Site plans for Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: drawn in minutes
Need a site plan for a shed, patio, carport, deck, pool or granny flat in Canberra? Site plans and assessments in minutes, drawn over the real lot.
Building in Canberra
Building in Canberra, or anywhere in the Australian Capital Territory, involves no council layer at all. One Territory-wide ruleset applies, the territory planning authority assesses development applications, and certifiers handle building approval. The Territory Plan sets plot ratio and height by residential zone, and a large block that a district technical specification names as taking the mid-sized provisions gets the more generous mid-sized site coverage.
The exemptions are generous but strict. A shed's exempt size steps up with block size, carports and pergolas must sit behind the building line, and a structure inside the strip along a side or rear boundary has to be the only one there, so an existing shed can stop a new carport being exempt.
A secondary residence always takes a development application, counts toward site coverage and can never be separately titled. Icon Water assesses work near its mains, and nothing is built over an easement. Heritage precincts and solar access for southern neighbours catch people out.
What we hold for Canberra
For Canberra we hold the council’s own rules for:
- sheds, garden sheds, garages and carports
- patios, pergolas, louvred roofs, decks and shade sails
- pools, fences and retaining walls
- granny flats
- driveways, water tanks and shipping containers
At each lot we check the state’s mapping for flood, bushfire, heritage and native vegetation. We also read the council’s application register for past applications on the lot.
Last checked
How approval works in the ACT
The ACT has no councils: development approval comes from the territory's planning authority, and building approval from a licensed building certifier. Many small structures are exempt development and need no development approval when they meet the exemption standards for the block, and some building work is exempt from building approval as well, each on its own list. Anything else needs a development application, assessed against the Territory Plan. The certifier and the planning authority read the site plan for where the structure sits on the block, its distance to each boundary and the building line, and how much of the block is covered. The block's size and zone decide how much can be built without approval, as per the Planning Act 2023 and the Territory Plan, with exemptions in the Planning (Exempt Development) Regulation 2023.
Drawing the plan
Type the property address, the lot’s real boundaries load from official land records in the ACT, and you place the structure over the aerial view. The plan prints to scale with boundary lengths, setback distances, a north arrow, a legend, a site coverage table and a title block, as the site plan for a development application or a building approval.
What a certifier in Canberra will ask you
How high can a retaining wall and a fence go?
Each takes its own height test, and a retaining wall carrying a fence has its own approval. Both heights go on the sheet for the certifier to read together.
How big can a granny flat be, and how far from the house?
The council caps a granny flat’s floor area, and some councils also limit how far from the house it may stand. The sheet prints the floor area and dimensions the distance to the house.
Is the lot in an overlay, and what is the zoning?
A flood, bushfire, heritage or character overlay can bring a planning approval on top of the building approval, and the zone decides which of the council’s rules apply. The mapped overlays are read at the lot as the structure goes on the plan.
How deep is the pool?
The depth decides whether the water needs a barrier, and the barrier has to be in place before the pool is filled. The barrier is what gets inspected, so the sheet shows where it runs and every gate with its swing.
The figures for your own lot are read in a minute, from its address.
Every question a certifier asks is on the the ACT page.
Changes on the way
Rule changes announced for Canberra, for the ACT and for the whole country, the state and national lines in full on the the ACT page, each with the page that says so and the day we read it.
In the next 90 days
Nothing due in the next 90 days that we know of.
Later
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National Construction Code 2025
Source planning.act.gov.au, read
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ABCB Housing Provisions 2025 (with NCC 2025)
Source abcb.gov.au, read
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AS 1926.1:2024 Swimming pool safety barriers
Source ncc.abcb.gov.au, read
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NCC 2025 Housing Provisions Part 10.8
Source ncc.abcb.gov.au, read
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NCC 2025 Housing Provisions Part 9.2
Source ncc.abcb.gov.au, read
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NCC 2025 Volume Two Part H6, Specification 42 and Housing Provisions Section 13
Source ncc.abcb.gov.au, read
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NCC 2025 Volume Two Part H8
Source ncc.abcb.gov.au, read
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National Construction Code, residential pause
Source treasury.gov.au, read
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National Construction Code, next edition
Source abcb.gov.au, read
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No date yet
Planning (Missing Middle Housing) Amendment Bill 2026
Source planning.act.gov.au, read
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No date yet
AS 3959:2018 Construction of buildings in bushfire prone areas
Source store.standards.org.au, read
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No date yet
AS 4678-2002 Earth retaining structures
Source store.standards.org.au, read
What we changed for Canberra
The rules we hold for Canberra, each brought up to date from the page it names, newest first. The summary above reads from them.
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Council rules
Read from ACT Territory Plan 2023, D08 Tuggeranong BAL figures
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Council rules
Read from legislation.act.gov.au
Council notices
No story for Canberra yet.
The sources we read for Canberra
No page of Canberra’s own is on our watch yet.
Follow Canberra in a feed reader: www.rapidsiteplan.au/site-plan/australian-capital-territory-canberra/feed.xml. Every council and state has one, listed on rule changes by council and state.
RapidSiteplan is design software: you confirm details, measure on site and your certifier or council makes the approval decision. The rule above is general information, not building or legal advice. Boundaries shown are indicative, a surveyor is recommended where exact positions matter.
Serving postcodes 2600, 2601, 2602, 2900, 2914 and surrounds.
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