Security of payment in South Australia
SA’s scheme is the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2009. The Small Business Commission SA publishes guidance for builders and construction businesses on making a claim under it.
As with other states, deadlines are strict and vary by step, so we point you to the official guidance instead of summarising them.
The Planning and Design Code
Planning runs under the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016. The Planning and Design Code is a single statewide instrument, and applications are lodged through the PlanSA portal.
For fee proposals that consistency is useful: the same zone and overlay names apply across Adelaide and the regions, so stage templates travel well between councils.
What we left out
We could not find an official South Australian source describing a registration or licensing scheme specifically for building designers, so this page doesn’t describe one. If you know of a current official source, we’d like to hear about it through the waitlist form.
Example: an Adelaide hills new home
- Stage 1: concept design (building designer)
- A$3,300
- Stage 2: Code assessment drawings via PlanSA (building designer)
- A$2,860
- Stage 2: bushfire and site reports (consultant)
- A$1,100
- Stage 3: engineering (engineer)
- A$2,640
- Client pays per stage
- A$9,900 total
Illustrative only. DrafterShare would issue one invoice per stage and split it to the consultants on that stage once payments are live (planned).
Using DrafterShare in SA
This page is general information drawn from the official sources listed below, not legal advice. Check the current law, and get advice on your own contract.
Try the live demo with sample data, or join the pilot waitlist.
Questions
Does every SA council have its own planning scheme?
No. The Planning and Design Code is a single statewide instrument, administered through PlanSA.
Is there a building designer licence in SA?
We couldn’t confirm one from an official source, so we don’t say either way. Check with the relevant SA regulator.
Sources
Official pages we relied on, checked 27 October 2026. Laws change; always read the current version.
- Security of Payment Act claims (builders and construction businesses) (opens in a new tab) · Small Business Commission SA
- Planning and Design Code (opens in a new tab) · PlanSA