SAPPA guide: look up zones and overlays for an SA property

SAPPA, the SA Property and Planning Atlas, is the South Australian Government's free online map for looking up a property. You type in an address, right-click the land parcel, and SAPPA shows the zone, subzone, overlays and technical and numeric variations that apply under the Planning and Design Code, with links through to the Code policies for that property. It lives at sappa.plan.sa.gov.au. It is run by the state, it costs nothing, and it is the place to start for any SA address.

This guide walks through how to use it as a buyer, what each part of the result means, and what SAPPA does not tell you.

How to look up a property in SAPPA

1. Open SAPPA and accept the disclaimer. The first screen tells you that using the tool means you consent to its disclaimer. Click OK.
2. Search for the property. The search box takes an address, suburb, council, postcode or hundred. The Find menu also has searches by plan parcel, title reference (for example a Certificate of Title) and valuation number, which helps when an address is new or shared.
3. Right-click the parcel. Right-clicking on the map brings up the information panel for that spot. If the parcel has details, they appear under Land Parcels.
4. Click "Planning Zones and Overlays". This button in the Land Parcels panel lists what the Planning and Design Code applies to that parcel: the zone, any subzone, the overlays and the technical and numeric variations.
5. Open the Code policies. The same panel links to the PlanSA Code pages for the property, labelled "All policies that apply to this property" and "Policies for development at this property". This is where the rules themselves are written.
6. Turn on the map layers if you want to see the boundaries. In the Layers menu, open Planning and Building, then Planning and Design Code, to draw the zones and overlays on the map. This shows whether a boundary runs through the block or just past it.
7. Measure or print if you need to. The Tools menu has Measure Distance and Measure Area, and you can print the current map to PDF or JPG at A4 or A3.

How to read the Planning and Design Code result

South Australia has one planning rulebook for the whole state, the Planning and Design Code. SAPPA tells you which parts of it apply to a parcel. The four things in the "Planning Zones and Overlays" list do different jobs.

Zone. The main land use setting, such as a residential, rural or employment zone. The zone decides what kinds of development the Code expects there and how a proposal will be assessed.

Subzone. A smaller area inside a zone with its own tweaks. Many parcels have none.

Overlays. Extra rules that sit on top of the zone because of something about the place. In SAPPA's list you will see names like Hazards (Flooding), Hazards (Bushfire - Medium Risk), Hazards (Acid Sulfate Soils), Character Area, Historic Area, Local Heritage Place, State Heritage Place, Heritage Adjacency, Regulated and Significant Tree, Native Vegetation, Aircraft Noise Exposure and Urban Tree Canopy. An overlay often matters more to a buyer than the zone, because it is where heritage, tree, hazard and noise rules come in.

Technical and numeric variations. These are the numbers that change from place to place, such as Minimum Site Area, Minimum Frontage, Minimum Dwelling Allotment Size, and Maximum Building Height in metres or levels. If you are thinking of subdividing or building up, these are the figures to write down.

The zone and overlay names are only labels. To see what they mean for a project, follow the policy links into the Code and read the parts that apply.

What SAPPA does not show a buyer

SAPPA is good at what it is built for: showing which Code rules apply to a parcel. A few things a buyer usually wants are not in that answer.

It does not interpret the rules for your plans. SAPPA lists the zone and overlays and links to the policy text. Whether a second storey, a granny flat or a subdivision would be supported is a planning assessment, which the map does not do.

An overlay is a planning trigger, not a hazard study. A Hazards (Flooding) or bushfire overlay tells you the Code has extra rules for that land. It does not give you flood depths, tell you whether the house has flooded before, or say how serious the risk is on that particular block. Our guide to bushfire and flood overlays in the Adelaide Hills goes into what those overlays do and do not mean.

It does not tell you about the ground. SAPPA does not show soil reactivity, fill or rock, and nothing in it gives a site classification. Much of Adelaide sits on reactive clay, which affects footing and slab costs. Only a site investigation gives a site classification. See the Adelaide expansive clay myths for why.

It is not the title. SAPPA links to SAILIS, the land titles service, where you can order a title search. Easements, encumbrances and other registered interests come from that paid search and from the Form 1 vendor's statement, not from the map.

It comes with a disclaimer. SAPPA's own disclaimer says the state does not guarantee the completeness, reliability or accuracy of the information, and that anything you do based on it is at your own risk. Treat it as the first look, then confirm anything important with the council, a planner or your conveyancer.

You check one thing at a time. Zones, overlays, aerial photos and other layers are all there, but you turn them on, read them and note them down yourself. Many buyers end up with a pile of screenshots that are hard to compare across properties.

Putting it in one PDF

If you are comparing several South Australian addresses, LayeredGeo's Property Report reads the same public planning data and puts the layers for one address into a single PDF: the zone, flood, bushfire, heritage, noise, vegetation and environment overlays, nearby development applications from PlanSA, and the data source for each. It is not a government product and it is not SAPPA. It is a quick way to see the whole picture for a property on one page before you go back to the official sources. Pop in your address to see a free map preview, or check out a sample report.

Common questions

What is SAPPA in South Australia?

SAPPA is the South Australian Property and Planning Atlas, a free online map run by the South Australian Government. It shows land parcels and the Planning and Design Code zones, subzones, overlays and technical and numeric variations that apply to them, with links to the Code policies for each property.

How do I find the zoning of my property in SA?

Open SAPPA at sappa.plan.sa.gov.au, search for the address, right-click the parcel and click the Planning Zones and Overlays button in the Land Parcels panel. It lists the zone, subzone, overlays and variations. You can also turn on the Planning and Design Code layers under Planning and Building in the Layers menu to see the boundaries.

Is SAPPA free to use?

Yes. SAPPA is a free government tool and you do not need an account to search a property or view the planning layers. Title searches it links to through SAILIS are a separate paid service.

Does SAPPA show flood risk?

SAPPA shows Planning and Design Code overlays such as Hazards (Flooding), which tell you the Code has extra flood rules for that land. It does not give flood depths or flood history, so it is not a flood study for the property.

LayeredGeo's Property Report pulls together public planning and site data for property due diligence across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, the ACT and Tasmania, so you can understand a place before you commit.

About this article. Published by LayeredGeo. It is general information about how property and ground conditions are assessed in Australia, not engineering, planning, legal or financial advice, and it is not specific to any property. Check anything that matters against the source dataset or a suitably qualified professional before you rely on it. If you spot something wrong, tell us at hello@layeredgeo.com.au and we will fix it.

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