INSIGHT · PLANNING & APPROVALS

Two to six years, and a different
starting line in every state.

27 October 2026

How long does a DA approval last? As read on 27 October 2026, a NSW development consent lapses 5 years after it operates unless building, engineering or construction work is physically commenced (version current on 2 March 2026). A Victorian permit that states no time expires if development has not started within 3 years or is not completed within 5. Queensland gives 6 years for a material change of use, 4 for reconfiguring a lot and 2 for other development. SA, WA council approvals, Tasmania and the NT start from 2 years. An ACT approval ends after 5 years.

A locked gate on a vacant construction site with danger and no entry signs

Analysed 27 October 2026 · NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (version current on 2 March 2026) and Regulation 2021 (version current on 31 October 2025) · Vic Planning and Environment Act 1987, Authorised Version 167 (3 August 2026) and Version 161 (14 November 2025) · Qld Planning Act 2016 (current, 3 September 2026) · SA PDI (General) Regulations 2017 (17.9.2026) and PDI Act 2016 (30.7.2026) · WA Local Planning Schemes Regulations 2015 (6 October 2026) and DAP Regulations 2011 (1 July 2026) · Tas LUPA Act 1993 (current) · ACT Planning Act 2023 (R12, 1 October 2026) · NT Planning Act 1999 (10 February 2026) · all read 27 October 2026.

Key takeaways

The default runs from 2 to 6 years: Where the approval states no period (SA, Tasmania and the ACT provide for none): NSW 5 years (s 4.53(1)); Victoria 3 years to start and 5 to complete a development (s 68(1)); Queensland 6, 4 or 2 years by type (s 85(1)); SA 2 years from the development approval (reg 67); WA 2 years for a council approval and 4 for a development assessment panel (DAP) approval; Tasmania and the NT 2 years; the ACT 5 years (s 211(2)).
Starting is worded six ways: Physically commenced (NSW), start (Victoria), substantially start (Queensland), lawfully commenced by substantial work (SA), substantially commenced (WA, Tasmania, NT), and in the ACT an extension test of started and substantially progressed. NSW's Regulation lists work that does not count on its own.
Victoria's defaults changed on 25 November 2025: Before then, s 68(1)(a) set no default time to start a development and a permit with no stated time expired if the development was not completed within 2 years. Since 25 November 2025 the defaults are 3 years to start and 5 to complete, and s 231(16) applies them to earlier permits that had not expired.
In the ACT, starting work does not stop the clock: Section 211 of the Planning Act 2023 ends an approval 5 years after it takes effect. An extension, applied for no later than 6 months after that, needs the development to have started and be substantially progressed, and extensions are capped at 2 years in total.
We would store the lapse date with the section and the start evidence: A system-design recommendation: each approval record carries the instrument version read, the date the clock started, the computed lapse date, and the dated evidence of commencement.

The default period,
and what stops it running out

NSW (a shorter period only), Victoria, Queensland, WA and the NT let the approval itself set a different period. In SA (reg 67(1)), Tasmania (s 53(5)) and the ACT (s 211(2)) the period is set by the instrument, subject to extension.

Names differ: NSW grants a development consent, Victoria a planning permit, Queensland and WA a development approval, SA planning and building consents followed by a development approval, Tasmania a permit, the NT a development permit.

