Design professionals in NSW face new challenges and opportunities. Things are changing on the construction scene, and design professionals wishing to be part of this change should be looking at professional accreditation and exactly what that means to the future of their professional career.

The introduction of the new Complying Development Medium Density Housing Code by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment, with a requirement that these types of development must be designed by a Registered Architect or a Building Designer accredited by the Building Designers Association of Australia (BDAA), has opened up exciting opportunities for design professionals to be recognised for their design skills.

Things are changing on the construction scene, and Design Professionals wishing to be part of this change should be looking at professional accreditation and exactly what that means to the future of their professional career.

In this day and age, consumers, clients, customers, call them what you will, have become better informed about where, why and how much of their money they will spend. Savvy consumers carry out their own checks and read reviews about items they are going to buy. This also holds true for employing professionals - and by that, we mean accredited professionals.

The amount of money to they will spend on a home is going to be the most expensive item a couple will buy and you can bet they will want everything up front and legal, including approved building designs.

New Development Code

A new complying development code was introduced by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment providing an opportunity for approval of certain low rise medium density housing projects which requires the inclusion of a design verification statement prepared by a Registered Architect or an Accredited Building Designer.

This is a great opportunity for design professionals to be recognised for their skills in design of these types of developments. Accreditation of professionals means: the action or process of officially recognizing someone as having a particular status or being qualified to perform a particular activity.
This is a formal recognition for Design Professionals and the Building Design Association of Australia, the BDAA, which is specifically mentioned in the changes to the code as mentioned above.

The change has allowed those Design Professionals who are accredited to prepare designs for approval as a Complying Development Certificate (CDC) for specific housing types such as terrace style housing, dual occupancies and semi-detached dwellings, townhouse developments, community tilted developments and manor house developments.

There are some significant benefits with the new Code, and they include:

time and money savings for homeowners;
increased housing supply to improve housing affordability;
improved design of medium density housing proposals;
cutting of red tape.

It has taken almost two decades for the Building Designers Association of Australia (BDAA) to have accreditation further recognised by government, and to become accredited, Design Professionals must undergo an assessment program conducted by the Building Designers Association of Australia that satisfies the standards required to undertake these medium density developments.

Design Professionals wishing to become accredited by the BDAA can contact the association at bdaa.com.au where they can find all the necessary information for them to be part of this exciting new initiative by the NSW Government.

While there has been a period of delay with regard to some councils introducing the rules, it will soon be law. These delays have, in fact, allowed for Design Professionials to better plan their application for accreditation with BDAA over the coming 12 months.

Photo 1
Photography: Marian Riabic
Designer: Sanctum Design

Photo 2
Designer: Gerard Smith Designs

Architecture & Design Team

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Building Designers Association of Australia

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