What are the R-Codes in WA?

The R-Codes are Western Australia’s residential design codes, the state’s planning rules for how homes and their outbuildings sit on a lot. Each residential lot carries a density coding, a letter R with a number after it, shown on the local planning scheme map. That coding sets many of the figures, including setbacks, open space and how much of the lot a home can cover. The local government applies the rules and can vary some of them through its own policies.

What is a density coding?

It is the number that sets how many homes a lot can hold, and so how tightly they can sit. A higher number means smaller lots and closer buildings. The post on zoning shows where to look up what your lot carries.

How do R-Codes setbacks work?

Three things usually set the distance:

the density coding, particularly for the street setback and open space
the wall itself, because a taller or longer wall sits further from the boundary
major openings, because a wall with large windows sits further back than a blank one

Walls on a boundary have their own limits on height and length, and outbuildings have their own limits on size and height. Overlooking and overshadowing have separate tests.

What happens when my design meets the figures?

Each topic has a set of figures, called the deemed to comply path. Where a house, outbuilding, patio, carport or fence meets them and nothing else brings the planning question back in, it can often go ahead without development approval, though it may still need a building permit. A heritage listing, a local planning policy or the local planning scheme can change this, so the local government has the last word. The post on building without approval in Western Australia covers the exempt side.

What happens when it does not?

Behind each set of figures sits a design principle, a plain statement of what the rule is trying to protect. Where your design departs from the figures, you apply to the local government for development approval and show how the design meets that principle. The local government weighs it, can consult the neighbours, and decides.

Where does the building permit fit?

It is a separate step. The residential design codes are planning rules, while a building permit covers how the structure is built. The local government issues both in Western Australia, and a private building surveyor can sign the certificate that goes in with a building permit application. Where development approval is needed, it usually comes first.

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. For a lot in Western Australia it gives the distance from your structure to each boundary as you move it, with the overlays on the lot shown.

Search your address, see what the plan shows for a shed, carport or other outbuilding, or read what we hold for Albany. Western Australian councils are listed by name, and site plans by council covers the rest of Australia.

Common questions

What are the R-Codes in WA? They are the residential design codes, the state’s planning rules for how homes and their outbuildings sit on a lot. Each residential lot carries a density coding from the local planning scheme, and that coding sets many of the figures. The local government applies them and can vary some through its own policies.

Who applies the residential design codes? The local government. Work that meets the set figures can often go ahead without development approval, and work that departs from them asks the local government to decide against the design principles.

How do R-Codes setbacks work? A setback depends on the density coding, the height and length of the wall, and whether it has major openings such as windows. Walls on a boundary have limits of their own.