Mundaring Draftsman for Shire of Mundaring Plans and Council Approval

The Shire of Mundaring offers something no other Perth council does. Before you design anything, a Shire Environmental Officer will come to your property and tell you what environmental constraints exist on it. The service is called an Environmental Asset Inspection, and it is deliberately provided so that constraints inform the design rather than surfacing during assessment.

On a hills block covered in remnant vegetation, that inspection can be the difference between a design that gets approved and one that gets redrawn twice. This page explains how it works, and what else governs building in the Shire.

What a Mundaring draftsman or Mundaring drafter does for you

Mundaring is almost entirely hills country, and the constraints here are environmental and bushfire related rather than density related.

For a Shire of Mundaring project that means:

• Establishing the environmental constraints on the lot before design, using the Shire’s inspection service where it helps
• Checking whether the lot is in a designated bushfire prone area, which most of the Shire is
• Checking Local Planning Scheme No. 4 and the Shire’s Local Biodiversity Strategy
• Checking whether a local development plan applies, particularly around the newer townsite areas
• Working the topography, because sloping sites drive retaining, site works and access
• Preparing documentation to the Shire’s lodgement standard

We draw architectural and planning documentation. We do not produce structural engineering drawings, electrical design, or Bushfire Attack Level assessments, which must come from an accredited bushfire practitioner.

What “Mundaring 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.

The Mundaring Environmental Asset Inspection

This is the most useful thing the Shire offers and very few people know about it.

The natural environment in Mundaring is protected under Local Planning Scheme No. 4, the Shire’s Local Biodiversity Strategy and other environmental legislation. In the Shire’s own words, proposed development that will impact environmental assets may not be approved, or may require significant changes or additional works to reduce the impact.

To avoid that, the Shire’s Environmental Team offers a site inspection where an Environmental Officer identifies the environmental assets on your property and gives site-specific advice. The Shire’s stated purpose is that this information can be taken into account in the design stages, rather than causing problems and delays for everybody during the planning application process.

Two practical points:

• Book it before you commission drawings, not after. The whole value is that it shapes the design. An inspection after the plans are drawn just tells you what has to change
• Environmental Officers give preliminary environmental advice, not planning advice. The inspection tells you what is on the site. It does not tell you whether your proposal will be approved

On a Mundaring block with mature jarrah or marri, remnant understorey, or a watercourse, this inspection is the single highest value hour in the project.

Bushfire requirements in the Shire of Mundaring

Most of the Shire sits in a designated bushfire prone area, and the bushfire layer is the main reason Mundaring applications take longer than equivalent work on the coastal plain.

Where a lot is bushfire prone, a Bushfire Attack Level assessment is generally required, and the rating that comes back determines the construction standard your walls, windows, decking, roof and subfloor have to meet under AS 3959. At higher ratings, a Bushfire Management Plan is also needed.

The sequencing lesson is the same one that applies across the hills. Establish the bushfire position early enough that it informs the design, because the BAL rating changes what the building is made of, and materials changes flow straight through to cost. Designing first and assessing later usually means redrawing.

The Shire also administers firebreak and fuel load requirements and maintains asset protection zones, which can affect where a building or outbuilding can sensibly sit on a block.

Patios, sheds and fire separation in Mundaring

A freestanding shed or patio less than 2.4m in total height from ground level may be exempt from a building permit. Above that, a permit is required. As always, that exemption never removes the obligation to comply with the National Construction Code and the R-Codes.

For a roofed outdoor area, fire separation is decided at building permit stage. Western Australia adopted NCC 2025 on 1 May 2026, introducing WA Part 9.6 covering patios, verandahs, alfrescos and balconies. It gives two routes to the boundary:

• 900mm, measured to the outermost structural projection and excluding the eave overhang
• 500mm, measured to the outermost projection and including the eave overhang, with conditions attached

The 500mm route requires 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 ceiling lining and floor, no direct vertical support to the house, and a solid non-combustible screen at least 1500mm high along every side facing a boundary.

An enclosed shed goes to Part 9.2 instead, which is a different rule set. On a Mundaring block with both a shed and a patio, check them separately.

Where the lot is bushfire prone, the AS 3959 construction requirements sit over the top of all of this and may be the binding constraint on materials.

