Hi, I want to have a small deck built onto the side of our house, and we want it to adhere to the requirements of our local council (Darebin) so that our application will be granted a permit, but I am unable to find out what the can do's/can't do's are. Ie distance from boundary fence. Is there a resource for this information? I can't find it on any local council websites in Victoria.
Hi Charlotte,
From what we gather the rules differ slightly from council to council, and will depend on any number of things including setbacks, fire ratings, heritage overlays and so forth. The rules are probably a bit of a moving target even at local council level, actually - which is probably why you won't find much on council websites.
We have some useful general information in our 'Do I need a council permit for my decking or pergola?' article, but because every case is different, your best bet by far is to give the local council a call directly.
Talk to someone in their planning department, and ask them about what the rules and processes are, what's likely to get the nod or break the rules - and under what circumstances you need to apply for a permit. In our experience they're usually really helpful and can advise in great detail.
Hope this helps,
The BUILD team.