R-Codes and your local council: setbacks, site cover and landscaping requirements
The Residential Design Codes set the planning rules for residential WA, and your local council adds its own local planning scheme on top. What they control in a garden, and how to find out what applies to your lot.
Two documents decide what you are allowed to build in your back garden. The first is a state planning code that applies to every residential lot in Western Australia. The second is your council’s own planning scheme and its local planning policies, which sit on top and can override parts of the first.
The good news for a garden renovation is that most of what you want to do is already exempt from development approval — sheds, patios, pergolas, decks, fences, pools, water tanks. The catch is that the exemption is conditional. It only holds while you stay inside the R-Codes numbers. Step one millimetre over and the same shed becomes a development application: a fee, weeks of waiting, possible neighbour consultation, and a decision that can go against you.
This lesson is about finding your numbers before you draw, not after.
What a professional does at this stage
A landscaper does not start a Perth job by sketching. They establish three facts, in this order:
- The local government. Which of the 139 WA councils the lot sits in.
- The zone and density code. Residential, and R20, R25, R40, R60 — whatever the scheme map says for that lot.
- The local planning policies that modify the state rules. Front fences, outbuildings, street setbacks and site works are the ones councils most often change.
Then every proposed element gets sorted into one of two bins: exempt or needs a development application. There is no middle bin. Elements in the second bin either get redesigned back into the first, or the client gets told now — not after the concept is approved and the deposit is spent — that this part of the garden carries a two to three month approval risk.
That sorting is the whole value of this phase. A designer who does it late produces a beautiful plan that cannot be built.
Which part of the R-Codes applies to you
The R-Codes Volume 1 splits into parts by density. For a single house, the line is at R50.
| Your R-Code | Part that applies | Controls open space via |
|---|---|---|
| R40 and below (most established Perth suburbs) | Part B | Minimum open space percentage, Table B |
| R50 and above (upzoned inner and station precincts) | Part C | Maximum site cover, Table 3.1a, plus soft landscaping and deep soil |
Volume 2 covers apartments at R80 and above and is not your problem.
Note the date. Volume 1 is Version 3, published 10 April 2026, and that amendment ended the transitional arrangements that had let some R50+ single houses avoid Part C. Advice written before April 2026 can be wrong about which part you sit in.
Finding your R-code
- Confirm your local government. Rates notice, or the council boundary map.
- Open the department’s A–Z of local planning schemes, click your council, and download the scheme text and the locality map covering your suburb. Large councils split the map into numbered sheets — the City of Stirling has seventeen.
- Find your lot on the map. The zone gives you the colour; the density code is printed over the residential areas as R20, R30 and so on.
- Cross-check against your council’s own online property map, which is usually easier to read and sometimes more current.
- Then ring or email the planning department and ask one question: “What local planning policies apply to my lot?” Ask for the list. You cannot find this reliably any other way, and it is the part that catches people.
If the lot sits inside an approved structure plan or a local development plan — common in newer estates and in infill precincts — those documents can replace the R-Codes provisions again. Ask about them in the same call.
What is actually exempt
Schedule 2 of the Local Planning Schemes Regulations is automatically part of every scheme in the state. Clause 61 lists works that need no development approval. The garden-relevant ones:
| Works | The condition attached |
|---|---|
| Outbuilding, boundary wall or fence, patio, pergola, verandah, deck, garage, carport | R-Codes apply, works meet the deemed-to-comply provisions, not a heritage-protected place |
| Swimming pool, shade sails | Not a heritage-protected place |
| Water tank | Not in the street setback area, no more than 5,000 L, height capped at 1.8 m within 1 m of a boundary or 2.4 m beyond |
| Cubbyhouse | Not in the street setback area, floor no more than 1 m above natural ground level, wall height 2.4 m, overall 3 m, floor area 10 m², not within 1 m of more than one boundary |
| Demolition or removal of an outbuilding, fence, patio, pergola, deck, garage, carport or pool | Not a heritage-protected place |
| Maintenance and repair works | Not a heritage-protected place |
Three things switch these exemptions off: a heritage-protected place, a special control area in your scheme, and bush fire prone land where approval is required under clause 78D(3) — see bushfire and dieback.
Two warnings that get people badly.
