The five stages of a Queensland development application, the statutory timeframes in business days, what slows a Gold Coast DA down, and who pays the fees and charges.
How long a DA takes in Queensland depends on which stages apply to it. Under the state’s Development Assessment Rules, the decision stage has a maximum of 35 business days excluding extensions, an applicant has up to 3 months to answer an information request, referral agencies generally have 25 business days, and impact-assessable applications add public notification, usually 15 business days. A simple code-assessable development application on the Gold Coast with no referral, information request or notification can be decided in weeks; a complex impact-assessable one can take many months.
There is no single number, because a Queensland development application – a DA – moves through up to five set stages, and only some of them apply to any given application. Each stage has its own statutory timeframe under the state’s Development Assessment Rules, counted in business days, and most can be extended by agreement. The two things that decide the overall length are the category of assessment (code or impact) and whether the application needs a state referral or an information request. The same rules apply to a development application on the Gold Coast, in Logan, Brisbane or any other Queensland council area, because each council assesses applications under its own planning scheme but follows the one state process.
The Development Assessment Rules set out how applications must be lodged, assessed and decided. The process has up to five parts:
These are the maximums in the rules, not predictions. Most stages can be extended by agreement, and the stage maximums exclude those extensions.
Under Queensland’s planning system, development is accepted (no approval needed), assessable (approval needed) or prohibited. Assessable development is either code assessed, against the planning scheme’s benchmarks with no public consultation, or impact assessed, a broader assessment that requires public notification so people can make submissions. The tables of assessment in the planning scheme set which category applies to each use in each zone – our guide to Gold Coast City Plan zones and overlays explains how to check yours.
Code assessment skips public notification altogether. If the referral, information request and public notification parts do not apply, council can issue its decision within the first 10 business days of the decision stage, so a straightforward code-assessable development application on the Gold Coast can be decided within weeks of being properly made. Impact assessment adds the notification part and, often, an information request, and the submissions it attracts can lead to an appeal.
A simple code-assessable application with no referral, no information request and no notification: the application part ends 10 business days after the application is properly made, and council can decide it within the first 10 business days of the decision stage – roughly a month in total, and up to about 45 business days if council uses the full decision period.
A complex impact-assessable application with a state referral and an information request: add the statutory maximums – up to 30 business days for the application part, 30 for referral, 60 for public notification and 35 for the decision – and you reach about 155 business days, or around seven months, before the applicant’s information response of up to 3 months and any agreed extensions. That is why larger subdivisions and apartment projects often plan for the best part of a year from lodgement to decision.
Preparation before lodging often saves more time than anything after it. On the Gold Coast, PD Online lets you search past applications on nearby land by address or application number, the City’s online guidance helps you check whether a project needs a development application at all, and council offers pre-lodgement meetings to discuss a proposal before it is lodged. Approvals next door show what council has supported – one of the things developers look for in a site.
The applicant pays council’s application fees and its own consultants, such as town planners, engineers and surveyors, plus any reports council asks for. If the development adds demand on trunk infrastructure, a council with a local government infrastructure plan can levy infrastructure charges through an infrastructure charges notice; in South East Queensland, water and wastewater charges are set by the water distributor-retailers. Developers include all of these costs in their feasibility, which is why they affect how a development site is valued. When land is sold subject to approval, the contract sets out who lodges and pays for the application, which is commonly the buyer.
If a buyer’s offer depends on a development approval, the contract – or an option agreement – should allow realistic time for every stage that could apply, plus a buffer for information requests and extensions. A short approval condition looks attractive but can lapse before council decides, while a very long one ties up your land. Weigh the length of any approval condition against the price, the deposit and the settlement date, as our guide to how to sell a development site explains. Some owners are better served by an unconditional sale at a slightly lower price; others by a higher price subject to approval. A property amalgamation with neighbours also usually runs on the timetable of a single development application lodged by the buyer.
GC Prestige specialises in development sites, amalgamations and off-market land sales across the Gold Coast, Logan, Brisbane and South East Queensland. Our development arm, South AZ Developments, has secured 21 development sites across the region, and our managing director, Oktay Vali, has settled more than $200 million in property transactions. We can review your zoning, overlays and likely approval pathway and give you a free, no-obligation development-site appraisal.
How long a DA takes in Queensland depends on the stages that apply. The decision stage is capped at 35 business days excluding extensions; information requests (up to 3 months to respond), state referrals (generally 25 business days for the agency) and public notification for impact-assessable applications (usually 15 business days) add time. Simple applications can be decided in weeks, complex ones in many months.
A development application on the Gold Coast follows the same state Development Assessment Rules as every Queensland council. A code-assessable application with no referral, information request or public notification can be decided within the first 10 business days of the decision stage; an impact-assessable application with referrals and an information request takes much longer.
Yes, for simple applications. If no referral, information request or public notification applies, council can issue its decision within the first 10 business days of the decision stage.
For impact-assessable applications, yes. They are publicly notified and anyone can make a submission, which also gives submitters appeal rights. Code-assessable applications are not publicly notified.
The State Assessment and Referral Agency. It assesses the parts of applications that affect a state interest, such as state-controlled roads or environmental values, as a referral agency.
No. Statutory timeframes under the DA Rules are counted in business days, which exclude weekends and public holidays. An information-request response period of up to 3 months is the exception, as it is set in months.
The applicant pays council’s application fees and its own consultants. If the development adds demand on trunk infrastructure, council can levy infrastructure charges through an infrastructure charges notice. When land is sold subject to approval, the contract sets out who lodges and pays, which is commonly the buyer.
Not always. Weigh the cost and the time a development application takes against the extra price an approval may bring. Many developers prefer to buy first and apply themselves, under a conditional contract or an option.
General information only, current at 11 November 2026. This guide is not legal, financial, tax or planning advice. Rules change, so check the official sources above and get advice from a solicitor, accountant or town planner for your situation. Updated 11 November 2026 by GC Prestige, 1300 937 981.