How close to the boundary can I build a carport?

A carport can sit as close to a boundary as the siting rules for your lot allow, and those depend on the state, the zone, its height and how open its sides are. Several states let an open carport come closer to a side boundary, and sometimes forward of the house, than a closed garage could. Closer than the rules allow, the council has to agree before the building approval is given.

What is the carport setback from a side boundary?

It is the distance the rules ask the carport to keep from the side or rear boundary, measured to its posts, roof edge or gutter as the rules say. A wide roof can bring a carport closer than its posts suggest, so the overhang counts. In some states a carport may sit on or near a side boundary within limits on its height and its length along the boundary. The post on boundary setbacks explains how each state measures it.

Why does it matter how open the carport is?

Because an open carport reads differently from a garage. A carport left open on its sides lets light and air through to the neighbour and keeps the view along the street, so the siting rules in several states treat it more lightly, and near a boundary the building rules can ask less of an open structure for fire than of an enclosed one. Add walls, screens or a roller door and it is usually measured as a garage, with the stricter distances that come with one.

Can a carport go in front of the house?

Sometimes. The front setback is where councils look hardest, and a carport forward of the house is usually accepted only when it stays open, keeps back from the street and sits in scale with the house. On a corner it must also leave drivers a clear view. The post on carports in front of the house covers that case in detail, and the post on corner blocks explains which boundary counts as the front.

Who decides when it sits closer?

The council, as a siting variation or a planning approval, before the building approval. In Queensland the council decides the siting and a certifier then approves the structure, in New South Wales a carport outside the exempt and complying standards usually becomes a development application, and in Victoria the building surveyor asks the council for its report and consent. The post on boundary relaxations explains what the council weighs.

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. Drop the carport on at kit size and the sheet dimensions its distance to the street and to each side boundary as you move it.

Search your address, see how a shed or carport site plan is drawn, or read what we hold for Moreton Bay. Site plans by council covers the rest of Australia.

Common questions

How close to the boundary can I build a carport? As close as the siting rules for your lot allow, which depend on the state, the zone, the carport’s height and how open its sides are. An open carport is often allowed closer than a garage. Closer than the rules allow, the council has to agree first.

What is the carport setback from the street? Usually the strictest of its distances, because the street setback protects how the street looks. Many councils accept a carport forward of the house only when it is open, kept back from the street and in scale, and decide it as a planning question.

Can I build a carport on the boundary? In some states, yes, within limits on its height and its length along the boundary, with the roof water drained to your own lot. How open its sides are can change what the building rules ask for fire. Outside those limits the council decides.