Alter or extend your house

You may need a Planning Permit, a Building Permit or both to alter or extend a house.

You may also need other permits, depending on your situation.

This guide is for a house that is the only dwelling on a lot (a single dwelling). It is only for altering or extending the house itself, such as changes to the floor, roof, walls or interior.

‘Alter’ is to make an internal or external change to an existing house without increasing the floor area.
‘Extend’ is to add to or increase the floor area of an existing house. This includes adding an extra storey.

How to use this guide

To help you work out which permits you need, start at Step 1 and answer the questions one at a time.

If you need help at any step, email [email protected] or call (03) 9278 4888 and ask for our:

Statutory Planning team for help with planning or Planning Permits.
Building Services team for help with building or Building Permits.

Step 1 – Check for any restrictions

Check for easements

An easement is an area of land on your property that councils and other authorities are allowed to access. When an easement is obstructed, it can prevent important maintenance work and block the flow of stormwater.

Check your Certificate of Title for any easements. If you don’t have this document, get a copy from the Landata website for a small fee.

If there are any easements on your property and your plans will block or cover the easement, you may need to submit an application to build over an easement.

Check for special restrictions

Some properties have special restrictions under the Boroondara Planning Scheme.

To check if your property is listed, visit the Department of Transport and Planning website’s Schedule to Clause 51.01 Specific Sites and Exclusions.

If your property is listed, contact our Statutory Planning team to find out what special restrictions and exemptions apply.

Check for restrictive covenants

Check whether any restrictive covenants impact your property. They may restrict what material you can build your house with.

To find out if your property is affected by a restrictive covenant, check the Certificate of Title.

Does your property have any restrictions?

If yes, check that your plans comply with any requirements, then go to the next step.
If no, go to the next step.

Step 2 – Check the type of works

Check your plans to find out if your project is one of the following:

An internal rearrangement: you plan to make changes to the inside of the house only. You will not increase the gross floor area, building size or number of dwellings.
Normal equipment that services the house: you are installing standard equipment or an appliance that services a house. For example:
- access ramps or handrails
- air conditioning
- hot water services
- security systems
- shade sails
- a barbecue
- downpipes
- flues.
Repairs and routine maintenance: your project is regular maintenance or repair of damaged building parts. It is not replacing an entire part of the building. For example replacing broken roof tiles is 'repairs and routine maintenance', but replacing all or part of the roof is not.

Is your project any of the above?

If yes, go to step 4.
If no, go to the next step.

Step 3 – Check your property Residential Zone requirements

Create a Planning Property Report on the VicPlan website by entering your property’s address.

This will give you the zone of your property. Check if it’s in a:

General Residential Zone
Residential Growth Zone
Neighbourhood Residential Zone.

If your property is not in any of these zones, go to step 4.

Maximum building heights and storeys

These 3 zones have limits on the maximum height and number of storeys you can build. The table below shows the height and storey limits.

Zone	Schedule number	Maximum height	Maximum number of storeys
Residential Growth Zone	RGZ1	13.5 m	No maximum
General Residential Zone	GRZ1	9 m	3 storeys
	GRZ2	10.5 m
	GRZ3	10.5 m
	GRZ4	11 m
	GRZ5	11 m
Neighbourhood Residential Zone	NZR3	9 m on a non-sloping site. 10 m on a sloping site*	2 storeys

*A slope is where the angle of the natural ground level, measured at any cross section of the site of the building wider than 8 metres, is more than 2.5 degrees.

If your design is over the maximum height or storey limit for your zone you might not be allowed to do the extension. Contact our Statutory Planning team for advice.

Does your project meet Residential Zone requirements?

If yes, go to the next step.
If no, change your plans or contact our Statutory Planning team for advice.

Step 4 – Check if you need a Planning Permit

Check for overlays

Refer to the Planning Property Report that you created in step 3 and check for any overlays (restrictions).

You need a Planning Permit if your property has any of these overlays:

Heritage Overlay unless the works are repairs and routine maintenance
Public Acquisition Overlay
Land Subject to Inundation Overlay
Environmental Significance Overlay unless the works are repairs and routine maintenance, or constructing a heating appliance, chimney or flue pipe
Design and Development Overlay, except for Design and Development Overlay Schedule 4
Significant Landscape Overlay and the height of the house will be more than 6 m above natural ground level.

If your property has a Special Building Overlay, contact our Statutory Planning team for advice on whether you need a Planning Permit.

If your property is on the Victorian Heritage Register, you may also need approval from Heritage Victoria. Contact Heritage Victoria for advice on how to apply for approval.

Check your property zone

Refer to the Planning Property Report and check your property zone.

You need a Planning Permit if:

Your property is in a Commercial 1 or Commercial 2 Zone (unless your project is an internal rearrangement, normal equipment that services a house, or repairs and routine maintenance).
Your property is in a General Residential, Neighbourhood Residential, Mixed Use or Residential Growth Zone, and you are planning an extension on a lot less than 300 m².

Do you need a Planning Permit?

If yes, apply for a Planning Permit then go to the next step. Your project is eligible for a VicSmart Planning Permit if:
- a Special Building Overlay affects your land, or
- the application is for a residential lot under 300 m²  and meets specific criteria about developing on smaller lots.
If no, go to the next step.

Step 5 – Check if you need a Building Permit

You need a Building Permit if your works will:

endanger the public or people who occupy the house, or
will impact the 'structural soundness' of the building.

Structural soundness means removing or changing any element of the building that supports another element.

Works that require a Building Permit include:

changing the height of the house
increasing or decreasing the floor area
increasing the size of an opening, such as a doorway or window
replacing or underpinning the footings (a footing is a structure in the ground that supports the house above)
removing or altering roof framing to install something such as a skylight, chimney or solar panels
altering a staircase, including replacing a handrail
doing repairs that impact a supporting element of the building, for example replacing a roof beam
making an internal change that affects a supporting element of the building, for example removing a load-bearing wall, beam or column.

You need a Building Permit if your property is on the Victorian Heritage Register. Find this in your VicPlan report by checking for a Heritage Overlay then looking at the schedule number.

Do you need a Building Permit?

If yes, apply for a Building Permit then go to the next step.
If no, go to the next step.

Step 6 – Check if you need any other permits

Depending on your situation, you may need other permits.

If you need to:

remove, prune or do works within 2 m of a canopy or significant tree, apply for a Tree Works Permit
store equipment on a road, footpath or nature strip, apply for a Road or Footpath Occupancy Permit.

If your works could impact:

driveway access to your property, apply for a Vehicle Crossing Permit
public assets, such as a road, footpath or nature strip, apply for an Asset Protection Permit.

You can start construction:

after all your permits have been issued
if you do not need permits.