Exempt from planning approval is not exempt from a building permit. Separate systems, separate regulators. Sheds, patios, carports and pools are Class 10 buildings and mostly still need a permit from the same council — see structures and building permits.
Exempt demolition is not exempt from asbestos law. Clause 61 lets you remove an old shed or fence without a planning application. It says nothing about what the shed is made of. Any Perth structure built before the mid-1980s — fibro sheds, super six fencing, old patio sheeting — is asbestos until proven otherwise, and the removal thresholds and disposal duties in the existing garden audit apply in full.
The numbers that bite in a garden
For a Part B lot (R40 and below), these are the deemed-to-comply provisions a renovation actually collides with:
| Element | Deemed-to-comply |
|---|---|
| Outbuildings | One small shed up to 10 m² with 2.7 m walls; or larger and multiple sheds up to 60 m² or 10% of the site area, whichever is less, with 2.4 m walls and a 4.2 m ridge. Never in the street setback area, never reducing required open space |
| Front fences | Visually permeable above 1.2 m within the primary street setback area. Solid pillars up to 1.8 m, maximum 400 × 400 mm, separated by permeable infill |
| Sight lines | Nothing over 0.75 m within 1.5 m of where a driveway meets the street |
| Site works | Fill or excavation forward of the street setback: 0.5 m up or down. Behind it and within 1 m of a boundary: 0.5 m above natural ground level. Beyond that, setback equals height (a 1.5 m wall sits 1.5 m off the boundary) |
| Open space | R20 and R25: 50% of the site, with a 30 m² outdoor living area. R30 and R35: 45% and 24 m². R40: 45% and 20 m² |
| Outdoor living area | Minimum 4 m in both directions, behind the street setback, at least two-thirds without permanent roof cover |
| Landscaping | At least one tree with a 2 × 2 m planting area free of paving and roof; street setback area no more than 50% impervious surface |
| Stormwater | Roof and paving runoff directed to garden areas, sumps or tanks on site |
Read that outdoor living area rule again, because it is the one that quietly kills alfresco designs: two-thirds of it must be open to the sky. Roof the whole thing and the deemed-to-comply pathway is gone.
The site works line is the other expensive one. On a sloping Perth block a terrace that seemed obvious can require a development application purely because of where it sits relative to a boundary. Retaining walls gets its own lesson for that reason.
Soft landscaping, deep soil and site cover
If your lot is coded R50 or above, Part C adds requirements that most renovators have never heard of and that a hard-landscaping-heavy design will fail:
- 15% soft landscaping minimum per site, minimum dimension 1 m.
- 30% soft landscaping minimum within the primary street setback area.
- Deep soil area per tree: 9 m² and 1.5 m minimum dimension for a small tree (3–8 m at maturity), 36 m² and 3 m for a medium tree, 64 m² and 6 m for a large one.
- Maximum site cover of 60% at R30 and R35, 65% at R40 and R50, and 70% at R60 and R80.
The definitions do the damage. Soft landscape means at least 300 mm of soil with in-ground planting. Turf counts. Pots, raised planters and permeable paving do not. Deep soil area must be open to the sky with nothing impeding above or below it, which rules out the area over a soakwell chamber or a pool shell. Site cover excludes eaves and pergolas but includes anything roofed in impervious material — so a solid-roof patio counts and an open-batten pergola does not.
This is where renovations get caught. Ripping out a tired front lawn and paving it for parking is the most common way a Perth owner unknowingly breaches their own R-Code. Keep the calculation in your notes — and note that retaining a significant existing tree (healthy, not a listed weed, at least 4 m tall or 160 mm trunk diameter measured 1 m from the ground, or 4 m average canopy) drops the Part C soft landscaping requirement from 15% to 10%, provided you protect it with a tree protection zone to AS 4970. Carry that into tree assessment.
Where your council overrides the state
Do not quote R-Codes numbers at a Perth council without checking their policies first. A local planning policy can change, without any state approval: street setbacks, street walls and fences, sight lines, site works, outbuildings and external fixtures under Part B; and street setbacks, site works and retaining walls, streetscape and water management under Part C. Outside Perth and Peel, councils can also alter the Part B tree requirement and the whole of Part C trees and landscaping.
