Pre Purchase Development Feasibility Report
(Single Residence)

Understand a property’s development potential and limitations before you buy

$1,850

(including GST)

Buying a property with development potential can be exciting, but it can also be high risk. This report helps you understand what may be possible before you commit. We assess the planning controls, key constraints, likely approval pathways, and explore two potential development directions so you can make a more informed decision.

Features

  • We may require up to 5 working days to complete the research and issue the report. Expedited delivery may be available on request.

  • This service provides preliminary planning and feasibility guidance only.

  • We do not provide purchase advice, legal advice, or contract review advice.

  • We do not verify boundaries, easements, encroachments, or boundary discrepancies.

  • We do not provide survey, measured plans, scans, or formal design documentation as part of this service.

  • Any development potential identified is indicative only and subject to further investigation and approval by the relevant authority.

Ideal for:

  • Property Buyers who need help understanding the development potential of a property

  • Property Vendors wanting to emphasise potential with planning metrics

Exclusions & Conditions:

  • We may require up to 5 working days to complete the research and issue the report. Expedited delivery may be available on request.

  • This service provides preliminary planning and feasibility guidance only.

  • We do not provide purchase advice, legal advice, or contract review advice.

  • We do not verify boundaries, easements, encroachments, or boundary discrepancies.

  • We do not provide survey, measured plans, scans, or formal design documentation as part of this service.

  • Any development potential identified is indicative only and subject to further investigation and approval by the relevant authority.

FAQs for Pre Purchase Development Feasibility Report (Single Residence)

  • It is a desktop-based report that helps you understand the planning controls, development potential, and likely constraints of a property before you buy it.

  • It is ideal for property buyers who want a clearer understanding of what may be possible on a site before committing to purchase. It can also be useful for property vendors wanting to highlight development potential.

  • The report includes a review of relevant planning controls, key site constraints, indicative planning calculations, likely approval pathways, and two high-level development opportunities based on the information available.

  • That depends on the property, but examples may include extensions, reconfiguration, secondary dwellings, redevelopment potential, or other high-level development pathways that appear worth considering.

  • This service is delivered by a Registered Architect who can assess information from multiple sources and apply professional judgment to it. That includes planning controls, mapped data, contract material, council instruments, site context, and real-world development considerations.

    Online AI tools can be useful for quick summaries, but they often miss nuance, make assumptions, or fail to weigh conflicting information properly. This service is designed to give you a more reliable, property-specific view based on professional experience, not just automated data output.

  • No. We do not provide purchase advice, legal advice, or contract advice. The report is intended to help you better understand the planning and development context of the property.

  • No. The report provides an early feasibility opinion only. Any future development outcome remains subject to further investigation, consultant input, design development, and approval by the relevant authority.

  • Not usually. This service is intended for relatively straightforward residential properties where a desktop feasibility review can provide useful early guidance.

    For apartment buildings, subdivisions, mixed-use sites, or more complex development scenarios, we offer a separate feasibility and development advisory service with a broader scope. You can find that here.

  • No. This is a desktop-based service and does not include a site inspection, survey, measured drawings, or 3D scanning.

    If you need a more detailed property review with site inspection, scanning, or measured information, please see our design consultation services here.

  • No. This service does not include concept plans, measured drawings, or formal design work. It is intended as an early feasibility and planning review only.

    If you would like concept options, design thinking, or measured 3D inputs, please see our 3D Design Consultation.

  • We may need up to 5 working days to complete the research and issue the report. If you need it faster, speak to us and we can let you know whether an expedited turnaround is possible.

  • Usually we need the property address and any purchase or contract documentation you already have. The more relevant information you can share upfront, the more precise and useful the report is likely to be.

$1,850

(including GST)

Terms and Conditions

These Terms and Conditions apply to all Ballast Point services, including but not limited to design consultations, feasibility studies, pre-purchase advice, site inspections, 3D scanning, concept design services, roadmap reports, and related advisory services.

