Cockburn Draftsman for City of Cockburn Plans and Council Approval

The City of Cockburn has done something most Perth councils have not. Rather than relying on the standard state exemptions, it has written its own policy listing exactly which minor structures are exempt from development approval, zone by zone, with the conditions spelled out. Local Planning Policy 1.8 was last adopted on 12 May 2026, so it is genuinely current.

That policy decides whether your pergola, shade sail, rainwater tank, cubby house, solar array or security camera pole needs an application. This page sets out what it says and where it stops.

What a Cockburn draftsman or Cockburn drafter does for you

Cockburn work rewards knowing the policy rather than guessing at it, because the exemptions are written as pass or fail conditions.

For a City of Cockburn project that means:

• Confirming the zone, because LPP 1.8 sets different conditions for Residential, Rural Living, Rural, Resource, the centre zones and the industrial zones
• Checking whether the property is a heritage protected building or sits within a heritage protected place, which removes the exemptions
• Checking whether the lot is in the Development Zone or a Special Use Zone, because LPP 1.8 does not apply there at all
• Testing each element of the design against Town Planning Scheme No. 3 and the R-Codes
• Preparing plans and documentation to the City’s lodgement standard

We draw architectural and planning documentation. We do not produce structural engineering drawings or electrical design.

What “Cockburn council approval” actually means

People use “council approval” to cover two or three separate things. They are assessed by different people under different legislation, and most projects do not need all of them.

A building permit. The construction approval under the Building Act 2011, covering structural adequacy, fire separation, energy efficiency and compliance with the National Construction Code. You will almost always need this one.

Development approval, also called planning approval or a DA. The planning assessment against the R-Codes, the local planning scheme and the council’s own local planning policies, covering siting, setbacks, height, bulk, open space and streetscape.

Here is the part that saves people time and money. On most smaller residential jobs, development approval is only needed where the design does not meet the deemed-to-comply provisions of the R-Codes. Draw a patio, shed or carport inside the numbers and you generally go straight to a building permit. Step outside them and you are asking for a variation, and the variation is what triggers the planning application.

A deemed-to-comply check. This is the step most people have never heard of. Where no development approval is needed, your building surveyor still needs evidence of that before issuing a certificate of design compliance. A number of WA councils run a formal written check for exactly this purpose, and some expect it before a building permit will proceed even where the design fully complies. Fees and turnarounds vary widely: the Town of Victoria Park charges $73, while the Town of Cambridge charges $295 for a new single house and $100 for additions, with a 14 day response. Ask the council early whether they run one and whether they expect it before a building permit, because it changes your program and your budget.

One rule holds everywhere. Being exempt from development approval does not exempt you from a building permit.

Cockburn council approval for pergolas, vergolas and shade sails

This is where Cockburn is noticeably more generous than most.

A pergola or vergola in a Residential zone does not need development approval, provided the lot is subject to the R-Codes and the works are not in a heritage protected place. That is the whole test. No setback table, no size cap.

Read the definition carefully, because it is broader than most councils use:

> A pergola or vergola is an open-framed structure covered in water permeable material, or operable louvred roofing, which may or may not be attached to a dwelling.

Including operable louvred roofing in the pergola definition matters. In several Perth councils an opening roof system is treated as a patio because it can be closed to water, which pulls it into the patio provisions. Cockburn’s definition places it with pergolas instead, which is a meaningful advantage if you are considering a louvred roof.

Shade sails in a residential zone are exempt on the same basis: the lot is subject to the R-Codes, is deemed a single house or grouped dwelling, and is not heritage protected.

In the commercial and industrial zones shade sails are far more constrained, requiring a minimum 15m setback from the primary street and 3m from any other boundary, with 15m applying to both frontages where a lot fronts two streets other than a secondary street.

City of Cockburn building rules for incidental structures

LPP 1.8 covers a long list of minor structures. These are the ones that come up on residential jobs.

