Once a the intention has been identified for a property, a development application, complying development certificate application or other type of application is to be prepared.
Consultants are to be engaged. These may include (amongst others):
Surveyor
Building designer or architect
Engineers
Acoustic consultant
Traffic and parking consultant
Landscape architect
Arborist
Ecologist
Quantity surveyor
Building regulations consultant
Access consultant
Geotechnical engineer
Heritage expert
The intended project is reviewed against the relevant lodgement checklist. Careful consideration is given of whether the consultant needs to be engaged in the circumstances, rather than blindly following the checklist. Consultants are selected according to availability, competence and cost effectiveness. The consultants are briefed and their fee proposals are provided to the client to confirm acceptability. There is regular communication with the consultants and the timely provision of relevant information.
Typically the first step is to obtain a detailed survey. The architect or building designer then prepares an initial concept and that is provided to relevant consultants for initial review and comments. Firm Premise undertakes a detailed review at this stage (noting that an assessment under the town planning controls will have already been carried out at the advisory stage).
Based on those inputs, the architect or designer produces a more fully realised design and detailed consultant inputs are obtained. The final set of drawings is then prepared and final consultant reports are received. The development application (or other application) is then completed and submitted.
Throughout this process, Firm Premise reviews consultant inputs and ensures logical consistency between them. For example, if an arborist's report is obtained and it recommends a root protection zone around a tree that is to be retained, the designer and engineer inputs are checked for consistency.