By engaging us, you acknowledge and agree to the following.

1.Nature of our services
Our services are intended to provide professional guidance, preliminary advice, strategic input, design thinking, feasibility commentary, and practical direction based on the scope of the service selected.

Unless expressly stated otherwise in writing, our services do not constitute:

  • formal architectural services beyond the agreed scope

  • complete development application or construction certificate documentation

  • town planning certification

  • legal advice

  • financial advice

  • property purchase advice

  • structural, geotechnical, hydraulic, civil, heritage, acoustic, fire, access, quantity surveying, or other specialist consultant advice

  • a building defect report

  • a pest inspection report

  • a cadastral or identification survey

  • a certificate of compliance

  • a guarantee that a project can or will be approved, built, or delivered in a particular way

Any concepts, sketches, options, commentary, calculations, measurements, roadmaps, strategies, or opinions we provide are to be read in the context of the agreed service scope only

2.Preliminary advice only

Many of our services are preliminary in nature and are designed to help clients make earlier-stage decisions. This includes feasibility services, pre-purchase reviews, concept consultations, desktop planning reviews, and similar advisory services.

These services are not a substitute for full design development, formal consultant investigations, statutory approval processes, contract review, legal due diligence, or detailed documentation.

Where we provide a roadmap, likely pathway, or opinion on what may be possible, this is a preliminary professional view only and remains subject to further investigation, authority requirements, consultant input, design development, and detailed assessment.

3. No guarantee of approval, compliance, cost, or outcome

Unless explicitly stated in writing, we do not warrant or guarantee:

  • that council, certifiers, or other authorities will support or approve a proposal

  • that a property is suitable for any particular development outcome

  • that any design or concept will comply with all applicable requirements without further work

  • that indicative costs, buildability commentary, development potential, timelines, or yields will be achieved

  • that third-party information is complete, current, or free from error

All approvals, project outcomes, timing, feasibility, and costs remain subject to matters outside our control.

4. Inspections, site reviews, and limitations

Where a service includes a site visit, walk-through inspection, visual review, or property consultation, this inspection is limited to what is reasonably observable at the time and within the agreed service scope.

Our inspections are not a substitute for:

  • a systematic building defect inspection

  • a pest inspection

  • a dilapidation report

  • specialist engineering inspections

  • intrusive investigation

  • opening up of walls, floors, ceilings, roofs, services, or concealed areas

If you are purchasing a property and have concerns about building defects, pest activity, structural condition, moisture ingress, or hidden issues, you should obtain separate specialist reports.

5. Measurements, scans, mapping, and existing conditions information

Where a service includes scanning, measured review, sketching, desktop mapping, photogrammetry, or site measurement, that information is provided for the purpose of the agreed service only.

Unless expressly stated otherwise in writing:

  • measurements may be approximate

  • desktop mapping, aerial imagery, photogrammetry, and public data may contain inaccuracies

  • scans and measured information may not identify every discrepancy, hidden condition, or site irregularity

  • our services do not replace the need for a registered survey where precise site dimensions, boundary definition, levels, title matters, or formal documentation are required

Clients must not rely on preliminary measurements, scans, or sketch information for construction, fabrication, certification, boundary verification, or legal purposes unless we have expressly confirmed in writing that the relevant information is suitable for that purpose.

6. Feasibility and planning advice

Where we provide feasibility advice, planning commentary, indicative planning calculations, or development scenarios, this is based on the information reasonably available at the time, which may include planning controls, maps, public records, supplied documents, desktop research, and our professional interpretation.

Unless expressly stated otherwise:

  • feasibility services are not formal town planning certificates or planning opinions from council

  • they are not legal interpretations of planning law

  • they are not substitutes for formal consultant advice or pre-lodgement advice from the relevant authority

  • any development opportunities identified are indicative only

Some services may involve a higher-level desktop review only, while others may involve deeper planning analysis. The level of detail and reliability depends on the service selected and the scope agreed.

