Canning Draftsman for City of Canning Plans and Council Approval
The City of Canning has the most generous patio provisions of any council we work across. On a lot coded R20 or higher, patio support posts can sit right on the boundary, and the structure can run up to 15 metres along each side. Most Perth councils cap that at 10 metres and keep the posts off the boundary.
That generosity has a limit though, and it is a different limit from the one most people expect. This page sets out the City of Canning’s rules for patios, sheds and garages, where the exemptions stop, and what that means for your design.
What a Canning draftsman or Canning drafter does for you
Canning runs its exemptions through two local planning policies, and knowing which one governs your structure is the starting point.
For a City of Canning project that means:
- Testing the design against 01 Residential Development for patios, carports and garages
- Testing sheds against 12 Outbuildings and Sea Containers in Residential Areas
- Confirming the R-code, because the patio concession applies only at R20 and higher
- Running the outdoor living area roof cover calculation, which is where Canning is stricter than its patio setbacks suggest
- Identifying whether any element is a boundary wall, because in Canning that single classification changes everything
- 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 “Canning 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.
Canning council approval: when you need it and when you do not
Everything on this page sits under clause 61 of the Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Regulations 2015, which sets out development exempt from planning approval. Canning then applies its own two policies on top.
The short version for residential work:
| Structure | Canning council approval needed? |
| Patio on a lot coded R20 or higher | Not if it meets LP.01, including the 50 per cent roof cover limit |
| Pergola | Only if it sits within the front setback area |
| Garage | Not if it meets the R-Codes deemed-to-comply provisions and LP.01 |
| Shed or outbuilding | Not if it meets the R-Codes deemed-to-comply provisions and LP.12 |
| Shed built to the boundary | Yes. A boundary wall is a variation, and a variation triggers an application |
A building permit is a separate question from planning approval, and may still be required even where no development application is needed.
City of Canning patio rules
Planning approval is not required for a patio added to a single house or grouped dwelling where it meets Local Planning Policy LP.01. The provisions are these.
In areas coded R20 and higher, a patio roof may be set back a minimum of 450mm from the side or rear boundary, including patios in the front setback where they comply with clause 5.1.2 of the R-Codes, and support posts may be located up to the boundary, where at least one of the following is achieved:
- The patio or carport abuts an existing or simultaneously constructed patio or wall of similar or greater dimension, or
- The patio or carport is no higher than 3m to the eaves and 4.2m to the gable, and the length is no greater than 15m on each side, exclusive of other boundary walls
And in every case:
- The required outdoor living area must have no more than 50 per cent permanent roof cover
That 15 metre length is unusually generous. So is putting the posts on the boundary rather than 450mm off it. If you have a long rear boundary and you want a patio that runs most of it, Canning is one of the better councils in Perth to be doing that in.
The 50 per cent roof cover rule is where it tightens. Your required outdoor living area, sized by your R-code under the R-Codes, must stay at least half uncovered. Roofing the whole usable backyard fails in Canning regardless of how well the setbacks work.
For comparison across the councils we work in: Canning allows 50 per cent of the outdoor living area to be roofed, the City of Stirling and the City of Melville allow two thirds, and the City of Joondalup allows only about one third. If someone has quoted you a coverage figure, check which council they had in mind.
Pergolas get an even lighter touch. Planning approval is only required for a pergola where it sits within the front setback area. Note the definition though: in Canning a pergola is an unroofed open structure where the covering is limited to battens, open lattice or shade cloth. Put a solid impervious roof on it and it is a patio.
The 450mm figure is a planning number only
Canning’s 450mm gets you through planning. 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.
A patio roof drawn at Canning’s 450mm satisfies neither. Draw the gutter line at 500mm and the reduced separation route stays available. That 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 instead.
This matters more in Canning than elsewhere precisely because the planning rules invite you to the boundary. A design that is comfortably exempt under LP.01 can still fail at permit stage.
City of Canning building rules for sheds and outbuildings
A garage is any roofed structure other than a carport designed to accommodate motor vehicles and enclosed on more than one side. An outbuilding is an enclosed non-habitable structure detached from any dwelling.
A garage on the same lot as a single house or grouped dwelling is exempt from development approval where it satisfies the deemed-to-comply requirements of the R-Codes and LP.01 Residential Development.
An outbuilding on the same lot as a single house or grouped dwelling is exempt where it satisfies the deemed-to-comply requirements of the R-Codes and LP.12 Outbuildings and Sea Containers in Residential Areas.
Both sit under clause 61 of the Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Regulations 2015.
The Canning boundary wall trap
This is the detail the City itself flags as commonly overlooked, and it is worth understanding properly.
A boundary wall can be considered for an outbuilding where it complies with the R-Codes deemed-to-comply requirements. But the City’s position is that a boundary wall, meaning the shed built up to the boundary, represents a variation, and a variation triggers a development application.
