Is a carport complying development in NSW?

It can be. In New South Wales a carport goes one of three ways: exempt development, when it stays within the state’s exempt standards; complying development, when it meets the state’s complying standards and a certifier or the council issues a complying development certificate, known as a CDC; or a development application to the council when it fits neither. The lot and the carport’s size, height and position decide which, and a site plan goes with both a CDC and a development application.

When is a carport exempt development?

When it stays inside every one of the state’s exempt standards at once: its floor area, its height, its distance from each boundary and from the street, how its roof water is dealt with, and that it is built to the building rules. A carport usually has to sit behind the front of the house to be exempt, and the exemption does not apply on some land, such as a heritage item. Exempt work goes ahead without a council application, but only while it meets every standard, so check the lot before you rely on it.

When does a carport need a CDC?

When it is bigger or closer than the exempt standards allow but still inside the complying standards for the zone. A CDC covers the planning and the building at once, is issued by a registered certifier or the council, and the neighbours are notified before the work starts. Complying development is not open on a heritage item and is limited in a heritage conservation area, and on bushfire prone land it needs a bushfire assessment and is ruled out in the highest risk areas. The post on bushfire ratings explains those levels.

When does it go to a development application?

When it falls outside both sets of standards: a carport forward of the house where the standards keep it back, one on the boundary past the limits, one on a heritage item, or one on land the complying standards exclude. The council assesses it against its own controls for the area, can notify the neighbours, and decides. It usually takes longer than a CDC, but it is the pathway for a carport the standards do not cover. The post on heritage overlays covers that case.

What goes with a CDC or a development application?

a site plan to scale, with the carport and its distance to every boundary and the street
elevations showing the height and which sides are open
the roof water and where it drains
the engineering for the kit
a bushfire assessment where the land is mapped

Reading it for your own lot

RapidSiteplan reads the council and building rules for your lot from its address, checks the design against them as you place it, lets you edit it as often as you like, and prints the site plan. Site plans and assessments in minutes. It shows the overlays on the lot and the distance from the carport to the street and each boundary, the measurements that decide which pathway it takes.

Search your address, see how a shed or carport site plan is drawn, or read what we hold for Blacktown. New South Wales councils are listed by name, and site plans by council covers the rest of Australia.

Common questions

Is a carport complying development in NSW? It can be, when it meets the state’s complying standards for the zone and a certifier or the council issues a complying development certificate. A smaller carport may be exempt development, and one outside both sets of standards needs a development application.

Can I get a CDC for a carport on a heritage item? No. Complying development is not open on a heritage item, so a carport there goes to the council as a development application.

When is a carport exempt development? When it stays inside every exempt standard at once, including its size, height, distance to the boundaries and the street, and its roof water, on land where the exemption applies. Outside any one of them it needs a CDC or a development application.