Structure	Residential zone conditions for exemption
**Roof-mounted solar**	Exempt in all zones provided the works are not on a heritage protected building or in a heritage protected place
**Ground-mounted solar**	No greater than **25m2** and **3m** high from natural ground level, set back per Table 2a of the R-Codes as if it were a wall with no major openings, not the predominant use of the lot, and not forward of the dwelling or building alignment
**Rainwater tanks**	Must comply with the requirements of a **small outbuilding** as defined in the R-Codes, except for the number of outbuildings or tanks per site. If forward of the dwelling alignment it must be screened with landscaping or vegetation and be complementary in colour or materials
**Cubby houses**	One per lot, behind the primary street setback area, footprint or floor area no greater than **10m2**, building height no more than **3m** from existing natural ground level, lot deemed a single house or grouped dwelling, not heritage protected
**Flagpoles**	No more than **6m** above natural ground level, no more than **200mm** in diameter, not used for advertising, one per lot, not heritage protected
**Satellite dishes**	Diameter less than **1.2m**, no more than **2 dishes** on any one lot, not heritage protected
**Battery systems**	Not the predominant use of the lot, and screened from view from the public realm
**Camera poles**	Height not exceeding the wall height of the existing or proposed dwelling to a maximum of **6m**, behind the dwelling alignment, one per lot, set back per Table 2a as a wall with no major openings, and **no more than two security cameras**, directed at the subject site or the street and **not at adjoining properties**

The camera pole conditions are worth knowing. Cockburn is one of very few councils that has written rules for domestic security cameras into planning policy, and the requirement that cameras face your own property or the street rather than the neighbours is enforceable.

Note also that the exemptions do not remove your obligations under the Environmental Protection (Noise) Regulations 1997, which the policy specifically reminds applicants about.

Rainwater tanks in the Cockburn rural zones

On Rural Living, Rural and Resource zoned land the rainwater tank rules change. The tank must be no more than 5m above natural ground level and must sit within an approved building envelope, or where the lot has no assigned envelope, comply with the Scheme setback requirements for rural properties. Where it sits forward of the dwelling alignment it must be screened.

There is a useful concession buried in the explanatory notes: a rainwater tank on a rural zoned property does not count toward the maximum permitted floor area for other outbuildings or structures on the site. On a rural block where you are already close to your shed allowance, that is worth knowing before you design.

Sheds and outbuildings in the City of Cockburn

LPP 1.8 covers incidental structures, not outbuildings. Sheds in Cockburn’s residential zones are assessed under the R-Codes deemed-to-comply provisions and Town Planning Scheme No. 3, so the standard figures apply: 60m2 or 10 per cent of the site area whichever is lesser, a 2.4m wall height and a 4.2m ridge height for large and multiple outbuildings.

Cockburn’s zoning is unusually varied, taking in Rural Living land at Banjup, industrial land through Bibra Lake and Henderson, and dense newer residential estates at Success and Hammond Park. Because size and height allowances move with the zone, confirm the zoning before assuming a figure. A shed proposal that does not meet the deemed-to-comply criteria is assessed against the design principles, and advertising to adjoining landowners may be required.

Patios and fire separation in Cockburn

A patio, meaning a roofed structure with a water impervious cover, is a different thing from the pergola or vergola covered by LPP 1.8 and is assessed under the R-Codes.

Whichever route the planning assessment takes, fire separation is decided separately at building permit stage. Western Australia adopted NCC 2025 on 1 May 2026, introducing WA Part 9.6 for roofed outdoor areas. It gives two routes to the boundary: 900mm measured to the outermost structural projection and excluding the eave overhang, or 500mm measured to the outermost projection and including the eave overhang.

The 500mm route carries conditions including two or more sides open with at least one third of the perimeter open, a non-combustible supporting structure, a polycarbonate or non-combustible roof covering, a non-combustible floor, no direct vertical support to the house, and a solid non-combustible screen at least 1500mm high along every side facing a boundary. If that does not suit the build, use the 900mm route.

Cockburn plans we prepare

Project type	What we prepare
New single houses	Concept design through to submission documentation
Additions and extensions	Existing and proposed plans, demolition plan
Second storey additions	Full working drawings, elevations, sections
Patios, pergolas and vergolas	Plans with the correct classification and fire separation route
Sheds and outbuildings	Plans tested against the R-Codes and the zone
Carports and garages	Setback and frontage width assessment
Ancillary dwellings	Plans and area calculations to the 70m2 limit
Retaining walls and front fences	Plans including sight line truncation

Cockburn projects and what they teach you

Work across the City of Cockburn is a regular part of what we do, taking in the established suburbs through Spearwood and Hamilton Hill, the newer estates at Success, Hammond Park and Treeby, and the semi rural blocks at Banjup and Jandakot.

The lesson Cockburn teaches is that classification decides the outcome. Whether a structure is a pergola, a vergola or a patio changes which set of rules applies, and in Cockburn the pergola definition is broad enough that an opening louvred roof can fall on the favourable side of that line. Getting the classification right at design stage, rather than arguing it at assessment, is where the value sits.

The second lesson is zone confirmation. Cockburn spans genuinely different planning environments, and LPP 1.8 explicitly does not apply in the Development Zone or Special Use Zone. On a Cockburn job that check comes first.

