Site plans and approval in Victoria
Site plans and assessments in minutes, anywhere in Victoria, drawn over the real lot.
How approval works in Victoria
In Victoria a building permit comes from a registered building surveyor, either the council's municipal building surveyor or a private one. A small structure can be exempt from a building permit, but it still has to meet the siting rules. Where a structure cannot meet a siting rule, the building surveyor asks the council for its report and consent before issuing the permit. A planning permit from the council is a separate application, needed where the zone or an overlay on the block calls for one. The building surveyor reads the site plan for the structure's distance to each boundary, its height near the boundary and what else stands on the lot. The siting rules decide most small structures, as per the Building Regulations 2018 and, where a planning permit is needed, the single home code.
Drawing the plan
Type the property address, the lot’s real boundaries load from official land records in Victoria, 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 building permit or a planning permit.
What a certifier in Victoria will ask you
Is the patio, shed or carport attached to the house?
Whether it fixes to the house changes how it is classified, and so what the certifier checks near the boundary. The sheet says which it is.
How close to the boundary can it go?
The distance to each boundary decides whether the work can stand where it is drawn or needs an application for a closer position, and close to a side or rear boundary the fire rules apply too. The sheet dimensions the distance from the structure to every boundary.
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.
Are there easements, sewer mains or other services?
Work near a sewer or water main goes to the asset owner before the certifier can sign it off, on a timeline of its own. Mapped easements and mains show on the lot as it loads.
Who gives the approval, and who draws the plan?
The certifier or the council gives the approval, and the site plan can come from the builder, the supplier, a drafter or the owner, as long as it is clear and to scale. A surveyor comes in where the position of a boundary on the ground has to be fixed.
How big is it, and how big is the lot?
The size and the height decide whether the structure needs building approval at all, and the council can add limits that step with the lot’s size. The sheet prints the lot’s area and the running total of site cover.
Is the patio a pergola, a louvred roof or a solid roof?
An open pergola and a roofed patio are treated differently near the boundary, and louvres that shut to shed water count as a roof. Roofed, it also adds to the site cover total on the sheet.
Is the carport open, or closed in?
How open the carport is changes whether it needs a fire rated wall near the boundary, and a roller door or a later enclosure reopens the question. A shed never takes the open carport exemption.
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.
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.
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.
The figures for your own lot are read in a minute, from its address.
Councils we hold facts for
Changes on the way
Rule changes announced for Victoria, its councils and the whole country, each with the page that says so and the day we read it.
In the next 90 days
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Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme Amendment C218yran (Lilydale, Activity Centre Zone and General Residential Zone Schedule 6)
Lilydale changes; exhibited, comment to 9 November 2026. Schedule 6 of the General Residential Zone sets no figures; Schedule 1 of the Activity Centre Zone was not read
Source planning-schemes.app.planning.vic.gov.au, read
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Yarra Planning Scheme Amendment C334yara (Design and Development Overlay and Built Form schedules)
Source planning-schemes.app.planning.vic.gov.au, read
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Kingston Planning Scheme Amendment C220king (Design and Development Overlay Schedule 27, green wedge)
Source planning-schemes.app.planning.vic.gov.au, read
Later
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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
NCC 2025 cites the 2024 edition for pool barriers, so it reaches each state that takes NCC 2025 without a variation; Western Australia keeps the 2012 edition for private pools
Source ncc.abcb.gov.au, read
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NCC 2025 Housing Provisions Part 10.8
Class 1a condensation: wall membrane vapour permeance now by climate zone including zones 1 and 3 for the first time, cavity mandatory in zones 6, 7 and 8, new roof space clause 10.8.4
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
Energy and whole of home for a class 1a do not tighten: 7 stars and whole of home 60 stay, with small changes on overhangs and waffle pod slabs
Source ncc.abcb.gov.au, read
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NCC 2025 Volume Two Part H8
Livable housing for a class 1a is unchanged in substance
Source ncc.abcb.gov.au, read
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Planning Amendment (Better Decisions Made Faster) Act 2026
Three permit assessment streams and three amendment pathways in the Planning and Environment Act
Source planning.vic.gov.au, read
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Building Regulations 2018 (sunset and remake)
The regulations sunset in 2028 and are remade, Part 5 siting and the Schedule 3 exemptions among them
Source vic.gov.au, read
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National Construction Code, residential pause
No residential changes to the NCC except essential safety and quality changes until mid 2029
Source treasury.gov.au, read
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National Construction Code, next edition
The edition after NCC 2025: the regular NCC 2028 moves back one year because of the pause on residential changes
Source abcb.gov.au, read
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No date yet
Melbourne Planning Scheme Amendment C444melb
