Site Development Plan application in Johannesburg.

An SDP is usually required in one of two ways: the land use scheme attaches an SDP requirement to the zone, or the approval of a rezoning, consent use or departure imposes an SDP as a condition. In both cases the SDP must be approved before building plans can be considered, because the building plan is assessed against it.

The SDP is where the abstract parameters of the zoning become a specific layout - how coverage and floor area are distributed across the site, where the building lines fall, how many parking bays there are and where vehicles enter and turn, how refuse is handled, and how the development relates to its boundaries and neighbours.

Municipalities apply SDPs most heavily to medium- and higher-density residential schemes, mixed-use and commercial sites, and properties inside a precinct plan or overlay zone where design and interface conditions matter. A refused or reworked SDP is a common and avoidable delay, usually because the architect's drawing was prepared before the planning parameters were confirmed.

The Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act 16 of 2013 (SPLUMA) is the national framework: it requires every municipality to adopt its own land use scheme and municipal planning by-law, and it makes the municipality - not the province - the authority of first instance on land development applications. The SDP requirement itself sits in the land use scheme or in a condition of approval, not in national legislation.