State	Default period if none is stated	What stops the lapse	Extension route	Instrument and version read
NSW	5 years after the date from which the consent operates; the consent authority may set less, but not under 2 years for a consent to erect or demolish a building or subdivide land (s 4.53(1) to (3))	For a building, subdivision or work: building, engineering or construction work physically commenced on the land before the lapse date (s 4.53(4)). For other development: the use actually commenced (s 4.53(5))	Where the authority set less than 5 years: an application before the period expires for 1 year, granted on good cause (s 4.54(1), (2))	Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, version current on 2 March 2026; Regulation 2021, version current on 31 October 2025; read 27 Oct 2026. Current text not verified (27 Oct 2026)
Victoria	Development: not started within 3 years, or not completed within 5 years, after the permit issued; a required plan of subdivision not certified within 2 years (s 68(1)). Use: not started within 3 years, or discontinued for 3 years (s 68(2))	Starting the development or each stage, then completing it, within the times; where a plan under the Subdivision Act 1988 is required, the use or development is taken to start when the plan is certified, unless the permit says otherwise (s 68(3A))	Ask the responsible authority before expiry or within 6 months after; to complete, within 12 months after expiry if the development started lawfully before it (s 69(1), (1A)). An extension after expiry runs from the expiry day (s 69(3))	Planning and Environment Act 1987, Authorised Version 167 as at 3 August 2026; read 27 Oct 2026
Queensland	Material change of use: 6 years after the approval starts to have effect; reconfiguring a lot: 4 years; any other part: 2 years (s 85(1))	The first change of use happens; the plan of reconfiguration is given to the local government; or the development substantially starts (s 85(1)(a) to (c))	Extension application to the assessment manager before the approval lapses, decided within 20 business days unless extended by agreement (ss 86(1), 87(2), (3))	Planning Act 2016, current version (point in time 3 September 2026); read 27 Oct 2026
South Australia	2 years from the operative date of the development approval later granted, or of the consent itself if none follows (reg 67(1)(a))	Lawfully commenced by substantial work on site within 2 years of the development approval: it runs to 3 years, and does not lapse if substantially or fully completed in those 3 years. Land division: a s 138 certificate application lodged within 2 years (reg 67(1)(b))	The relevant authority may extend, on its own initiative or on application; a court may also extend, on the application of a party to proceedings before it (Act s 126(3), (4))	PDI (General) Regulations 2017, version 17.9.2026; PDI Act 2016, version 30.7.2026; read 27 Oct 2026
WA	Local government approval: 2 years from the date of the determination (Sch 2 cl 71). Development assessment panel approval: 4 years from the grant (DAP Regulations reg 16A(2))	The development is substantially commenced: some substantial part of work in respect of the approved development has been performed (Sch 2 cl 1)	The owner applies to amend the approval to extend the period, during or after it (Sch 2 cl 77(1)(a), (2)(b)); for a DAP approval, reg 17(1)(a)	Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Regulations 2015, version 01-a0-00 (6 Oct 2026); Development Assessment Panels Regulations 2011, version 00-v0-00 (1 Jul 2026); read 27 Oct 2026
Tasmania	2 years from the grant, or from the determination or abandonment of an appeal (s 53(5)(a))	The use or development is substantially commenced (s 53(5))	A first 2-year extension (s 53(5A)), a further one (s 53(5B)), and a third only for technical or complex development (s 53(5D)); applications up to 6 months after lapse (s 53(5C))	Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993, current version as read 27 Oct 2026 (latest authorised version listed: 17 June 2025)
ACT	Ends 5 years after the day the approval takes effect (s 211(2)(a)); lease variations and use-only approvals follow ss 212 and 213	Not a commencement test. An extension needs the development to have started, be substantially progressed and be approvable if applied for that day (s 211(3))	Application no later than 6 months after the 5 years; more than once, up to 2 years in total (s 211(3) to (5))	Planning Act 2023, Republication No 12 effective 1 October 2026; read 27 Oct 2026
NT	The base period: the lapse date in the permit, or 2 years after the date of consent (s 3); the permit is in force during it (s 58(1))	Where consent is conditional on works and they are substantially commenced in the base period: automatically extended by 2 years (s 58(2)). Subdivision: the plan of survey approved (s 58(3)). Use: commenced in accordance with the permit (s 58(4))	The owner applies before the permit lapses; the consent authority may extend as it thinks fit (s 59)	Planning Act 1999, as in force at 10 February 2026 (reprint REPP029); read 27 Oct 2026

When the clock starts,
and what counts as starting.

Some instruments count from grant or issue, some from when the approval operates or takes effect, and SA and Tasmania move the start for an appeal. Most name the commencement event but do not list what meets it, which leaves the evidence to the person holding the approval.