What City of Cockburn approval costs

Planning application fees are set by state regulation and are the same at every WA council, calculated on the estimated cost of development:

Estimated cost of development	Application fee
Not more than $50,000	$147
$50,001 to $500,000	0.32% of the estimated cost
$500,001 to $2.5 million	$1,700 plus 0.257% of the amount above $500,000
Written planning advice	$73
Amending or cancelling an approval	$295

If the work has already been built, the fee is that figure plus a penalty of twice the fee, so three times the normal amount.

Building permit fees are separate and calculated on construction value. Where a proposal falls outside LPP 1.8 and needs advertising to adjoining landowners, allow additional time in the program.

Our drafting fee is quoted per project rather than by a rate card, because an estate lot in Hammond Park and a rural living block in Banjup are not the same job. As a rough guide only, a pergola or shed submission sits at the lower end, an addition in the middle, and a new house or second storey at the upper end. You get a fixed figure before we start.

How long the drawings take

We are one of the quicker drafting practices in Perth, and we would rather tell you that plainly than quote a number we cannot stand behind.

Turnaround depends on what is being drawn. A patio or a shed is not a second storey addition, and a straightforward flat block is not a sloping site with an existing dwelling to survey and match into. Anyone quoting you a fixed timeframe before seeing the scope is guessing.

What we do is give you a realistic date once we have seen the project, and then keep to it. If we cannot hit something you need, we say so before you commit rather than after.

It is also worth knowing that on most jobs the drafting is not the long pole. The parts that usually set the overall timeline are:

• The council clock, which is set by regulation rather than by us
• Third party reports, such as a Bushfire Attack Level assessment, an arborist report or engineering certification, each of which has its own lead time
• Decisions, meaning how quickly changes come back once you have the first draft in front of you

Those are the things worth planning around, and we will tell you which of them apply to your project at the start.

Draftsman services by Cockburn suburb

The City of Cockburn runs from Hamilton Hill and Coogee in the north down through the newer southern estates, and takes in significant rural living and industrial land inland.

Suburb	What tends to drive the design
Spearwood, Hamilton Hill and Coogee draftsman	Established stock, older larger blocks, additions and outbuilding work dominates
North Coogee draftsman	Coastal, structure plan area with design guidelines over the R-Codes
Success, Hammond Park, Aubin Grove and Atwell draftsman	Newer estate lots, smaller frontages, garage width and setbacks drive the design
Treeby draftsman	Newer estate with local development plans, patios and outdoor areas are common work
Beeliar, Yangebup and Munster draftsman	Mixed established residential, standard R-Codes assessment in most cases
Banjup draftsman	Rural Living zone, building envelopes and the 5m rainwater tank rules apply
Jandakot draftsman	Mixed rural and special use, confirm zoning before anything else
Bibra Lake, Henderson and Wattleup draftsman	Predominantly industrial, different exemption conditions entirely

Cockburn draftsman questions

Do I need development approval for a pergola in Cockburn?

Not in a residential zone, provided the lot is subject to the R-Codes and the works are not in a heritage protected place. Cockburn’s definition of a pergola includes operable louvred roofing, so an opening roof system can qualify here where it might be treated as a patio elsewhere. A building permit may still be required.

Is a vergola treated as a patio in Cockburn?

Not under LPP 1.8. The policy defines a pergola or vergola as an open framed structure covered in water permeable material or operable louvred roofing, and exempts it in residential zones. A structure with a fixed water impervious roof is a patio and is assessed under the R-Codes instead.

How big can my cubby house be in Cockburn?

Up to 10m2 of footprint or floor area and up to 3m in building height from existing natural ground level, one per lot, located behind the primary street setback area, on a lot deemed a single house or grouped dwelling and not heritage protected. In the Rural Living zone the conditions are different, requiring a minimum 6m from the primary street and 2.5m from any other boundary.

Can I put up security cameras in Cockburn without approval?

A camera pole is exempt where it does not exceed the wall height of the dwelling to a maximum of 6m, sits behind the dwelling alignment, there is only one on the lot, it is set back per Table 2a of the R-Codes as a wall with no major openings, and it carries no more than two cameras directed at your own property or the street rather than at adjoining properties.

Does my rainwater tank count toward my shed allowance in Cockburn?

Not on a rural zoned property. The policy states specifically that a rainwater tank on a rural zoned lot does not contribute to the maximum permitted floor area for other outbuildings or structures on site. In residential zones the tank has to comply with the requirements for a small outbuilding under the R-Codes, other than the number of outbuildings or tanks per site.