# Site Feasibility Study: Desktop Site Assessment Checklist

By Tom Brennan, published 15 September 2026. Source: https://planinsight.com.au/blog/desktop-site-feasibility-checklist/


A desktop site feasibility study answers one question before you quote: is there anything about this lot that changes the job? In about ten minutes, a desktop site assessment confirms the lot, gets the boundary and contours into CAD, runs a flood overlay check, reads the zone and searches development applications. Here's the site analysis checklist, run from one PlanInsight Site Report.

## Site analysis checklist

1. **Lot and plan search.** Confirm lot, plan, area and tenure. Look closer if the address covers more than one lot or the area doesn't match the brief.
2. **Boundary.** Shape, frontage, depth. Watch for battle-axe lots or boundaries along a creek or road reserve.
3. **Fall.** High and low points, and whether the site drains to the street.
4. **Hazard overlays.** Flood, bushfire, landslide, coastal, acid sulfate soils, and the share of the lot each covers.
5. **Zone.** The planning zone and any minimum lot size.
6. **DA history.** Approvals and their conditions, refusals, live applications.
7. **Services.** A trunk sewer or gas main through the lot changes the layout.

## Run the desktop site assessment in PlanInsight

1. **Search.** Type the address into **Address** under **Quick Search** and click **Look Up Property**. With only a lot and plan, use **Property Lookup** and the **By Lot / Plan** tab.
2. **Confirm the lot.** Read **Lot Number**, **Plan Number**, **Area (m²)**, **Tenure** and **Surveyed** in **Property Details**.
3. **Get the site into CAD.** Click **Download DXF**. Keep **Property Boundary** and **Parcel Label** under **Base**, and **Elevation Contours**, **Building Outlines** and **Watercourse** under **Spatial Overlays**, then click **Download**. The file is DXF R12 in metres, in local coordinates (not MGA), so `ALIGN` it onto your base. ACT and NT have no contours.

   ![Site feasibility DXF with boundary, buildings and contours](/img/marketing/shots/dxf-cad.png)

4. **Flood overlay check.** The **Hazard Overlays** section lists each overlay affecting the lot with its share, such as "38% of lot". The same overlays are in the **Hazard Overlays** group of the DXF dialog. NT hazard overlays aren't covered.

   ![Flood overlay check on a lot with the hazard overlays map](/img/marketing/shots/hazard-overlays-map.png)

5. **Zone.** Read the **Planning Zone** section; **Min Lot Size** shows in **Property Details** where available.
6. **Development applications search.** The **Development Applications** section lists the lot's applications with status, dates and description. Click **Watch DAs** to hear about new ones.
7. **Services.** The **Underground Infrastructure** section holds BYDA responses for the location.

Every layer and overlay is on every plan, with a 14-day free trial and no card. Just need the lot outline? The [free boundary tool](/tools/property-boundary-download/) gives `BOUNDARY` and `PARCEL_LABEL` as a DXF with no account.

## What should a due diligence property note include?

For civil engineering feasibility, a short note per site is enough to reach the fee proposal:

- Lot, plan and area confirmed
- Fall and direction
- Overlays affecting the lot, with percentages
- Zone and relevant DA conditions
- Services of concern
- What needs a surveyor, geotech or pre-lodgement meeting

Keep it in **Comments** on the saved property.

## What can't a desktop check tell you?

Desktop data is mapped, modelled and sometimes out of date. The cadastre isn't the registered boundary, contours aren't survey-grade, and overlays aren't planning certificates. Use it to decide what to quote and investigate; anything lodged, built or set out needs council certificates and a registered surveyor.

## Related

- [Property boundary DXF](/property-boundary-dxf/), [contours DXF](/contours-dxf/) and [hazard overlays](/hazard-overlays/)
- [Contours DXF by state](/blog/contours-civil-3d-by-state/)
- [Flood and bushfire overlays for a lot in CAD](/blog/flood-bushfire-overlays-lot-cad/)