Do I need a permit for a deck or a pergola?

Not always. A low, small deck or an open pergola can often go ahead without building approval when it meets every condition your state sets, while a higher or bigger deck, a roofed pergola, or either one close to a boundary usually needs approval. An overlay on the lot can add a planning question on top, whatever the size.

What decides it for a deck?

The height of the floor above the ground, the floor area and the distance to each boundary, tested together. A deck attached to the house, or one with a roof, is read with the house rather than on its own, and on bushfire mapped land a deck against a wall brings the bushfire construction rules in. The post on deck sizes covers the tests.

What decides it for a pergola?

Whether it has a roof. An open pergola with spaced rafters is usually treated more lightly than a roofed patio, but louvres that shut to shed water count as a roof, and a roof adds to site coverage. Its height and its distance to the boundaries are tested as for a deck.

Do I need a building permit for a deck in Victoria?

Most decks in Victoria need a building permit from a registered building surveyor, and only small, low decks are exempt. A heritage overlay or a special building overlay can add a planning permit from the council, so check the overlays before the design settles. The post on planning and building permits covers the split.

What do the other states call it?

Each state draws its exemption in its own words. New South Wales calls a small deck or pergola exempt development, and past its limits the work needs a complying development certificate or a development application. Queensland reads small decks and pergolas as accepted development, with a private certifier giving the building approval past that. South Australia lets a small pergola or verandah go up without development approval, and a bigger one needs it.

Western Australia exempts some pergolas and small patios from a building permit and asks the council for one past that, with a development approval where the planning scheme asks for one. Tasmania sorts the work into low risk, notifiable and permit work, the ACT has exempt development and building approval, and in the Northern Territory a private building certifier issues the building permit. The council pages for every state cover each one.

What does the site plan show?

the deck or pergola at its true size, and its height above the ground
the distance from its edge to every boundary
whether it is attached to the house, and any roof or louvres
the site coverage before and after, where it has a roof
the overlays and easements over the lot, with a north point and a scale

Reading it for your own lot

RapidSiteplan reads the lot from its address in a minute: the boundaries, the house already on it, the contours and the mapped overlays. Place the deck or pergola and the sheet dimensions it. The patio and deck page shows the sheet. Start with the address. In NSW, see carports as complying development and pergolas as exempt development.

Common questions

Do I need a permit for a deck or a pergola? Not always. A low, small deck or an open pergola can often go ahead without building approval when it meets your state’s conditions, while a higher or bigger deck, a roofed pergola or either one close to a boundary usually needs approval, and an overlay can add a planning question.

Do I need a building permit for a deck in Victoria? Most decks in Victoria need a building permit from a registered building surveyor, and only small, low decks are exempt. A heritage overlay or a special building overlay can add a planning permit from the council, so check the overlays before the design settles.

Do I need council approval for a pergola? An open pergola is often treated more lightly than a roofed patio, but louvres that shut to shed water count as a roof, and its height and its distance to the boundaries are tested as for a deck.