How do I find the council rules for my property?

Start from the address. Three sets of rules decide what you can build on a lot, and each lives in a different place: the council’s planning scheme, which gives the lot a zone and the codes that go with it; the state’s building rules, which decide whether the structure needs building approval and how it is built; and the overlays mapped over the land, such as flood, bushfire or heritage. A certifier or the council reads all three against your site plan, so it pays to read them first.

Where do the council’s rules live?

In the council’s planning scheme, which every council publishes on its website, usually with an online map you can search by address. The map gives the lot’s zone and every overlay on it, and the scheme’s codes say what each zone allows: how much of the lot can be built on, how far buildings sit from the street and the side boundaries, and how tall they can be. In New South Wales the same rules sit in the council’s local environmental plan and its development control plan, and in South Australia one state code applies in every council area.

Which rules come from the state?

The building rules. They decide whether a shed, patio or pool needs building approval at all, how close a structure can go to a boundary before fire separation matters, and what the frame has to resist where the wind is strong. In some states the distances a small structure keeps from each boundary are state rules too, and the council can only vary them.

What do the overlays add?

Questions. A flood overlay can set the floor level, a bushfire overlay can bring a bushfire attack level and its construction rules, and a heritage or character overlay can bring a planning approval on top of the building approval. Easements and sewer mains are not overlays, but they decide where a structure can sit, and work over a main goes to the asset owner first. The post on planning overlays explains what each kind changes.

How do I read them for one lot?

find the council for the address with the council finder
search the address on the council’s planning map and note the zone and every overlay
read the codes for your structure in that zone, and the overlay codes that apply
check the title for easements, and the sewer and stormwater plans for mains
ask the certifier which approvals the structure needs before you lodge

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.

Search your address, or see what the plan shows for a patio or carport, a shed or a granny flat. Each council page, such as Brisbane, lists what we hold for that council, and site plans by council covers the rest of Australia.

Common questions

How do I find the council rules for my property? Search the address on the council’s planning map for the lot’s zone and overlays, then read the planning scheme’s codes for your structure in that zone. The state’s building rules decide whether the structure needs building approval. RapidSiteplan reads both for the lot from its address.

What rules apply to my property? The zone and the codes in the council’s planning scheme, the overlays mapped over the lot, the state’s building rules for the structure, and anything registered on the title, such as an easement. Which of them matters depends on what you build and where it sits on the lot.

Are the building rules for my property the same as the council’s? No. The council’s rules decide what the land can be used for and where buildings sit on it, and the state’s building rules decide whether the structure needs building approval and how it is built. A certifier or the council applies both, often in one application.