CPD on 9 September 2026
LVA Architects Director Kevin Pham will be presenting a CPD session titled Reducing Approval Risk in Residential Development Projects on 9 September, addressing one of the most common – and most avoidable – causes of delay in residential development.
Drawing on LVA’s experience across alterations and additions, new dwellings, dual occupancies and small developments across NSW, the session challenges a common assumption: that approval delays are primarily a design problem. In practice, they are more often the result of an unclear approval pathway, uncoordinated consultant input, inadequate documentation, or a design that was never tested against Council or certifier requirements before lodgement.
The session covers:
- Assessing DA versus CDC pathways early, and how that decision shapes program, cost and risk downstream
- Common causes of Council and certifier RFIs, and how to design them out before lodgement rather than respond to them after
- Consultant coordination issues that quietly extend project timelines
- Building compliance and risk management into the design process from the outset, rather than treating it as a lodgement-stage exercise
This reflects LVA Architects’ broader approach to residential and specialist projects: strategy-led design that is tested against approval and compliance requirements from concept stage, not after a Council or certifier RFI forces a rethink.
For builders, developers, consultants and fellow architects, the presentation is available here:
Reducing Approval Risk in Residential Development Projects
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