Kalamunda Draftsman for City of Kalamunda Plans and Approvals

Two things make drafting in the City of Kalamunda different from drafting on the coastal plain. Most of the hills sits in a designated bushfire prone area, which brings a whole extra assessment layer. And Kalamunda sizes outbuildings by zone rather than applying one number across the district, so a shed that is refused in Forrestfield can be approved at three times the size in Pickering Brook.

This page sets out how the City of Kalamunda actually assesses residential work, what the bushfire provisions require and when they bite, and the outbuilding table that governs sheds across every zone in the district.

What a Kalamunda draftsman does on a City of Kalamunda application

Kalamunda work has a longer front end than most councils because of the bushfire layer. Getting the sequence right is what keeps an application moving.

For a City of Kalamunda project that means:

• Confirming the zone, because zoning drives outbuilding size and height more than the R-code does
• Checking whether the lot sits in a designated bushfire prone area, and whether a Bushfire Attack Level assessment is triggered
• Working out whether a Bushfire Management Plan is needed, which depends on the BAL rating that comes back
• Checking Local Planning Scheme No. 3 and the City’s local planning policies, particularly Local Planning Policy 15 for outbuildings
• Checking whether the lot has a building envelope, which is common in the rural and special rural zones and overrides the standard setbacks
• Preparing documentation to the City’s development application checklist

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

What “Kalamunda 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.

Bushfire requirements in the City of Kalamunda

This is the part that surprises people moving up the hill, and it is the most common reason a Kalamunda application stalls.

Any development or change of use within a bushfire prone area requires development approval unless specifically exempted. State Planning Policy 3.7 applies, and construction has to meet AS 3959.

For an outbuilding or a sea container, Local Planning Policy 15 sets two specific triggers. You must provide a Bushfire Attack Level assessment where the structure is within 6 metres of an existing dwelling or habitable building, or where the cost of development exceeds $20,000. Either trigger on its own is enough.

Two practical points follow from that:

• A BAL assessment must be no more than 12 months old at the date you submit it. Assessments obtained early in a slow-moving project regularly expire before lodgement, and the fee has to be paid twice.
• Where the BAL rating comes back at BAL 12.5 or higher, a Bushfire Management Plan must be submitted with the development application. That is a separate document from the BAL assessment and it takes additional time.

The sequencing lesson is straightforward. On a Kalamunda job, order the BAL assessment early enough that it informs the design, but not so early that it expires before you lodge. Designing first and assessing later usually means redrawing, because the BAL rating can change what your walls, windows, decking and roof have to be made of.

Note that Local Planning Policy 15 references AS 3959-2009. The Standard has since been revised, so confirm the current edition applies to your build at permit stage.

City of Kalamunda outbuilding and shed rules

Kalamunda does not apply a single shed size across the district. Local Planning Policy 15 sets floor area and height by zone, which reflects the fact that lot sizes in the City range from suburban blocks in High Wycombe to rural holdings in Carmel.

Kalamunda outbuilding size and height by zone

Zone	Maximum individual outbuilding	Maximum aggregate floor area	Maximum wall height	Maximum ridge height
Residential R12.5 and above	Per the R-Codes	Per the R-Codes	Per the R-Codes	Per the R-Codes
Residential R10, lot under 1000m2	60m2	75m2	3.0m	4.2m
Residential R10, lot over 1000m2	90m2	90m2	3.0m	4.2m
Residential R5	90m2	150m2	3.0m	4.2m
Residential Bushland R2.5	120m2	180m2	4.0m	4.8m
Special Rural	150m2	200m2	4.0m	4.8m
Rural Composite	150m2	300m2	5.0m	5.8m
Rural Landscape Interest and Rural Agriculture	180m2	300m2	5.0m	5.8m
Rural Conservation	150m2	300m2	5.0m	5.8m

The difference between the aggregate figure and the individual figure matters on rural lots. In the Rural Composite zone you can have a 150m2 shed, but everything on the property combined still has to stay within 300m2.

Kalamunda rural and special rural setbacks

Outbuildings in the rural zones carry their own setbacks, which are far larger than anything on the coastal plain:

Zone	Primary street	Secondary street	Side or rear boundary
Special Rural	15m	15m	10m
Rural Composite	20m	15m	10m
Rural Landscape Interest and Rural Agriculture	20m	15m	15m
Rural Conservation	25m	20m	20m

In the residential and residential bushland zones the R-Codes setbacks apply instead, unless the lot has a building envelope, in which case the envelope governs.

The Kalamunda design conditions people miss

Meeting the size table is not enough on its own. An outbuilding that complies with Tables 1 and 2 of the policy is supported without advertising to neighbours, which is worth a lot, but the design conditions have to be met too:

• The outbuilding must sit behind the main dwelling alignment and not be directly visible from a street or public space
• It must not reduce open space below the R-Codes deemed-to-comply requirement
• It must not require excessive or unnecessary vegetation removal. Where trees are removed, the City can require established replacement trees
• Colours should be earth tones or complementary to the dwelling and surrounding vegetation. Bright or contrasting colours are treated as unacceptable
• Second hand materials are listed as unacceptable
• An outbuilding cannot be located in the primary or secondary street setback area in the residential or residential bushland zones

Powder coated steel and Colorbond are the preferred materials. Masonry, timber, weatherboard, rammed earth and straw bale sit in the discretionary category.

One useful concession: the City will consider a roof ridge height above the table figure where solar panels are proposed.

Variations to the Kalamunda outbuilding policy

If your shed exceeds the table, the policy sets out exactly what a variation request has to demonstrate: that adjoining owners are not adversely affected, that the streetscape and amenity of the locality are not harmed, and how any visual impact can be reduced. Written non-objections from neighbours and photographs taken from neighbouring properties are specifically named as supporting material.

