Skip to content

Do I need approval for a pergola, carport or shed?

The short answer

Small sheds and open pergolas are often exempt, but exemptions are capped by floor area, height and setback, and a carport at the front of a property almost always needs planning approval.

TradieAnswers editorial · written in-house and sourced to the authorities listed below

Checked against 5 published sources, listed in full at the end of this page. How we source this

These structures sit in the zone where exemptions actually exist, which is why so many go up without approval. The exemptions are real, but they are narrower than the folklore, and they are conditional on more than size.

What the exemption usually depends on

  • Floor area, with a cap that is commonly modest and measured to the outside of the structure.
  • Height, both overall and to the eaves.
  • Distance from every boundary, and from the dwelling.
  • Whether it is behind the front building line, which is why a carport in front of the house is treated so differently.
  • Whether the land carries a heritage, bushfire, flood or environmental overlay, any of which typically removes the exemption entirely.

The traps

  • A slab. Even where the structure is exempt, drainage and site levels may not be, and an impervious slab changes where stormwater goes.
  • Connecting power or water to it, which is licensed work with its own requirements regardless of the structure's approval status.
  • Easements. Building over a sewer or drainage easement is a separate prohibition that no size exemption overrides.
  • Covenants on the title, which are private restrictions councils do not enforce and purchasers do.

Sources

Every source below was fetched and its response recorded on the date shown. Where a government site blocks automated clients, that is noted rather than reported as a successful check.

  1. NCC Volume Two · Australian Building Codes BoardChecked 2026-08-10 · responded 200 OK
  2. Do I need a planning permit? · Victorian GovernmentChecked 2026-08-10 · live, but blocks automated clients so the specific page could not be confirmed
  3. Building Commission NSW · NSW GovernmentChecked 2026-08-10 · responded 200 OK
  4. QBCC · Queensland Building and Construction CommissionChecked 2026-08-10 · responded 200 OK
  5. Before You Dig Australia · Before You Dig AustraliaChecked 2026-08-10 · responded 200 OK

Read next

More building & renovation questions

All 34 →