.
An RFI may involve something relatively straightforward, such as an additional dimension or clarification on a plan.
However, other requests can require substantial work.
For example, Council might request amended architectural plans responding to planning controls together with revised shadow diagrams, stormwater engineering, an amended BASIX Certificate, additional survey information and specialist advice.
Obtaining this information can take several weeks.
Under a gross-day performance system, that additional time can have a direct effect on Council’s reported assessment performance.
Consider this simplified example.
| DA event | Gross elapsed time |
| DA lodged | Day 0 |
| Council commences detailed assessment | Day 25 |
| Additional information requested | Day 35 |
| Applicant takes 28 days to coordinate response | Day 63 |
| Council recommences assessment | Day 63 |
| Further assessment and referrals | Day 78 |
| Application determined | Day 86 |
Although Council may have spent considerably less than 86 days actively assessing the application, the Council League Table records the end-to-end gross timeframe.
The 28 days spent waiting for the applicant’s response are not removed from that performance figure.
This is why it is reasonable to expect councils to place increasing emphasis on prompt RFI responses and tighter case management.
Does the New 90-Day Target Mean Councils Cannot Grant Extensions?
No.
This is an important distinction.
Nothing in the new 90-day performance target creates a blanket prohibition preventing councils from granting an applicant additional time to respond to an RFI.
Requests for additional information are dealt with under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021.
Section 36 provides that a consent authority may request additional information it considers necessary to properly consider a Development Application.
Importantly, the Regulation requires Council’s request to specify a reasonable period within which the information must be provided. It must also identify the number of statutory assessment days that have elapsed and provide information about the effect of the request on the relevant statutory assessment period.
The Regulation also expressly recognises the possibility of:
“a further period allowed by the consent authority.”
Accordingly, an extension can still be granted.
The new State Government performance expectations may give councils a stronger reason to minimise extensions, but they do not remove Council’s ability to allow additional time.
The current Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021 can be accessed through NSW Legislation.
Council Must Still Provide a Reasonable Period
This requirement is particularly important where an RFI involves specialist work.
Section 36 requires Council to specify a reasonable period for supplying the information requested.
What constitutes a reasonable period will inevitably depend upon the circumstances.
Providing an additional dimension on an architectural drawing is very different from obtaining a new geotechnical report, undertaking flood modelling, obtaining structural advice, commissioning a bushfire assessment or coordinating several consultants and issuing an extensively amended architectural package.
The new 90-day performance target does not replace the requirements of the Regulation.
Therefore, where an RFI response genuinely cannot reasonably be completed within the nominated period, the applicant or their representative should contact Council promptly and explain why additional time is required.
An extension should ideally be requested before the original deadline expires, rather than after it has already passed.
What Happens If the RFI Deadline Is Missed?
Section 36 of the Regulation has another important consequence.
If the additional information has not been provided by the end of the period nominated by Council — or by the end of any further period Council has allowed — the applicant is taken to have notified Council that the information will not be provided.
That does not necessarily mean the DA automatically disappears.
However, Council may then have to assess the application based on the information available.
If the missing information is necessary to demonstrate that the development is acceptable, this can create a serious risk of refusal.
Applicants should therefore avoid treating an RFI deadline as an informal administrative date.
Under the current planning environment, it should be treated as an important project deadline.
There Are Actually Two Different DA “Clocks”
A common source of confusion is that the new Council League Table target exists alongside the statutory DA assessment periods contained in the EP&A Regulation.
They serve different purposes.
Council Performance Target
For 2026–27, the Statement of Expectations establishes an average target of 90 gross calendar days from lodgement to determination.
Applicant RFI time remains included when Council’s performance is measured.
Statutory Assessment Period
Separately, the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation establishes statutory assessment periods connected with deemed refusal and appeal rights.
Generally, the Regulation provides:
| Application | Statutory assessment period |
| Most ordinary Development Applications | 40 days |
| Certain designated, integrated or concurrence DAs | 60 days |
| State Significant Development | 90 days |
These periods are not the same thing as the new 90-day council performance expectation.