In practice that means your council may demand a deeper front setback, a lower fence, a smaller shed or more canopy than the state code does. The verge in front of your block is council land, not yours — ask for their verge treatment policy before you design anything on it.
If you land near a line, the clause 61A check is worth using: you lodge your plans and the council must tell you in writing within 14 days whether development approval is required. Cheap certainty compared with building the wrong thing.
What this changes downstream
You now have a short written list: your R-Code, the part of the code that applies, your setbacks, your open space or site cover figure, your landscaping minimum, and the local policies that vary any of them. Those become hard constraints on the concept plan — the same status as a boundary or a sewer easement. Do not treat them as targets to design towards later.
The next lesson takes the site works numbers here and goes deeper into the one element that most often needs both a development application and an engineer: retaining walls.
Checklist
- Identify your R-Code density and your local government
- Find your council's local planning scheme and any local planning policies
- Note setback requirements that affect structures you are planning
- Check whether your council mandates deep soil area or tree canopy
Watch
Amendments to R Codes - DPLH information session 12 March 2024
The department walking practitioners through the restructure of Volume 1 into Parts A to D and the introduction of Part C for medium density, including the landscaping, deep soil and site cover elements. Watching the regulator explain its own intent is the fastest way to understand why the clauses are written the way they are, which is what you need when you are arguing a design principles case rather than a deemed-to-comply one.
Recorded March 2024, before the 10 April 2026 administrative amendment that ended the Part C transitional arrangements. The structure and the reasoning still hold; check current clause numbers against Version 3 of Volume 1.
Where to go deeper
Every link below was fetched and checked before it shipped. Nothing here is a guess.
- Freegovernment10 min to orientPerth / WA
Residential Design Codes
Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage / Western Australian Planning Commission
Why this oneThe only page that will always hold the current R-Codes, and the one to check before you trust any number in any blog post. As at August 2026 it publishes R-Codes Volume 1 dated 10 April 2026 and Volume 2 (apartments) dated April 2024, plus the Explanatory Guidelines, the Practice Notes and the assessment templates. It also carries the plain statement of the 10 April 2026 transitional change, which is the sort of thing that quietly invalidates older advice.
Link checked 2 Aug 2026
- Freestandard1 hour for the garden clausesPerth / WA
Residential Design Codes Volume 1 (Version 3, 10 April 2026)
Western Australian Planning Commission
Why this oneThe actual statutory document, 142 pages, made under Part 3A of the Planning and Development Act 2005. You do not read it cover to cover — you read Part B clauses 5.2.4, 5.3.1, 5.3.2, 5.3.7 and 5.4.3, Table B, and if you are coded R50 or above, Part C sections 1.2, 2.6 and 3.1. Those clauses contain every number that decides whether your garden needs development approval.
Change this for PerthVersion 3 published 10 April 2026. Check the document collection page above before relying on it — the WAPC amends this document and the version number is on page ii of the PDF.
Link checked 2 Aug 2026
- Freegovernment20 minPerth / WA
R-Codes Volume 1 Practice Notes (April 2024)
Western Australian Planning Commission
Why this oneSixteen pages answering the questions planners are actually asked about Part B, with diagrams. Two of them matter directly to a garden: how a patio or verandah is measured for boundary setbacks (10 m or less in length and no more than 2.7 m high is not treated as a continuation of the dwelling wall, and the boundary setback can be nil), and what 'visually permeable' means for a front fence in numbers rather than adjectives. This is the document that settles arguments at the counter.
Change this for PerthWritten against the April 2024 version of Volume 1 and covers Part B only. Part C is dealt with in the Explanatory Guidelines instead. Cross-check any clause number against the current Volume 1.
Link checked 2 Aug 2026
- Freegovernment30 min for the sections you needPerth / WA
R-Codes Volume 1 Explanatory Guidelines (March 2024)
Western Australian Planning Commission
Why this oneThe WAPC's own interpretation manual, 156 pages, structured to mirror the R-Codes clause by clause so you can jump straight to the element you are stuck on. Section 1.2 'Trees, deep soil area and landscaping' and section 3.1 'Site cover' are the two a garden renovation keeps hitting. It also explains what a council may and may not change through a local planning policy, which is what you need before you argue with one.
Change this for PerthVersion 1, published March 2024. It is guidance, not statute — the R-Codes themselves win where the two differ.
