Do You Need a Permit for a Deck or Pergola in Victoria?

This article is about decks and pergolas in Victoria, Australia. Permit and approval requirements here sit under Victorian building law and the planning scheme that applies to each individual property, so information written for other states or countries does not apply.

Our aim is to help you understand what the questions are and who can answer them. We cannot tell you whether your project needs a permit, and you should be cautious of anyone who offers a definite answer without knowing your property, your design and your scope of work.

The short answer

A deck or pergola in Victoria may require a building permit, a planning permit, both, or neither. Which of those applies depends on the specifics of the structure and the property it sits on. There is no general rule that covers every project, and the only reliable answer comes from the relevant council or a registered building surveyor considering your actual proposal.

Building permits and planning permits are different things

These two approvals are often confused, and they come from different parts of the system.

Building permits

Building permits relate to construction and compliance with Victoria's building law, which includes the Building Act 1993 and the Building Regulations 2018. A building permit is issued by a registered building surveyor, who is also the appropriate person to confirm whether one is required for a specific proposal.

Planning permits

Planning permits relate to the use and development of land under the planning scheme that applies to a property. Planning schemes are administered by councils, and whether a planning permit is required depends on the zone, any overlays and the specific provisions that apply to the land. A planning permit is a separate approval from a building permit, and where both are required, the order in which they are dealt with matters.

A project can need a planning permit and not a building permit, a building permit and not a planning permit, both, or neither. Establishing which applies is the first step, not a formality at the end of the design.

Why decks and pergolas may be treated differently

A deck and a pergola are different structures and are not automatically assessed the same way. A deck is a raised or ground level platform that people occupy and that carries load, and its height above the ground is often significant to how it is treated. A pergola is generally an open structure, and definitions used by councils and in the regulations are specific.

It is worth checking the definitions that apply in your council area rather than assuming that what you call the structure is how it will be classified.

A roofed structure is not necessarily an open pergola

Adding a roof changes the structure. A roofed outdoor structure may be treated differently from an open pergola, both under building law and under a planning scheme, and it can also raise separate considerations such as stormwater. If your design includes any form of roofing, raise that specifically when you make enquiries, because the answer for an open pergola may not carry over.

Design factors that commonly affect requirements

The following are the aspects of a design that councils and building surveyors typically ask about. None of them is a test you can apply yourself to reach a conclusion, but knowing them helps you prepare for the conversation.

• The dimensions and floor area of the proposed structure
• The height of the deck above natural ground level
• The overall height of a pergola or roofed structure
• Whether the structure is roofed, partly roofed or completely open
• Whether it is attached to the house or freestanding
• Where it sits on the property, including distance to boundaries
• Whether it involves a balustrade, stairs or a change in level
• How stormwater and drainage are handled

Because these factors interact, a small change in one of them can change the answer. That is another reason to confirm requirements against your final design rather than an early sketch.

Planning controls, overlays and property conditions

Even where a structure seems straightforward, the property itself may carry conditions that affect what can be built and what approvals are needed. Zones and overlays apply to individual parcels of land, and overlays can relate to matters such as heritage, vegetation, bushfire, flooding or neighbourhood character.

Other property conditions matter too. Easements, covenants on title, the location of services and body corporate or owners corporation rules can all affect a proposed structure. A planning property report from the Victorian government planning website is a common starting point for finding out which zone and overlays apply to an address, and your council can explain what those provisions mean for your proposal.

When drawings or engineering may be required

Where a permit is required, an application is generally supported by documentation describing what is proposed. That can include site plans, elevations, construction details and, depending on the structure, structural design prepared by a qualified engineer.

Structural input is more commonly relevant for raised decks, structures attached to an existing building, larger spans, roofed structures and situations where footings have to respond to particular site conditions. Whether it is required for your project is a matter for the building surveyor assessing the application, not something we can determine.

What to prepare before you make enquiries

Having this together makes the conversation with your council or a building surveyor far more productive, and it is the same information a carpenter needs in order to understand the work.

Who can confirm the requirements for your project

The parties who can give you a project-specific answer are your local council, a registered building surveyor and, where structural design is involved, a qualified engineer. The Building and Plumbing Commission is Victoria's regulator for the building and plumbing industries and publishes general consumer information, and Victorian legislation is published by the Victorian government.

Master Framers is a carpentry contractor. We are not a council, a building surveyor, an engineer or a permit authority. We do not issue or approve permits and we cannot promise an approval outcome. What we can do is build the carpentry work once you have confirmed and obtained whatever approvals apply.

Confirm before you build

Approval requirements should be confirmed before construction begins. Finding out partway through that a structure needed an approval, or that the design does not suit the conditions on the property, is far more disruptive and costly than making an enquiry at the planning stage.