How to comply with the Apartment Design Guide

Even after calculating a rough yield the actual number of apartments may be different because of the other rules from the apartment design guide. Two items worth checking because councils do enforce them rigorously is solar access and natural ventilation.

1. There are three big ticket items that councils really want to see compliance with which are solar access (70%), natural ventilation (60%) and common outdoor area (25)%. Check that the proposal complies with these percentages first because it is harder to get these to comply when the design is more developed.

2. Check that the apartments all meet the minimum size requirements.

3 bed: 90m² + 5m² for second bathroom

2 bed: 70m² + 5m² for second bathroom

1 bed: 50m² + 5m² 

studio: 30m²  + 5m² for second bathroom

3. Check that the minimum areas are complied with for storage, living areas, outdoor and bedrooms.

4. Check compliance with solar access, natural ventilation and common outdoor area again. Use solar access diagrams to demonstrate solar compliance to council.