Where a variation is sought and a neighbour objects, the proposal may go to Council for determination rather than being decided under delegation. That is the difference between a few weeks and a few months, which is why the neighbour conversation is worth having before lodgement rather than after.

Sea containers in the City of Kalamunda

Kalamunda is one of the few Perth councils with a written sea container policy, and the rules are tighter than most people expect:

• A sea container on private property for no more than 48 hours does not need planning approval. Longer than that and approval is required
• One container is permitted during construction of an approved building for a maximum of six months, and must be removed within 48 hours of completion
• On residential lots, one container is permitted only for the purpose of moving domestic items to or from the property
• A permanently placed container must be clad externally in timber, weatherboard or Colorbond in a colour matching the dwelling or landscape, must have permanent ventilation through openable windows or a roof vent, and must be screened with vegetation where visible from a street, public space or neighbouring property
• Containers must sit behind the front setback or building line, whichever is greater

Kalamunda projects and what they teach you

Council lodgement across the City of Kalamunda is a regular part of our workload, spanning certificates of design compliance, building permits, development applications and ancillary dwellings, including jobs carried through to approved building permits.

The recurring theme is bushfire. Applications in the hills wait on BAL certificates more often than on anything else, and an amendment request from the City frequently traces back to the bushfire documentation rather than the design. The second recurring theme is the BA1 form, which needs to be right and current before the building permit will progress.

The practical lesson we take into every Kalamunda job is to establish the bushfire position first, because it determines the construction requirements, and the construction requirements determine the drawings.

Kalamunda drafting services

Project type	What we prepare
New homes in the hills	Concept design through to submission documentation
Rural and special rural sheds	Plans to the zone specific size, height and setback table
Additions and extensions	Existing and proposed plans, demolition plan
Ancillary dwellings and granny flats	Plans and area calculations to the 70m2 limit
Patios and outdoor areas	Plans with the fire separation route identified
Carports and garages	Setback and frontage assessment
Retaining walls	Plans with levels and sections
Building envelope siting	Siting checks against the registered envelope

What a City of Kalamunda development application costs

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 BAL assessment is a specialist report from an accredited practitioner, and a Bushfire Management Plan where BAL 12.5 or higher applies is a further document again. Neither is part of a drafting fee, and both are real costs on a hills project that a coastal quote will not include.

Our drafting fee is quoted per project rather than by a rate card, because a flat block in High Wycombe and a sloping bushfire prone lot in Pickering Brook are not the same job. As a rough guide only, a shed or patio 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 Kalamunda suburb

The City of Kalamunda runs from the foothills up into the Perth Hills, and the zoning changes dramatically as you climb. Where your lot sits determines which outbuilding row applies and whether bushfire provisions are triggered.

Suburb	What tends to drive the design
High Wycombe, Forrestfield and Wattle Grove draftsman	Foothills suburban stock, standard R-Codes outbuilding provisions, generally the simplest applications in the City
Maida Vale draftsman	Transitional lots, worth confirming the zone before assuming suburban rules
Kalamunda and Lesmurdie draftsman	Larger residential lots, bushfire prone throughout, R10 and R5 outbuilding rows commonly apply
Gooseberry Hill draftsman	Steep sites, retaining and site works drive the design as much as the R-Codes
Walliston and Bickley draftsman	Residential bushland and special rural, larger sheds available but with heavy setbacks
Pickering Brook, Carmel and Piesse Brook draftsman	Rural zones with the largest outbuilding allowances in the City and the largest setbacks to match
Canning Mills, Hacketts Gully, Paulls Valley and Reservoir draftsman	Rural conservation considerations, vegetation retention matters

Kalamunda draftsman questions

Do I need a BAL assessment for a shed in Kalamunda?

You do if the outbuilding sits within 6 metres of an existing dwelling or habitable building, or if the cost of development exceeds $20,000. Either trigger on its own is enough. The assessment must be no more than 12 months old when you submit it, and if the rating comes back at BAL 12.5 or higher you also need a Bushfire Management Plan lodged with the development application.

How big a shed can I build in Kalamunda?

It depends on your zone, not just your R-code. On a Residential R10 lot under 1000m2 the maximum individual outbuilding is 60m2 with a 75m2 aggregate. On Residential Bushland R2.5 it rises to 120m2 individual and 180m2 aggregate. In the rural zones it goes as high as 180m2 individual with a 300m2 aggregate. Height rises with the zone too, from 3.0m walls in the residential zones up to 5.0m in the rural zones. Meeting the table means the shed is supported without advertising to neighbours, but you still need a building permit.

Can I put a shipping container on my Kalamunda property?

Not without planning approval if it stays longer than 48 hours. There are limited exceptions for one container during approved construction for up to six months, and for removalist use on residential lots. A permanent container has to be clad, ventilated, screened with vegetation where visible, and sited behind the front setback or building line.

Does my Kalamunda shed have to be hidden from the street?

Effectively yes. The policy requires outbuildings to sit behind the main dwelling alignment and not be directly visible from a street or public space, and outbuildings are not permitted in the primary or secondary street setback area in the residential and residential bushland zones. Colour and material choice also matter, with earth tones preferred and bright or contrasting colours treated as unacceptable.

What happens if my shed is bigger than the Kalamunda table allows?

You can apply for a variation, but the policy sets a specific evidence burden. You have to show that adjoining owners are not adversely affected and that the streetscape and local amenity are not harmed, and written non-objections from neighbours and photographs from neighbouring properties are named as supporting material. If a neighbour objects, the application may go to Council rather than being decided under delegation, which adds significant time.