NDIS, SDA and Accessibility Drafting in Melbourne

NDIS and SDA work in Melbourne often starts with a building that is already standing. A provider, a builder or an occupational therapist needs drawings of that dwelling as it is, and drawings of the changes: a step-free entry, a wider door, a bathroom that a wheelchair can use, a ramp, a different circulation path. Arya Designs prepares those measured surveys and drafting drawings. An accredited SDA assessor certifies an SDA design category. A building surveyor assesses a building permit. We do not take either of those roles.

This work is a free quote. There is no published fee. A call-out fee may apply when we visit. Every drawing is issued as DWG and PDF.

Who sets the rules

Three different documents get named in the same conversation. They are not interchangeable.

NDIS Commission. Registered NDIS providers who deliver specialist disability accommodation follow the NDIS Practice Standards. The Commission's practice standards include a supplementary module for specialist disability accommodation. That module covers participant rights, agreements, conflicts of interest, and the enrolment of the dwelling against the design type and category that were identified. It is a provider obligation. It is not a drawing template.

SDA Design Standard. The NDIA publishes the SDA Design Standard. It sets design requirements for SDA dwellings in four categories named in the SDA Rules: Improved Liveability, Robust, Fully Accessible, and High Physical Support. For newly built SDA, enrolment applications include certification from an accredited SDA assessor, at design stage and again at final as-built stage. The NDIA's page says that assessor is not an employee of the provider, developer or owner, and that certification does not by itself enrol the dwelling. We prepare drawings an assessor and a builder can use. We do not issue the certificate.

Livable Housing Design Standard. The Australian Building Codes Board publishes the Livable Housing Design Standard. The NCC livable housing provisions call the standard up for Class 1a houses and Class 2 sole-occupancy units. The standard's own introduction says it is a minimum set of provisions, it is not written for specialist accommodation, and it is not equivalent to AS 1428.1. An ordinary livable-housing upgrade and an SDA category are different briefs. Tell us which one the drawings are for.

As-built measured surveys of existing dwellings

Before anyone designs a modification, the current building has to be drawn. An as-built measured survey records the walls, openings, room sizes, steps, door widths and the levels that the change depends on. It is a drafting measure of the building, not a title boundary survey.

That visit is site measurement and as-built drawings in Melbourne. You receive an editable DWG and a PDF. Where a laser scan is the right way to capture the dwelling, the scan is quoted with the job. We do not publish a scan price. A call-out fee may apply to the site visit.

A large example of the same kind of measure is the measured survey of Don Bosco Hostel in Brunswick. The hostel and youth centre were drawn on site because the older plans could not be relied on, and the set was delivered as DWG and PDF with area schedules for both levels. It is a measured survey of an existing building. It is not an SDA enrolment.

Existing houses and units are the same problem at a smaller scale: no current plan, or a plan that no longer matches the rooms.

Drawings for SDA and accessibility modifications

Once the existing dwelling is drawn, the modification drawings show the proposed work: entries, ramps, door swings, bathroom layouts, circulation, and the notes the builder needs. The brief usually comes from more than one person:

• The occupational therapist describes how the resident moves through the home, and which clearances and fixtures the design has to respect
• The builder needs sheets they can price and build from
• The provider or owner needs a drawing that matches the enrolment or permit path they are on
• The SDA assessor, where the dwelling is being enrolled or upgraded as SDA, checks the design against the SDA Design Standard for the nominated category
• The building surveyor assesses the building permit where one is required

We draw to that brief. We do not certify the SDA category, and we do not assess the permit. If the job is a full home extension rather than an accessibility modification, the residential services are a better fit, and those are a free quote as well.

NDIS evacuation plans are a different drawing: a diagram of how people leave the building, for a provider's emergency arrangements. Ask for that by name if it is what you need. A measured survey does not replace it, and an evacuation diagram does not replace the as-built.

Modification drawing sets that do not match a standard extension are scoped as custom drafting, still as DWG and PDF, still a free quote.

How a job runs

1. Send the address, photos, any existing plans, and what the drawings are for: a measured survey, an accessibility modification, an SDA design-stage set, or an evacuation diagram.
2. Tell us who else is involved (OT, builder, provider, assessor) and which standard they are working to.
3. We send a free quote before we book. A call-out fee may apply to the visit. A laser scan, if we recommend one, is named in that quote with no published rate.
4. We measure, draw, and issue DWG and PDF. The DWG is for the people who will keep designing. The PDF is for the people who need to read and lodge.

Related reading

• Site Measurements
• Don Bosco Hostel, Brunswick measured survey
• NDIS evacuation plans
• As-built drawings and on-site measure in Melbourne
• PDF vs DWG: why both files