IDEAS · PLANS · BUILDABILITY
Turn your ideas into a practical layout, with building experience involved from the start. Explore the design stages, fees and inclusions.
Sydney · Direct builder involvement
A floor plan needs to work for your household, your property and the construction budget. Bringing building experience into the design conversation helps identify the practical questions before you commit to a layout.
Scott brings 20 years of building experience to Elite Additions. We coordinate residential design and drafting with the relevant designers, engineers and certifiers, considering the existing home, access, structure and the work needed to bring the design to life.
Our design work can support extensions, first-floor additions, renovations, granny flats, new and custom homes, duplexes, decks and pergolas. Each proposal needs its own site and approval assessment.
Design with us. Choose your builder. Commissioning custom design work does not commit you to building with Elite Additions. Before you start, your design agreement will explain which issued, paid-for plans you can take to another builder for your property, the permission needed to develop them further and the files included. Read about using your custom plans and the DA and complying development pathways.
Explore: Stages and fees · Inclusions · Additional costs · Your own architect or designer
No charge
An initial online feasibility discussion to understand the property, your ideas and potential constraints. This is an early review, not a guarantee of approval or a substitute for a survey, engineering or formal assessment.
$2,970 including GST
Develop the initial floor plan and elevations, review the layout with you and prepare a preliminary building estimate once the concept is agreed. Site measurement and the concept-stage deliverables are described below.
$2,970 including GST
Prepare the agreed drawing set and coordinate the submission documentation and relevant consultants. Approval is determined by the relevant authority or certifier; consultant and authority charges need separate allowances.
Advertised total for the two paid design stages: $5,940 including GST. These are the design fees, not a construction price or an all-inclusive allowance for every consultant and approval cost. We confirm the project scope, deliverables and any separately quoted work before starting a paid stage.
Concept stage: a builder site visit, site measurement, drawings of the existing structure where relevant, concept plans and elevations, concept amendments and a builder’s preliminary estimate after you agree the design.
Submission stage: develop the drawings for the applicable approval requirements, coordinate the submission and liaise with the consultants needed for that proposal.
The concept-stage payment covers the measured visit and initial drawing work. Confirm the deliverables and payment arrangements in your design proposal. A concept estimate is not the final construction contract price.
Design illustrations help discuss layouts and appearance. Final details still depend on documentation, engineering, selections and approvals.
The required consultants and authority charges depend on the property and proposed work. Obtain current quotes and fee information rather than treating a generic list of historic amounts as your project budget.
Property information: a planning certificate, boundary and level survey, and geotechnical information where required.
Design and technical input: structural engineering, stormwater or hydraulic design, sustainability documentation such as BASIX where applicable, waste management, landscape plans and environmental assessment.
Site-specific reports: bushfire, flood, heritage, flora or fauna assessments where the property and approval pathway require them.
Approvals and other charges: application and certifier fees, applicable levies and development contributions. Any additional designer or interior-designer services should also have a clear scope and fee.
We check the property, proposed work and applicable planning controls before recommending a pathway. Some minor work may be exempt if it meets all the relevant requirements. For larger residential projects, the DA and CDC routes organise the approval and documentation work differently.
Concept and early checks → DA drawings and required reports → development consent → detailed construction documentation and consent conditions → Construction Certificate → pre-start requirements.
A Development Application (DA) allows the consent authority, usually council, to assess the proposal. The submission may need a survey, architectural plans, a Statement of Environmental Effects, stormwater information, BASIX and site-specific reports such as bushfire or heritage advice. The actual checklist depends on the property, council and proposal.
After development consent, the Construction Certificate (CC) package generally develops the construction details, engineering and specifications, and addresses the relevant consent conditions. Important structural, drainage or site constraints may need investigation before the DA; they should not all be left until afterwards. DA approval alone is not permission to start building.
Eligibility check → concept → coordinated architectural and technical documents → Complying Development Certificate → pre-start requirements.
A Complying Development Certificate (CDC) combines planning and construction approval for eligible work that meets the applicable requirements. It can be issued by council or a registered certifier. The documents needed for that assessment are brought together before the CDC is issued: these may include engineering, stormwater plans, specifications, BASIX and relevant site reports. A separate Construction Certificate is not required for the same work approved by the CDC.
Neither route skips the required pre-start arrangements, inspections or occupation certification. We confirm which documentation and coordination services are included in your proposal, which consultants are separately engaged and whether a later CC package is an additional stage. This overview does not expand the advertised design package to include every approval or consultant service.
Official guidance: NSW complying development, Construction Certificates, and the Hornsby DA document checklist. For bushfire-specific considerations, read our Flame Zone and BAL guide.
The relevant authority or certifier determines the approval requirements. Read the NSW Planning Portal guidance, and ask which costs are included, separately quoted or still to be confirmed.
You do not have to appoint Elite Additions for construction. For a custom design commissioned specifically for your property, we agree the plan-use rights in writing before design work starts. That agreement identifies the issued drawings supplied after payment for the completed stage, their permitted use by your chosen builder or replacement designer, and any permission needed for further design development.
The right to use a design is different from ownership of its copyright. We confirm the arrangements with any contributing designer rather than treating payment alone as a copyright transfer. Editable CAD or SketchUp source files, consultant reports and third-party catalogue designs are not automatically included. Concept plans still need the appropriate further documentation and approvals before construction.
Our policy is to make builder choice and document-use arrangements clear before you commit, not to require a building contract as a condition of purchasing custom design services. See IP Australia on licensing for the distinction between permission to use a work and ownership.
You do not have to use our design service to build with Elite Additions. Bring your existing drawings, engineering and approval information, and we can discuss the construction scope and prepare a quote from the available documentation.
For early ideas, the next step may be a concept discussion. For completed plans, it may be a building review and a clearer schedule of inclusions. We will explain what information is needed rather than assume every project starts from scratch.
See our building process, explore custom home designs and project homes, or view our completed building work.
Tell Scott your suburb, the work you have in mind and whether any plans already exist. Select Design & plans or I have plans in the enquiry form. Drawings and photographs can be shared after contact; file upload is not part of the current form.
ELITE ADDITIONS · SYDNEY
Builder-led guidance for Sydney homes, backed by 20 years of building experience.
Scott Meyers · Your builder
20 years of building experience
A starting point is all we need.
Prefer to speak? Call Scott · 0433 765 885
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