Can I see my neighbour’s building plans?

Often, if the work went through an application the council advertises, and usually while it is out for comment. Search the council’s application tracker by the address, and the plans and documents are often there to read. Not everything reaches a tracker, though. Exempt work never does, work signed off by a private certifier often shows only as a record, and older plans are usually released only with the owner’s consent.

Where do I look for the plans?

Start with the council’s application tracker, searched by street or application number. The post on planning applications near you goes through the trackers state by state. If a sign has gone up on the site or a letter has reached you, it will carry the application number and the closing day.

Why can’t I find any plans?

Usually because the work never needed to be advertised. Small work inside a state’s exemption has no application at all. Work inside the accepted standards can go to a certifier or a building surveyor, who decides it without public notice, though New South Wales tells the neighbours before complying development starts. Some councils also leave out internal floor plans or names to protect privacy.

Can I get older plans of a neighbour’s house?

Usually only with the owner’s consent. Councils keep the plans lodged with past approvals, but those are copies of someone’s drawings of someone’s home, so most release them to the owner or a person the owner agrees to. The post on getting house plans from council explains that process. Asking your neighbour is often the quickest way, and usually the most useful one.

How do I object to a neighbour’s development?

Make a written submission to the council within the advertised period, in the way the notice says. Keep it to what the council can weigh, such as overlooking, overshadowing, bulk near the boundary, or drainage onto your land. The council has to consider a submission made in time, in most states, but it does not have to agree. Whether anyone who objected can appeal depends on the state and the kind of application, so ask the council at the start.

What if the work is already going up?

Ask the council whether there is an approval on record, because it can look that up by address. If there is none, or the work looks different from the plans, the council can investigate. A wall or footing over the line is a matter between owners as well, and the post on a neighbour building on the boundary covers that.

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. It reads your lot, not your neighbour’s plans, so it helps most when you are checking what you could build on your own side of the fence.

Search your address, see what the plan shows for a shed, carport or other outbuilding, or read what we hold for Logan. Site plans by council covers the rest of Australia.

Common questions

Can I see my neighbour’s building plans? Often, if the work went through an application the council advertises, and usually only while it is out for comment. Search the council’s application tracker by the address. Work that is exempt or signed off by a private certifier may never be advertised.

Can I see a neighbour’s DA online? In most places, yes, on the council’s application tracker, and in some states on the state portal as well. Many trackers show the plans and documents while the application is out for comment, and some keep them after the decision.

How do I object to a neighbour’s development? Make a written submission to the council during the advertised period, using the reasons the council can weigh, such as overlooking, overshadowing or bulk. The council has to consider it before deciding, in most states. Whether you can appeal afterwards depends on the state and the kind of application.