From when the consent operates, or takes effect: NSW counts from the date from which the consent operates (s 4.53(1)). Queensland counts from when the approval starts to have effect (s 85(1)). The ACT counts from the day the approval takes effect (s 211(2)(a)), with the rules for that in s 210, which we did not read in full.
From the issue or determination: Victoria counts from the issue of the permit (s 68(1)). WA counts from the date on which the determination is made (Sch 2 cl 71), while the determination has effect on the day the notice is given (cl 70(2)). The NT counts from the date of consent, the later of the permit's issue and any reissue after a review order (s 3).
Moved by an appeal: SA's operative date is the later of the grant and the end of any appeal or review (reg 67(3)), and the consent clock runs from the development approval, not from planning consent (reg 67(1)(a)). Tasmania counts from the grant or from the determination or abandonment of an appeal (s 53(5)(a)).
NSW: physically commenced, with a list of what is not: Work is not taken to have been physically commenced merely by creating a bore hole for soil testing, removing water or soil for testing, survey work including placing pegs, acoustic testing, removing vegetation as an ancillary activity, or marking the ground to show how land will be developed (Regulation s 96(1)). The list does not apply to a consent granted before 15 May 2020 (s 96(2)).
Queensland and SA: substantially start, substantial work: Queensland's s 85(1)(c) asks whether the development substantially starts. SA's reg 67(1)(b) asks whether it has been lawfully commenced by substantial work on the site within 2 years.
WA, Tasmania and the NT: substantially commenced: WA defines it as some substantial part of work in respect of the approved development having been performed (Sch 2 cl 1). Tasmania's s 53(5) and the NT's s 58(2) use the phrase without a definition in the sections we read.
Victoria: start, then finish: Section 68 asks whether the development or any stage starts within the time, and then whether it is completed within the completion time. A permit can expire for late completion even after a timely start.

Rules that changed
in the last two years

Victoria, NSW and Tasmania changed their lapse provisions between December 2024 and March 2026. A lapse date computed before a change needs to be checked against the text now in force.

The ACT's Planning Act 2023 is itself a new Act. Its s 211 ends approvals after 5 years; we did not read the Act it replaced.

State	Before	Now	Instrument and version read
Victoria	A development permit with no stated time expired if the development was not completed within 2 years; no default time to start (s 68(1), Version 161 as at 14 Nov 2025)	3 years to start, 5 years to complete; amended by No. 6/2025 s 140, in operation 25 November 2025. The amended section applies to permits issued earlier that had not expired by then (s 231(16))	Planning and Environment Act 1987, Versions 161 and 167; read 27 Oct 2026
NSW	s 4.53 carried extra periods for consents operating during a prescribed period (subsections (1)(b), (c), (3A), (6)(b), (c)), in the version current on 6 December 2025	s 4.53 substituted by 2025 No 71 Sch 1[95]: 5 years, the physical commencement rule, and no prescribed-period provisions in s 4.53 itself, in the version current on 2 March 2026; any savings provision for earlier consents not read	EP&A Act 1979, versions current on 6 Dec 2025 and 2 Mar 2026; read 27 Oct 2026. Commencement date of the substitution not verified (27 Oct 2026)
Tasmania	Up to two 2-year extensions (s 53(5A), (5B))	A third extension for technical or complex development (s 53(5D)), inserted by No. 31 of 2024, applied 13 December 2024	LUPA Act 1993, current version; read 27 Oct 2026

What we would put in a system

Where agents help here is narrow. A document intelligence agent can read a consent, permit or decision notice, extract the grant date, any stated period and the conditions, and propose a lapse date from the stored rule; a person confirms it. No agent decides whether work on site counts as physically or substantially commenced, or whether an approval is still alive. Those are questions for the approving authority, a certifier, a court and your advisers.

Field	Why it is load-bearing
Instrument, section and version read	Victoria's defaults changed on 25 November 2025; NSW's section was substituted between December 2025 and March 2026. A lapse date computed under the old text can be wrong.
Date the clock starts, and why	Grant, issue, effect, the end of an appeal, or the later development approval in SA. Each is a different day.
Default or stated period, and the computed lapse date	A stated period replaces the default in NSW (shorter only), Victoria, Queensland, WA and the NT; SA, Tasmania and the ACT set the period in the instrument. Store which one applied.
Commencement evidence, dated	Date, the work done, photographs, inspection or survey records, and who recorded them, against the instrument's words (physically commenced, substantially commenced, substantial work).
Extension applications and decisions	Date lodged, the deadline it had to meet (before expiry, within 6 months after, or 12 months for completion in Victoria), and the new date granted.

Questions worth asking
of your own approvals register

For a developer holding sites in several states: does each approval record show which section its lapse date came from?

The defaults run from 2 to 6 years and each counts from a different event. A register that holds only the grant date cannot show which rule was applied. General information as read on 27 October 2026, not legal or planning advice.

For a builder starting work to keep a consent alive: what record shows the start, and does it describe work the instrument counts?

NSW's Regulation lists survey pegs, soil testing and marking the ground as not enough on their own (s 96(1)). A dated photo of a survey peg may not describe the work that matters. Whether work counts is for the authority or a court, not a register.

For a Victorian developer: which permits issued before 25 November 2025 moved to the new 3 and 5 year defaults?