Mundaring plans we prepare

Project type	What we prepare
New homes on hills blocks	Concept design through to submission documentation, worked around site constraints
Sheds, workshops and garages	Plans tested against the R-Codes and the Scheme
Additions and extensions	Existing and proposed plans, demolition plan
Patios and alfrescos	Plans with the fire separation route identified
Ancillary dwellings	Plans and area calculations to the 70m2 limit
Retaining walls and site works	Plans with levels, sections and earthworks detail
Carports and crossovers	Access and setback assessment on sloping sites
Owner builder documentation	Plans and supporting documents for an owner builder application

 

Mundaring projects and what they teach you

Work across the Shire of Mundaring is a regular part of what we do, including patio and carport documentation through Darlington and the surrounding hills suburbs.

The lesson Mundaring teaches is that the site governs the design far more than the code does. On the coastal plain you start with the R-Codes and work inward. In Mundaring you start with the trees, the slope, the bushfire rating and the access, and the R-Codes are usually the easiest constraint to satisfy. A design produced without walking the site tends to need redrawing.

The second lesson is sequencing. The order that works is: understand the environmental constraints, establish the bushfire position, then design, then lodge. Doing any of those out of order costs a redraw.

What Shire of Mundaring 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.

Budget separately for the bushfire work. A Bushfire Attack Level assessment is a specialist report from an accredited practitioner, and a Bushfire Management Plan at the higher ratings is a further document again. Neither forms part of a drafting fee, and a quote prepared for a coastal block will not include them.

Our drafting fee is quoted per project rather than by a rate card, because a level block in Greenmount and a steep bushfire prone lot in Parkerville 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 home on a constrained hills lot 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 Mundaring suburb

The Shire of Mundaring runs east from the foothills up the scarp and out into the rural east, and the constraints intensify as you climb.

Suburb	What tends to drive the design
Greenmount, Boya and Helena Valley draftsman	Foothills, generally the least constrained sites in the Shire
Swan View draftsman	Established residential, additions and outbuilding work dominates
Darlington draftsman	Character area, mature vegetation and steep sites, patios and carports common work
Glen Forrest and Hovea draftsman	Treed lots, environmental assets and bushfire both in play
Mahogany Creek and Mundaring draftsman	Townsite and surrounding lots, mixed constraints
Parkerville and Stoneville draftsman	Larger bushfire prone lots, North Stoneville Townsite planning applies in parts
Sawyers Valley and Mount Helena draftsman	Semi rural, sheds and workshops are common work
Chidlow, Wooroloo and The Lakes draftsman	Rural east, large lots, bushfire and access drive the design
Bailup and Beechina draftsman	Rural holdings, environmental constraints and vegetation retention matter most

 

Mundaring draftsman questions

What is an Environmental Asset Inspection in Mundaring?

It is a free site inspection where a Shire Environmental Officer identifies the environmental assets on your property and gives site-specific advice. The Shire provides it so the information can shape your design rather than causing problems during assessment. Book it before you commission drawings. Note that Environmental Officers give preliminary environmental advice, not planning advice.

Do I need planning approval for a shed in Mundaring?

Not usually, where it meets the deemed-to-comply provisions of the R-Codes and the Scheme. Minor outbuildings and residential additions that comply are generally exempt from development approval. A variation is what triggers the application. A building permit is a separate matter and is required for anything over 2.4m in total height.

Do I need a building permit for a small shed or patio in Mundaring?

Not for a freestanding shed or patio less than 2.4m in total height from ground level. Above that a building permit is required. Exemption from the permit does not remove your obligation to comply with the National Construction Code, the R-Codes, or bushfire construction requirements where they apply.

Does my Mundaring block need a bushfire assessment?

Most of the Shire is in a designated bushfire prone area, so usually yes. The Bushfire Attack Level rating determines the construction standard under AS 3959 for walls, windows, decking, roof and subfloor, and at the higher ratings a Bushfire Management Plan is also required. Establish this before finalising the design, because it changes what the building is made of.

Are the Mundaring exemption rules changing?

Possibly. In March 2026 the Shire resolved to advertise a draft Exemptions from Requiring Development Approval Local Planning Policy for public comment. Once adopted it will change what is exempt in the Shire. Confirm the current position with Planning Services on (08) 9290 6740 before relying on the existing rules for a project.