Link checked 2 Aug 2026
- Freegovernment15 min for Schedule 2 clause 61Perth / WA
Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Regulations 2015
Western Australian Legislation, Parliamentary Counsel's Office
Why this oneThe primary source for the single most useful fact in this phase: Schedule 2 (the deemed provisions) clause 61 lists, in a table, every class of works that does not need development approval — outbuildings, fences, patios, pergolas, verandahs, decks, garages, carports, pools, shade sails, water tanks, cubbyhouses and demolition. Read the Conditions column, not just the Works column. The current consolidation is dated 3 November 2024.
Change this for PerthThese deemed provisions are automatically part of every local planning scheme in WA, so they apply to your block whichever council you are in. Your scheme can still add special control areas that switch the exemptions off.
Link checked 2 Aug 2026
- Freedirectory15 min for your lotPerth / WA
Local planning strategies, schemes and structure plans
Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage
Why this oneAn A to Z list of all 139 WA local governments, each linking to a page holding that council's scheme text, its numbered locality maps and its approved structure plans as PDFs. This is the state-held copy, which means it does not disappear when a council rebuilds its website. For a suburban block you want the scheme text plus the locality map that covers your suburb — the map is where your R-Code is written.
Change this for PerthIt holds schemes and structure plans, not local planning policies. Policies live on the council's own site and you have to ask for the list.
Link checked 2 Aug 2026
- Freegovernment10 minPerth / WA
Explanatory Guidelines: Deemed Provisions Clause 61A (deemed-to-comply check)
Western Australian Planning Commission
Why this oneExplains the voluntary check where you ask your council to confirm in writing that your single house works are exempt from development approval, so you can go straight to a building permit. It lists exactly what the application must contain — site plan with existing and proposed ground levels, floor plans with setbacks to all boundaries, elevations with wall and roof heights from natural ground level — which is a useful specification for your own drawings even if you never lodge it.
Change this for PerthPublished December 2020. It states the application fee is capped at $295; fees are set under the Planning and Development Regulations 2009 and change, so confirm the current figure with your council. The check covers single houses and their extensions only, not the other clause 61 exemptions.
Link checked 2 Aug 2026
- Freegovernment15 minPerth / WA
Building approvals
Building and Energy, Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety
Why this oneThe page that makes clear planning approval and a building permit are two different things with two different regulators. It sets out the building classifications (a shed, carport, patio or pool is Class 10), the BA1 to BA23 application forms, and the prescribed fees under the Building Regulations 2012 — a certified application for a Class 1 or Class 10 building is 0.19 per cent of the estimated value of the work with a $121 minimum, and an uncertified application is 0.32 per cent with the same minimum.
Change this for PerthBuilding and Energy sets the rules; your local government assesses the application and applies its own local laws on top. Contact the council, not the department, about what they will want lodged.
Link checked 2 Aug 2026
The rules, with sources
WA regulation changes. Each point below names its primary source and the date it was last checked — always confirm with your own council before you build.
The current Residential Design Codes Volume 1 is Version 3, published 10 April 2026. Volume 2, which covers apartments in areas coded R80 and above, remains the April 2024 version. The R-Codes are a Planning Code made under Part 3A of the Planning and Development Act 2005 and apply to all residential development in Western Australia.
Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage ↗ · checked 2 Aug 2026
From 10 April 2026 the special transitional arrangements for Part C ceased. Single house developments in areas coded R50 and above within a structure plan or local development plan must now be assessed against Part C, including Design Element 3.1 Site Cover. The only remaining exception is clause C2.2.4 Solar Orientation, which stays exempt until 10 April 2030 for single houses in R50+ areas within a structure plan or local development plan approved before 10 April 2024.
Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage ↗ · checked 2 Aug 2026
Development approval is not required for the erection, installation, alteration or addition of an outbuilding, boundary wall or fence, patio, pergola, verandah, deck, garage or carport on the same lot as a single house or grouped dwelling, provided the R-Codes apply to the works, the works comply with the deemed-to-comply provisions of the R-Codes, and the works are not in a heritage-protected place. Swimming pools and shade sails are exempt provided the works are not in a heritage-protected place.
Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Regulations 2015, Schedule 2 clause 61(1), items 7 and 8 ↗ · checked 2 Aug 2026
The clause 61 exemptions do not apply where the development is in a special control area and the scheme's special provisions require development approval, or where the land is designated a bush fire prone area and development approval is required under clause 78D(3).
Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Regulations 2015, Schedule 2 clause 61(6) ↗ · checked 2 Aug 2026
An owner may apply to their local government for written advice that development approval is not required for works on a single house because of the clause 61 exemption. The local government must respond within 14 days. The clause applies automatically to local governments wholly or partly in the metropolitan region or the Peel Region Scheme area.
Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Regulations 2015, Schedule 2 clause 61A ↗ · checked 2 Aug 2026
Under R-Codes Volume 1 Part B clause 5.4.3, a small outbuilding is deemed to comply if there is no more than one per dwelling site, it does not exceed 10 square metres, wall height does not exceed 2.7 metres, and it is not in the primary or secondary street setback area. Large and multiple outbuildings must not exceed 60 square metres or 10 per cent of the site area, whichever is the lesser, must not exceed a wall height of 2.4 metres or a ridge height of 4.2 metres, must not be in the street setback area, and must not reduce the required open space or outdoor living area.
Residential Design Codes Volume 1, Version 3 (10 April 2026), clause 5.4.3 C3 ↗ · checked 2 Aug 2026
Under R-Codes Volume 1 Part B clause 5.3.7, retaining walls, fill and excavation between the street boundary and the street setback must not be more than 0.5 metres above or below natural ground level, except where necessary for access, drainage works or natural light. Behind the street setback and within 1 metre of a lot boundary, excavation or fill must not be more than 0.5 metres above natural ground level at the boundary. Elsewhere on the site, site works and retaining walls are set back per Table 4: 0.5 metres or less needs no setback, 1 metre needs 1 metre, 2 metres needs 2 metres, and 3 metres needs 3 metres.
Residential Design Codes Volume 1, Version 3 (10 April 2026), clause 5.3.7 C7.1–C7.3 and Table 4 ↗ · checked 2 Aug 2026
Under R-Codes Volume 1 Part B clause 5.3.2 C2.2, a single house or grouped dwelling must provide a minimum of one tree with a minimum tree planting area of 2 by 2 metres free of impervious surfaces and roof cover, and the street setback area must be landscaped with not more than 50 per cent of that area consisting of impervious surfaces.
Residential Design Codes Volume 1, Version 3 (10 April 2026), clause 5.3.2 C2.2 ↗ · checked 2 Aug 2026
Under R-Codes Volume 1 Part C clause 1.2, development must provide a minimum of 15 per cent soft landscaping per site with a minimum dimension of 1 metre, and the primary street setback area must provide a minimum of 30 per cent soft landscaping. Required deep soil area per tree is 9 square metres with a minimum dimension of 1.5 metres for a small tree, 36 square metres and 3 metres for a medium tree, and 64 square metres and 6 metres for a large tree. Soft landscape means a landscaped area with a minimum soil depth of 300 millimetres containing in-ground planting; turf counts, removable planter boxes and pots and permeable paving areas do not.
Residential Design Codes Volume 1, Version 3 (10 April 2026), clauses C1.2.1, C1.2.2, Table 1.2b and Appendix A1 Definitions ↗ · checked 2 Aug 2026
Under R-Codes Volume 1 Part C Table 3.1a, maximum site cover is 60 per cent at R30 and R35, 65 per cent at R40 and R50, and 70 per cent at R60 and R80. Site cover is the area occupied by any building or other structure roofed with impervious material, but excludes uncovered driveways and parking spaces, eaves and pergolas, and a wholly underground basement.
Residential Design Codes Volume 1, Version 3 (10 April 2026), Table 3.1a and Appendix A1 Definitions ↗ · checked 2 Aug 2026
A local government may adopt a local planning policy that amends, replaces or augments deemed-to-comply provisions of the R-Codes. Without WAPC approval this includes Part B street setbacks, street walls and fences, sight lines, site works, outbuildings and external fixtures, and Part C street setbacks, site works and retaining walls, streetscape and water management. Any other deemed-to-comply provision may be modified with WAPC approval.
Residential Design Codes Volume 1, Version 3 (10 April 2026), Part A clause 3.2.3 ↗ · checked 2 Aug 2026