For certain RFIs, the statutory assessment period can cease running while Council waits for information. However, section 94 provides that this particular stop-the-clock mechanism for a Council request under section 36 applies only where the request is made within 25 days after the DA is lodged.
This creates the unusual situation where time may be excluded for one statutory calculation while still being counted against Council’s gross league-table performance.
That distinction is important.
So Is the 90-Day Target Why Councils Are Refusing Extensions?
It would be too broad to say that every refusal of an RFI extension is directly caused by the new Order.
Different councils have different internal procedures, workloads, staffing levels and assessment practices, and every DA has different circumstances.
However, the connection is clear enough to be relevant.
NSW Planning measures council performance using gross days and expressly includes the period Council spends waiting for additional information. Councils are publicly compared through the Council League Table and councils that do not meet the State Government’s expectations may be required to explain their performance and participate in improvement measures.
Recent council reporting also demonstrates that local authorities are actively monitoring their performance against the new 2026 targets. For example, Wagga Wagga City Council formally reported on the introduction of the 90, 80 and 65-day statewide assessment targets following commencement of the new Order.
It is therefore reasonable to expect the new performance framework to encourage councils to:
- request outstanding information earlier;
- give applicants clearly defined RFI response dates;
- scrutinise requests for lengthy extensions;
- discourage repeated or incomplete RFI responses;
- progress applications towards determination rather than allowing them to remain unresolved for extended periods; and
- place greater emphasis on receiving complete and coordinated DA documentation.
This does not mean Council can simply ignore the Regulation’s requirement to provide a reasonable response period.
It does mean applicants should expect a more time-sensitive assessment environment.
Why Complete DA Documentation Is Becoming More Important
The reforms reinforce something that has always been important in the development assessment process: the quality of the information supplied at lodgement matters.
An incomplete or poorly coordinated DA can result in multiple council referrals, additional information requests, amended plans and considerable delay.
Where possible, planning issues should be identified before the DA is lodged.
This may require early review of the applicable Local Environmental Plan, Development Control Plan, State Environmental Planning Policies, Section 10.7 Planning Certificate, NSW Spatial Viewer information, title documents and survey information.
Depending on the project, specialist consultants may also need to be identified early.
ANS Design discusses the importance of this preliminary investigation in our guide to NSW planning due diligence for DA and CDC projects.
Good preliminary planning does not guarantee that Council will never request additional information.
However, it can significantly reduce avoidable RFIs and make any required response easier to coordinate.
What Should You Do If Council Issues an RFI?
The first step should be to review the entire request rather than responding to individual items separately.
Determine which matters can be addressed by the designer and which require input from other consultants.
The architectural plans, Statement of Environmental Effects, engineering documents, BASIX or NatHERS documentation and consultant reports should ultimately tell the same story.
Where revised plans affect consultant documents, those documents should also be checked before the RFI response is lodged.
Submitting a partial response can lead to another round of questions and further delay.
ANS Design provides Council Submission Assistance, including coordination of responses to additional information requests, as part of its residential design and approval services. More information is available through our Building Design Services page.
What If More Time Is Genuinely Required?
Where the nominated RFI timeframe is insufficient, an extension request should clearly explain the reason additional time is required.
Simply saying that more time is needed may not be particularly persuasive.
A stronger request would identify the outstanding work, explain any consultant dependency and provide a realistic date for completion.
For example, if Council requests amended plans together with updated stormwater engineering and BASIX documentation, it may be necessary to complete the architectural amendments first, provide those to the engineer, then revise BASIX once the final design is settled.
Those dependencies should be explained.
It is also worth remembering that the Regulation requires Council’s original RFI to provide a reasonable period, while also recognising Council’s ability to allow a further period.
Could a DA Simply Be Refused After 90 Days?
The new 90-day target does not mean an ordinary DA automatically becomes refused on Day 90.