Section 231(16) applies amended s 68 to permits issued before that day that had not expired by it. The query needs each permit's issue date, any stated times, and whether it had already expired. General information, not legal advice.

For a development manager in the ACT: is the 5-year end date in the programme as a hard date?

Section 211 ends the approval 5 years after it takes effect, with extensions of up to 2 years in total. A programme that assumes starting work preserves the approval is reading another state's rule.

Questions people ask
about how long a DA approval lasts

How long does a DA approval last in NSW?

Under s 4.53 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (version current on 2 March 2026), a development consent lapses 5 years after the date from which it operates, unless a shorter period is set; a consent to erect or demolish a building or subdivide land cannot be cut below 2 years. It does not lapse if building, engineering or construction work is physically commenced before then. General information as read on 27 October 2026, not legal advice.

When does a planning permit expire in Victoria?

Under s 68 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 (Authorised Version 167, 3 August 2026), a development permit that states no time expires if the development has not started within 3 years or is not completed within 5 years after it issued. A use permit expires if the use has not started within 3 years or stops for 3 years. These defaults apply from 25 November 2025. An extension can be sought before expiry or within 6 months after (s 69). General information, not legal advice.

How long does a development approval last in Queensland?

Section 85 of the Planning Act 2016 sets the currency period where the approval states none: 6 years for a material change of use, 4 years for reconfiguring a lot, and 2 years for any other development, counted from when the approval starts to have effect. An extension application must be made before it lapses (s 86). As read on 27 October 2026; general information, not legal advice.

How long does planning consent last in South Australia?

Under reg 67 of the PDI (General) Regulations 2017 (version 17.9.2026), a consent lapses 2 years from the operative date of the development approval granted for it. If the development is lawfully commenced by substantial work within those 2 years, it runs to 3 years, and does not lapse if substantially or fully completed in that time. Extensions are under s 126(3) of the Act. General information, not legal advice.

What counts as substantially commenced in WA?

Schedule 2 clause 1 of the Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Regulations 2015 defines it as some substantial part of work in respect of the approved development having been performed. A local government approval must reach that within 2 years of the determination unless it states otherwise (cl 71); a development assessment panel approval within 4 years (DAP Regulations reg 16A). As read on 27 October 2026; general information, not legal advice.

What this analysis
does and does not show.

Evidence note

What it shows: The default lapse or end period for a development approval, the event that keeps it alive, the extension route and the section, in the planning legislation of all eight states and territories, at the versions listed, as read on 27 October 2026; and the 2025 changes to the Victorian and NSW provisions.
Key facts quoted: NSW s 4.53: 5 years, physical commencement. Vic s 68: 3 years to start, 5 to complete, from 25 Nov 2025. Qld s 85: 6, 4 or 2 years. SA reg 67: 2 years, 3 if substantial work within 2. WA cl 71: 2 years; DAP reg 16A: 4 years. Tas s 53(5): 2 years plus up to three extensions. ACT s 211: ends at 5 years, extensions up to 2. NT s 58: 2 years, automatically 2 more if works substantially commenced.

NSW was read from Internet Archive copies of the register: the Act as captured on 2 March 2026 and on 6 December 2025, and the Regulation as captured on 31 October 2025. The live register blocked automated access on 27 October 2026, so any later amendment, and the commencement date of the 2025 substitution of s 4.53, are not verified.
South Australia was read through a rendering proxy because the register blocks automated access. Parts of the Victorian register were read the same way. All texts are saved with the article.
Only the general lapse provisions were read. State significant, major project, complying development, outline consent, PDA and SDA approvals, and transitional provisions other than those named, can follow other rules.
We did not read the ACT's s 210 in full, or the Act the ACT's 2023 Act replaced, or any planning scheme provision that sets its own period.
Nothing here is legal or planning advice. It does not determine whether any approval has lapsed or whether any work counts as commencement.

Bring us one approval
and the date you think it lapses.

Send us a consent or permit and the commencement records you hold for it. We will show you which section and version the lapse date is read against, where the clock starts, and whether your records describe the start in the instrument's terms.

General information about published legislation only. It is not legal or planning advice and it does not determine whether any approval has lapsed or whether any work is a commencement. Provisions as read on 27 October 2026 at the versions listed in the sources.

Send us the approval · Development management

Sources

Suggested citation: planning legislation of NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, WA, Tasmania, the ACT and the NT, at the versions listed, as read 27 October 2026. Derived figures: none.

Two to six years, and a different starting line in every state.