Lodging a development application

Before lodging an application, it is your responsibility to confirm the property address with council, especially in the case of a corner property with two road/street frontages.

To confirm the property address please contact council's property addressing officer on:

• (07) 5441 8178, or
• email [email protected].

eDevelopment application form

All development applications lodged electronically must include a completed eDevelopment application form.

This form is used to outline fee information and confirm agreement to correspond electronically. A business email address is preferred for receiving and sending electronic correspondence.

File format

All files must be in PDF format, where possible:

• created by a software program, not a scanner
• contain one specific document or set of plans per file, not packaged together
• unlocked with no password protection.

File size

File size requirements depend on how the application or correspondence is lodged:

• council's email mailbox will accept up to 15MB at one time
• council's online MyCouncil services will accept up to 40MB per file.

If a document or set of plans exceeds these limits, it should be:

• split into smaller files
• sent as separate emails (e.g. Landscape Plans 1 of 3) or uploaded as separate attachments (for MyCouncil users).

File naming

All file names must be:

• in 'plain english'
• titled to reflect the type of document, for example:
  • Covering Letter.pdf
  • Proposal Plans.pdf
  • Planning Report.pdf

MyCouncil is council's online portal that can be used for many personal and business services. Some of the benefits of lodging development applications through this service are:

• your application is immediately created in council's property system, saving administrative processing time
• no need to spread documents across many emails, because of size limitations.

Before you can lodge applications through this service, you will need to register for personal and business access.

Should you need to provide further documentation after you have lodged your application, you can provide this:

• by email
• in person, or
• by post.

More information

For more information or help setting up your MyCouncil registration, refer to the following:

• frequently asked questions
  • signing up with MyCouncil
  • business access
  • lodge development applications with MyCouncil.
• how to lodge development applications online (DOCX, 2.1MB) fact sheet, or
• contact council's development services to speak to a dedicated officer.

To lodge applications and correspondence by email, refer to the following guidelines:

• one application per email
• send emails to council's email [email protected] 
• provide all documentation in by following the electronic file requirements outlined above
• include the below details in the subject line:

At lodgement:

• Application type, address, number of emails
• Example: Operational Works Engineering (Stormwater, Carparking), 10 First Avenue Maroochydore, Email 1 of 2.

Post lodgement:

• Application reference, application stage, number of emails
• Example: OPW17/0000, Response for Information Request, Email 1 of 1.

You must provide two (2) copies of all documentation for hard copy applications.

Applications lodged under council's master planning process (i.e. Kawana, Maroochydore, PAC) require four (4) copies and a CD.

You can lodge your development application in person or by post.

For large applications or correspondence, you can lodge by requesting to use Council's file sharing service.

Protocols outlined below must be used:

• council can access the files at the time of sending
• provide all documentation by following the electronic file requirements outlined above, including:
  • completed eDevelopment application form
  • code checklist if required
  • file naming
  • file format
• each file does not exceed 40MB in size
• there is only one document per file
• the files are accessible at time of lodgement

Important: Documents for building and plumbing applications must be attached to an email. Council does not accept documents for these applications from a file sharing service.

Council requires payment within two (2) business days of lodgement. You can pay online, in person, by phone or post.

Online and emailed applications:

• council will provide an application reference number by email to enable payment.

Refer to council's how to pay for development applications (DOCX, 1.5MB) fact sheet for more information on:

• application payment options, and
• rectifying incorrect payments.

A list of council's fees for development applications is available in the register of regulatory fees and commercial charges.

For more assistance, please contact council's development services.