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Price

$99.00

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Course Content

I. Introduction (2 min)
II. Learning Objectives (1 min)
III. Module 1: The Pathway, and the Gate You Have to Pass (11 min)
IV. Module 2: Four Principles That Shape the Building (10 min)
V. Module 3: Three Principles That Carry Numbers (13 min)
VI. Module 4: The Submission That Gets Through (11 min)
VII. Case Studies (4 min)
VIII. Summary & Key Takeaways (1 min)
For building designers, architects and urban planners in Victoria

Design Excellence Fast Tracked: Meeting the Great Design Fast Track Gate Under Clause 53.25

Clause 53.25 is a gate, not a merits argument. Miss one number and the scheme falls out of the pathway.

Test the eight eligibility conditions of the Victoria Planning Provisions’ Great Design Fast Track at concept, answer the seven design principles with drawings and calculations an assessor can check, meet the NatHERS thresholds set above the Code, and put the Government Architect and feasibility advices on the critical path before they hold up lodgement.

60 minutes, self-paced Intermediate level 1 formal CPD point Certificate on completion Victoria, NCC 2025
Aligned to NSCA 2021 PC20 PC31 PC32 PC33 PC42
$99 inc. GST
  • Product neutral, no supplier content
  • Audio version and glossary included
  • Certificate saved to your dashboard

Secure card checkout. Tax invoice emailed.

Course content

4 modules, 2 case studies, final quiz and certificate.

Start 3 min

Introduction and objectives

Why Victoria built a pathway that trades speed for a design standard you have to evidence.

Module 1 11 min

The Pathway, and the Gate You Have to Pass

Test all eight eligibility conditions at concept, and know what the Minister can waive and which clauses sit outside the power.

Module 2 10 min

Four Principles That Shape the Building

Answer Neighbourly, Welcoming, Landscaped and Healthy Homes with a drawing or study an assessor can check.

Module 3 13 min

Three Principles That Carry Numbers

Meet the star rating and ventilation tests dwelling by dwelling, apply Part H8, and keep Code obligations apart from planning thresholds.

Module 4 11 min

The Submission That Gets Through

Sequence the Government Architect and feasibility advices early, argue a waiver safely and keep every drawing consistent.

Case studies 4 min

A townhouse row and an apartment building

Townhouses designed to the Code minimum that failed on star rating, and a basement that took the canopy trees.

Summary 1 min

Key takeaways

The numbers to test at concept and the long lead items to start on day one.

Finish

Final quiz and certificate

Ten project scenarios across the four objectives. Pass and the certificate goes straight into your dashboard.

Intermediate. For designers who already prepare planning applications for medium density housing in Victoria. Covers eligibility, waivers and exclusions, the seven design principles, the NatHERS and ventilation thresholds, Part H8 and the two written advices. It is Victorian planning education, not planning advice, and the pathway has no equivalent in other states.

Who it is for

Written for the team that decides whether a scheme can enter the pathway.

Building designers

You take medium density schemes to planning, and one dwelling short or one star low takes the whole application out.

1 CPD point, with audit-ready records

Architects

You lead the design case, and on this pathway every principle needs evidence an assessor can check.

1 formal CPD point

Urban planners

You advise on eligibility, significance and waivers, and on the exclusions that leave the massing untouched.

1 hour of CPD

Building surveyors

You confirm which NCC edition applies, and know a planning threshold is not a permit condition unless it says so.

1 hour of CPD

Energy assessors

Your ratings must clear an 8.0 star average and a 6.5 star floor for apartments, not the Code’s seven.

1 hour of CPD
How it counts

Where this hour goes on your record.

National Standard of Competency for Architects (NSCA 2021) performance criteria this course aligns with:

PC20

Budget and timeframe against planning and codes

PC31

Environmental sustainability over the lifecycle

PC32

Planning principles and statutory requirements

PC33

Integrating sustainable environmental systems

PC42

Planning applications that comply with regulations

If you are

How it is recorded

A building designer

1 CPD point in planning and design documentation. Your certificate, the learning outcomes, the module outline and your quiz result are kept in your dashboard, so you can show what you studied if your CPD is audited.

An architect

1 formal CPD point. Aligned with NSCA 2021 performance criteria PC20, PC31, PC32, PC33 and PC42.

An urban planner, building surveyor or energy assessor

1 hour of CPD on Victoria’s Great Design Fast Track, recorded on your certificate for your registration body or professional association.

CPD On Demand is not a registered training organisation and courses are not accredited by any registration body. Each course is aligned with the relevant competency frameworks and gives you the records to evidence it. CPD rules differ by registration body and state, so check with yours if you are unsure.

  • Determine whether a proposed development satisfies every eligibility condition in Clause 53.25 before design merit is considered.
  • Distinguish the planning pathway’s NatHERS, ventilation and livable housing thresholds from the obligations the NCC imposes.
  • Apply the seven design principles as documented evidence, with a drawing, study or calculation behind each one.
  • Identify which planning controls the Fast Track can waive and which exclusions leave a massing untouched.
  • Sequence the Government Architect and feasibility advices early enough to change the design rather than delay lodgement.
  • Assemble a submission whose landscape, basement and area drawings agree, so that no claim invites scrutiny of the rest.
Keep going

Pairs well with.

Building designers

NSW Housing Pattern Book

The New South Wales approach: government designs attached to a faster pathway.

Building designers

Getting NatHERS Right Before It Goes to the Assessor

Get the star rating right at concept, before it becomes an eligibility problem.

Building designers

Livable Housing Design: NCC Mandatory Provisions (NCC 2022) with NCC 2025 Preview Context

Part H8 in full, from step free entry to reinforced bathroom walls.

Questions

Before you enrol.

NCC 2025 has been in force in Victoria since 1 May 2026. A building surveyor may allow NCC 2022 where design work had substantially commenced before then, so confirm the edition with the surveyor for each project. The Fast Track is a Victorian planning pathway with no equivalent in other states, and its star thresholds sit above the seven star minimum of either edition.

Start, stop and finish later. Progress is saved and the course stays in your dashboard.

Yes, on passing the final quiz. It is stored in your dashboard alongside your other CPD records.

No. It teaches how Clause 53.25 and the design principles work and what evidence each test needs. Whether a particular site qualifies, and the current form of the clause and the principles, must be confirmed with the Department and your planner before you rely on any threshold.

Yes. Team packs start at $579 for six courses shared across your practice.

No. Every course is product neutral. No glazing, insulation or rating software brands, no sponsor, no sales pitch at the end.

Test the gate at concept and lodge a Fast Track submission that holds together, in one self-paced hour.

$99, 60 minutes, certificate on completion.

$99 1 hour, certificate