7. Other consultants and third parties

Unless otherwise stated in writing, our fees exclude the cost of external consultants, authorities, and third parties, including but not limited to:

  • land surveyors

  • structural engineers

  • geotechnical engineers

  • hydraulic, civil, or stormwater consultants

  • heritage consultants

  • arborists

  • private certifiers

  • access consultants

  • fire consultants

  • town planners

  • planning solicitors

  • quantity surveyors

  • energy assessors

  • council or authority application fees

  • statutory charges, lodgement fees, and government fees

Where we recommend or coordinate external consultants, they are engaged as separate parties unless expressly included in our written scope. We are not responsible for the acts, omissions, fees, advice, timing, or deliverables of third-party consultants or authorities.

8. Information provided by the client

Our advice depends in part on the accuracy and completeness of the information provided to us by the client and other third parties.

You agree to provide us with all relevant documents and information available to you, including where applicable:

  • title or contract documents

  • plans, surveys, reports, approvals, or consultant documents

  • correspondence from council or certifiers

  • photographs and site information

  • any known issues or constraints affecting the property

We are entitled to rely on information supplied by you or others unless we have reason to believe it is materially incorrect.

9. Reliance and use of our documents

Our reports, sketches, concepts, advice, and other deliverables are prepared solely for the client and for the purpose described in the agreed scope.

They must not be relied upon by third parties, reused for another purpose, or used for construction, certification, legal proceedings, marketing, or authority submissions unless that use is expressly contemplated in the service scope or approved by us in writing.

Preliminary concepts, sketches, strategies, and roadmaps are for discussion and decision-making purposes only unless and until developed further under a separate engagement.

10. Fixed-price services and scope limits

Any fixed-price service is limited to the scope expressly described in the relevant proposal, booking page, service description, or quotation.

If additional work is required beyond that scope, including further options, revised concepts, additional meetings, deeper investigations, extended consultant coordination, broader planning analysis, or work outside the nominated property or site constraints, we may provide an additional fee proposal.

11. Geographic and project-type limitations

Some of our fixed-price services may be limited by project type, scale, location, council area, timing, complexity, or property class.

Where a service is advertised at a fixed price, that price applies only to the service parameters stated at the time of engagement. If the property, project, or council area falls outside those parameters, we may still be able to assist, but different pricing or a tailored scope may apply.

12. Timeframes

Any timeframe we provide is an estimate only and depends on the scope, the quality of information available, consultant input, access, and our current workload.

We are not liable for delays caused by incomplete information, third parties, consultants, authorities, weather, access limitations, technology limitations, or matters outside our control.

13. Professional standards

In providing architectural services, we are bound by applicable professional obligations, including the NSW Code of Professional Conduct and any other relevant professional and statutory requirements.

Clients are expected to deal with us fairly, provide timely information, and make decisions within a reasonable time so that services can proceed efficiently.

14. Intellectual property

Unless otherwise agreed in writing, all copyright and intellectual property in our drawings, reports, concepts, scans, images, diagrams, text, and other deliverables remains with Ballast Point or the relevant author.

Payment of our fee does not transfer copyright. You may use the deliverables for the purpose for which they were provided, but not for other projects, reproduction, commercial reuse, or transfer to others except as permitted by law or agreed in writing.

15. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our liability in relation to any service is limited to the fee paid for that service.

We are not liable for indirect loss, consequential loss, loss of opportunity, lost profits, financing impacts, purchase decisions, project delays, authority decisions, consultant errors, hidden defects, boundary discrepancies, or costs arising from reliance on preliminary advice beyond its intended purpose.

Nothing in these Terms and Conditions excludes rights that cannot be excluded under applicable law.

16. Acceptance

By booking, paying for, instructing us to commence, or otherwise engaging our services, you confirm that you have read, understood, and accepted these Terms and Conditions.

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