Abstract
Site survey and site appraisal are two terms that crop up almost interchangeably in various instruments relating to development control. Most practising architects and planners take it for granted both that they know what these terms mean, and that as part of their day-to-day work they undertake the processes that those terms describe. They don't. The paper sets out principles and checklists for site appraisal, on which reliance is often put in determining planning applications, both by local government authorities, and the Land and Environment Court in NSW.