Applies the Heritage Overlay to properties in Parkville from the Parkville Heritage Review
Source planning-schemes.app.planning.vic.gov.au, read
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No date yet
Wyndham Planning Scheme Amendment C269wynd
Planning scheme review 2024: policy changes, updated provisions and zone and overlay corrections
Source planning-schemes.app.planning.vic.gov.au, read
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No date yet
Wyndham Planning Scheme Amendment C270wynd
Applies the Heritage Overlay to residential places and precincts from the Wyndham Heritage Review stage 2, so works such as fences and outbuildings there come under the overlay
Source planning-schemes.app.planning.vic.gov.au, read
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No date yet
AS 3959:2018 Construction of buildings in bushfire prone areas
The publisher lists the standard as pending revision; no new edition or draft is listed
Source store.standards.org.au, read
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No date yet
AS 4678-2002 Earth retaining structures
The publisher lists the standard as pending revision; no new edition or draft is listed
Source store.standards.org.au, read
Date passed, next step not seen yet
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Building Amendment (Siting and Other Matters) Regulations 2026, S.R. 173/2026, and Building Amendment (Small Second Dwellings) Regulations 2026, S.R. 174/2026
Private open space, street, side and rear setbacks, site coverage and permeability move to the Victoria Planning Provisions standards, zone schedules no longer change side and rear setbacks or permeability, the small second dwelling access path rule is revoked, and a new rule protects a neighbour's rooftop solar
Source content.legislation.vic.gov.au, read
What we changed in Victoria
The rules we hold for Victoria and its councils, each brought up to date from the page it names, the newest first.
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Rules
Read from planning.vic.gov.au
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Rules
Read from vba.vic.gov.au
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Rules
Read from planning.vic.gov.au
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Rules
Read from Building Regulations 2018
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Rules
Read from api.app.planning.vic.gov.au
The sources we read for Victoria
76 sources read for Victoria, the newest on , each below with the day it was last read.
Planning schemes and codes
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No change
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Changed since the read before
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Changed since the read before
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Building and Plumbing Commission, permits and siting
Changed since the read before
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Changed since the read before
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No change
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NCC: VIC Building and Plumbing Commission, NCC 2025 amended variations
Changed since the read before
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No change
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planning-schemes.app.planning.vic.gov.au
No change
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planning-schemes.app.planning.vic.gov.au
No change
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planning-schemes.app.planning.vic.gov.au
No change
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planning-schemes.app.planning.vic.gov.au
No change
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planning-schemes.app.planning.vic.gov.au
No change
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planning-schemes.app.planning.vic.gov.au
No change
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planning-schemes.app.planning.vic.gov.au
No change
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planning-schemes.app.planning.vic.gov.au
No change
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No change
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Residential Growth Zone height line
No change
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No change
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tree canopy line, the VC315 standard
No change
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VIC planning amendments list, scheme names and codes
Changed since the read before
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VIC Planning and Environment Act 1987, s 72
Changed since the read before
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Victoria: the standard fencing notice
No change
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VPP cl 32.05 Township Zone, Loddon copy
Changed since the read before
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VPP cl 32.08 General Residential Zone, Melbourne copy
Changed since the read before
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VPP clause 37.11 Flood Management Zone: one schedule for extreme flood risk, a dwelling prohibited
Changed since the read before
Fees
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Changed since the read before
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Changed since the read before
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No change
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No change
Pages watched for changes on the way
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VIC planning: latest amendments for Casey, Hume, Melbourne and Wyndham, statewide VC ones included
Changed since the read before
Standards
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No change
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No change
Follow Victoria in a feed reader: www.rapidsiteplan.au/site-plan/vic/feed.xml. Every council and state has one, listed on rule changes by council and state.
General information only, not building or legal advice: your certifier or council makes the approval decision.
Plans for the job
Questions people ask
Other states and territories