So the two structures are treated very differently in Canning. A patio may put its posts on the boundary and stay exempt. A shed built to the boundary is a variation and needs an application. Same property, same boundary, opposite outcomes.
If you want a shed on the boundary in Canning, plan for a development application from the start rather than discovering it at lodgement.
Where the outbuilding complies and no development application is required, a building permit may still be required separately.
Canning plans we prepare
| Project type | What we prepare |
| Patios and alfrescos | Plans with the 50 per cent roof cover calculation and the fire separation route |
| Sheds and outbuildings | Plans tested against LP.12, with the boundary wall question resolved first |
| Garages and carports | Plans tested against LP.01 and the R-Codes |
| Additions and extensions | Existing and proposed plans, demolition plan |
| Second storey additions | Full working drawings, elevations, sections |
| New single houses | Concept design through to submission documentation |
| Ancillary dwellings | Plans and area calculations to the 70m2 limit |
| Retaining walls and front fences | Plans including sight line truncation |
Canning projects and what they teach you
Work across the City of Canning is a regular part of what we do, including certificates of design compliance and building permits carried through to approval.
The lesson Canning teaches most clearly is that generous planning rules and generous building rules are not the same thing. LP.01 will happily let you put patio posts on the boundary and run 15 metres. WA Part 9.6 then decides whether that structure can actually be built there, and on what terms. On a Canning patio the useful work is done by designing to satisfy both from the outset, rather than getting a planning tick and then reworking the design for the building surveyor.
The second lesson is the outdoor living area. Because the setback rules are permissive, people design large. The 50 per cent roof cover limit is what usually pulls the design back, and it is far cheaper to discover that before drawing than after.
What City of Canning 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.
The bigger saving in Canning is usually avoiding the application altogether, which the LP.01 patio provisions make genuinely achievable on most lots coded R20 and above.
Our drafting fee is quoted per project rather than by a rate card, because a flat Willetton block and a sloping riverside lot in Shelley are not the same job. As a rough guide only, a patio 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 Canning suburb
The City of Canning covers 16 suburbs south east of the Perth CBD, taking in the Canning River foreshore and the Cannington activity centre.
| Suburb | What tends to drive the design |
| Willetton draftsman | Large established family blocks, additions, second storeys and outbuilding work dominate |
| Riverton and Shelley draftsman | River proximity, sloping sites in parts, foreshore considerations near the water |
| Rossmoyne draftsman | Larger lots and higher value stock, second storey additions common |
| Cannington and East Cannington draftsman | Mixed density around the activity centre, R-code confirmation matters before design |
| Bentley and St James draftsman | Higher density coding in parts, Part C provisions may apply rather than Part B |
| Queens Park draftsman | Established smaller lots, ancillary dwellings and site coverage are the constraints |
| Wilson and Ferndale draftsman | River adjacent in parts, patios and outdoor areas are common work |
| Lynwood and Parkwood draftsman | Established family blocks, patio and shed work dominates |
| Welshpool draftsman | Predominantly industrial, zoning confirmation is the first step |
| Canning Vale and Leeming draftsman | Split between councils, confirm which local government your lot sits in before proceeding |
That last row is worth acting on. Canning Vale and Leeming are shared with neighbouring councils, and applying the wrong council’s policy is an easy and expensive mistake.
Canning draftsman questions
Do I need council approval for a patio in Canning?
Usually not. On a lot coded R20 or higher the patio roof can be 450mm from the side or rear boundary with support posts on the boundary, provided it either abuts an existing or simultaneously built patio or wall of similar or greater size, or it is no higher than 3m to the eaves and 4.2m to the gable with no side longer than 15m. Your required outdoor living area must also keep at least 50 per cent free of permanent roof cover. That exemption covers development approval only, so you will still need a building permit.
How long can my patio be in Canning?
Up to 15 metres on each side, exclusive of other boundary walls, if you are relying on the second limb of the LP.01 concession. That is more generous than most Perth councils, which typically stop at 10 metres.
How much of my outdoor living area can the patio cover in Canning?
No more than 50 per cent may have permanent roof cover. This is the provision that most often pulls a Canning patio design back, because the setback rules encourage people to design large.
Can I build my shed on the boundary in Canning?
Not without a development application. A boundary wall can be considered for an outbuilding where it complies with the R-Codes deemed-to-comply requirements, but the City treats building the shed to the boundary as a variation, and a variation triggers an application. This is the opposite of the patio position, where posts on the boundary can stay exempt.
Do I need approval for a pergola in Canning?
Only if it is in the front setback area. But check the definition first. In Canning a pergola is unroofed and open, with covering limited to battens, open lattice or shade cloth. Once you put a solid water impervious roof on it, it is a patio and the patio rules apply instead.
