Do I need council approval for a garage?

In most places, yes. A garage big enough for a car is larger than most small building exemptions, so it usually needs building approval from a certifier, a building surveyor or the council. A few states have a low risk or exempt path for a small or prefabricated garage, within tight limits on size and position, and the siting rules apply even then. What really changes the path is how open the structure is, because walls and a door change how the fire and siting rules read it.

What is the difference between a garage, a carport and a shed?

Openness and use. A carport is a roofed shelter for a vehicle with its sides largely open. A garage has the same use, closed in with walls and usually a door. A shed is an enclosed building for storage or a workshop. All three are outbuildings nobody lives or sleeps in, but the states draw the line between carport and garage in their own words. In New South Wales a structure that fails the test for how open it is stops being a carport at all.

Why do walls and a door change things?

Because of fire separation. When an outbuilding stands near a side or rear boundary, or beside the house, the building rules protect the house and the neighbour: it either keeps a set distance from the boundary or has a fire resisting wall facing it. An open carport is the exception, as long as enough of it stays open and its roof meets the rules. A roller door counts as closing the side it sits on, and walls on the boundary side take the exception away.

Can a garage be built on the boundary?

Often, within limits. Most states let a wall stand on or very close to a side or rear boundary as long as its length along that boundary and its height stay within the siting rules, and some count an open carport towards those limits as well. The wall facing the neighbour has to be fire resisting where the fire rules apply. The gutter, the eaves and the footings stay on your side of the line. The post on boundary setbacks shows how the distances are measured.

What if I close in a carport later?

Treat it as new building work. Walls or a roller door can take it out of the open carport allowance and change which siting test applies. Ask the certifier before the walls go up, because the wall near the boundary may need to be rebuilt as a fire resisting one, or the structure moved. The post on enclosing a patio covers the same step for a patio.

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. Place the garage and the sheet gives the length of any wall along the boundary and its distance to every line, so you can see what the fire and siting rules ask.

Search your address, see what the plan shows for a shed or garage, or read what we hold for Moreton Bay. Site plans by council covers the rest of Australia.

Common questions

Do I need council approval for a garage? In most places, yes. A garage big enough for a car is larger than most small building exemptions, so it usually needs building approval from a certifier or the council, and the siting rules decide where it can go.

Can I build a garage without planning approval? Often, on an ordinary house lot, when the garage meets the siting rules and no overlay asks for a planning decision. Building approval is a separate step, and it usually still applies. The certifier or the council can say which you need.

Does a garage permit cover a carport with a roller door? Ask the certifier, because a roller door closes that side of a carport for the fire rules and can change how it is treated near a boundary.