Nor does it mean Council loses the legal ability to determine the application after Day 90.
The Statement of Expectations is a council-performance framework.
The separate statutory deemed-refusal provisions are contained in the EP&A legislation and Regulation.
For an ordinary DA, the statutory assessment period is generally 40 days, subject to applicable adjustments and stop-the-clock provisions. A deemed refusal can give an applicant appeal rights, but it does not necessarily prevent Council subsequently determining the application.
Accordingly, applicants should be cautious when someone says:
“Council legally has to determine every DA within 90 days.”
That is not an accurate description of the reform.
A more accurate statement is:
From 1 July 2026, NSW councils are expected to achieve an average DA determination timeframe of 90 gross calendar days, with their performance publicly monitored by the NSW Government.
What Happens If Councils Do Not Meet the Target?
The Statement of Expectations forms part of a broader council-performance framework.
NSW Planning states that councils not meeting expectations may be asked to explain their performance.
The Department may then work with a council to improve assessment performance, including developing an action plan, engaging additional planning expertise or applying programs intended to accelerate development assessment.
The Department also identifies council performance against the 90-day benchmark when considering councils requiring further attention.
The framework ultimately relates to powers available to the Planning Minister where council planning performance is considered unsatisfactory.
This provides councils with a genuine reason to closely monitor assessment times.
What Does This Mean for Homeowners and Residential Projects?
For homeowners considering an alteration, addition, new dwelling, secondary dwelling, garage, carport or other residential development requiring a DA, the practical message is straightforward.
Preparation before lodgement is becoming even more important.
The most efficient DA is generally one where the design has already been reviewed against the relevant planning controls, likely consultant requirements have been identified, drawings are coordinated and major planning issues have been considered before the application reaches Council.
Once an RFI is issued, applicants should act promptly.
Where additional time is genuinely necessary, an extension should be requested early and supported by a clear explanation and realistic completion date.
The aim should not simply be to respond quickly.
It should be to provide a complete and coordinated response that allows Council to continue the assessment without another unnecessary round of correspondence.
You can read more about how ANS Design approaches residential approvals through our DA, CDC and Council Approval Process guide.
The Bottom Line
The Environmental Planning and Assessment (Statement of Expectations) Order 2026 represents another significant change to the way development assessment performance is monitored in NSW.
From 1 July 2026, councils are expected to determine DAs within an average of 90 gross calendar days from lodgement.
That target reduces to 80 days from July 2027 and 65 days from July 2028.
Importantly, the Council League Table continues counting the days when Council is waiting for an applicant to respond to an RFI.
That does not make extensions unlawful.
The EP&A Regulation still requires a Council RFI to specify a reasonable response period and expressly contemplates Council allowing a further period.
However, the gross-day performance system gives councils a clear incentive to manage outstanding applications more actively.
For applicants, designers and consultants, that means better-prepared DA documentation, early consultant coordination and prompt, comprehensive RFI responses are likely to become increasingly important as the State’s assessment targets continue to tighten.
Planning a Residential Development in NSW?
ANS Design assists homeowners, builders and property owners with residential building design and planning documentation throughout Sydney and NSW.
Services include Development Application documentation, CDC documentation, alterations and additions, new dwellings, secondary dwellings, Council response documentation, Statements of Environmental Effects, planning assessments and consultant coordination.
Early assessment can help identify the applicable planning controls, likely approval pathway and supporting documentation before a proposal progresses too far.
View ANS Design building design services
Read about the ANS Design approval and design process
Contact Adam Murphy at ANS Design
Official NSW Resources
NSW Planning — Statement of Expectations Order 2026
NSW Planning — Council League Table
NSW Legislation — Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021
Important information
This article provides general information about the NSW planning system and should not be relied upon as legal advice or as a site-specific planning assessment. Planning legislation, government policies and council procedures can change. Each development and property should be assessed against the legislation, environmental planning instruments and controls applying to the particular site and proposal.
Adam Murphy
Principal Building Designer
ANS Design
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