Kwinana Draftsman

Kwinana Draftsman for City of Kwinana Plans and Council Approval

There is a decision on every City of Kwinana building permit that most homeowners never get told about, and it is worth 15 business days. Lodge a certified application and the City has 10 business days to decide. Lodge an uncertified one and it has 25.

That single choice usually matters more to your timeline than anything in the planning rules. This page explains the two routes, what a Kwinana patio application actually has to contain, and how the approvals fit together.

What a Kwinana draftsman or Kwinana drafter does for you

Kwinana is a growth area with a lot of newer estate stock, so the planning side is usually straightforward and the documentation side is where the work sits.

For a City of Kwinana project that means:

Testing the design against the R-Codes deemed-to-comply provisions and the Local Planning Scheme
Checking whether a structure plan or local development plan applies, which is common across the newer estates
Deciding early whether the project runs as a certified or uncertified building permit application
Preparing a documentation set that meets the City’s stated submission requirements, which are more detailed than most people expect
Coordinating the structural engineering certification a patio application requires

We draw architectural and planning documentation. We do not produce structural engineering drawings or electrical design, though we coordinate with the engineer whose certification a Kwinana patio application needs.

What “Kwinana council approval” actually means

People use “council approval” to cover two or three separate things. They are assessed by different people under different legislation.

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. In Kwinana, patios and sheds require a building permit before any works commence on site.

Development approval, also called planning approval or a DA. The planning assessment against the R-Codes, the Local Planning Scheme and the City’s local planning policies. 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.

The City is explicit about the order: if the proposed structure requires planning approval, you must obtain it before lodging an application for a building permit. Getting that sequence wrong is the most common cause of a stalled Kwinana job.

A deemed-to-comply check. Several WA councils run a formal written check confirming development approval is not required, which is what a building surveyor relies on. The Town of Victoria Park charges $73, and the Town of Cambridge charges $295 for a new single house or $100 for additions with a 14 day response. Ask early whether the council runs one and whether your surveyor will want it.

Being exempt from development approval does not exempt you from a building permit.

Certified or uncertified: the Kwinana timeline decision

This is the choice that sets your program.

A certified application, BA1 form

The plans and specifications have been assessed by a registered private building surveyor. Where the structure complies with the applicable building standards, the surveyor issues a certificate of design compliance, which is lodged with the building permit application.

The permit authority has 10 business days to decide.

An uncertified application, BA2 form

The plans and specifications have not been assessed by a private surveyor. The documentation is assessed by a building surveyor employed by the City.

The permit authority has 25 business days to decide.

Which to use

The certified route is roughly three weeks faster on the council clock, but carries a private building surveyor’s fee. The uncertified route costs less up front and takes longer.

On a straightforward patio or shed where the timeline is not critical, uncertified is often the sensible call. On a job with a builder booked, a trade sequence to hold, or a client waiting, the 15 business day difference usually justifies the certification fee on its own. Decide this at the start rather than at lodgement, because the documentation differs.

When you do not need a building permit in Kwinana

Under the Building Regulations 2012, a building permit is not required for a patio that:

Is freestanding
Has a floor area not exceeding 10m2
Is no more than 2.4m in height
Is not located in wind region C or D as defined in AS 1170.2

The City adds practical siting guidance for that exempt structure: the freestanding patio should be located not less than 900mm from the dwelling and a minimum 500mm from the lot boundary.

Those two figures are worth recognising, because they are the same numbers that appear in the National Construction Code fire separation provisions. Miss either and you are back into permit territory whether or not the area and height qualify.

Note the definition. In Kwinana, a patio is a pergola with an impervious roof covering, such as Colorbond or polycarbonate sheeting. An open structure without an impervious roof is a pergola and is treated differently.

What a Kwinana patio building permit application must contain

The City’s requirements are more specific than most, and applications get held up on exactly these items.

The forms and site plan:

A completed BA1 or BA2 form signed by all owners of the property and the builder
A scaled site plan at minimum 1:200 showing the dwelling and other outbuildings and structures on the lot, the setback distance of the proposed patio from lot boundaries and existing buildings, the overall width and length of the patio, and the downpipe and post locations

The elevations and sections, at minimum 1:100, certified by a practising structural engineer, showing:

Roof pitch and configuration
Footing size
Connection details, meaning how the patio attaches to the wall or eave of the existing house
Type of roof cover and finish
Height at both the eave and the ridge
Plus a scaled floor plan at minimum 1:100

For a timber framed patio, additionally: footing size and the type of coupling to timber posts, and the timber type with its compliance to AS 1684 for exposure to the elements.

For a steel framed patio, engineer designed and certified drawings showing steel sizes and gauges, dimensions of beams, posts, purlins and rafters, any bracing, wind load design, fixing details to the wall or eave, footing sizes, and the relevant Australian Standards.

The structural engineer certification is the item that catches people out. A Kwinana patio application is not a set of sketches, it needs engineered documentation, and that is a real cost and lead time to build into the program.

Patios and fire separation in Kwinana

Fire separation is decided 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. Where that does not suit the build, use the 900mm route.

An enclosed shed goes to Part 9.2 instead, which is a different rule set. Sheds in Kwinana are classified as Class 10 buildings.

Kwinana plans we prepare

Project type	What we prepare
Patios and alfrescos	Site plan, floor plan, elevations and sections to the City’s stated standard, coordinated with the engineer
Sheds and outbuildings	Plans tested against the R-Codes deemed-to-comply provisions
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
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

Kwinana projects and what they teach you

Council lodgement across the City of Kwinana is a regular part of our workload, covering certificates of design compliance and building permits through to submission.

The lesson Kwinana teaches is that the documentation standard decides the timeline more than the design does. The City tells you exactly what it wants: signatures from every owner and the builder, a 1:200 site plan showing post and downpipe locations, and 1:100 elevations and sections carrying an engineer’s certification. Applications that arrive complete move. Applications that arrive short go into correspondence.

The second lesson is the certified versus uncertified decision. Ten business days against twenty five is a meaningful difference on a job with trades booked, and it is a decision worth making deliberately at the outset rather than defaulting into.

What City of Kwinana 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 two things Kwinana applications commonly need: a structural engineer’s certification on a patio, and a private building surveyor’s fee if you take the certified route. Neither forms part of a drafting fee, and both are real line items on a Kwinana job.

Our drafting fee is quoted per project rather than by a rate card, because a standard estate patio in Wellard and a new home on a larger Casuarina block 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 Kwinana suburb

The City of Kwinana runs south from the industrial strip through the established suburbs and out into the newer growth estates.

Suburb	What tends to drive the design
Kwinana Town Centre and Calista draftsman	Established stock, mixed density in parts, additions and outbuilding work
Medina draftsman	Older post-war housing with heritage character in parts, larger blocks
Orelia and Parmelia draftsman	Established family lots, patios, sheds and ancillary dwellings are common work
Bertram draftsman	Estate stock with structure plans, smaller frontages, garage width matters
Wellard draftsman	Major growth area, local development plans over the R-Codes, patios and additions dominate
Casuarina and Anketell draftsman	Larger and semi rural lots, sheds and workshops common
Leda draftsman	Established residential, standard R-Codes assessment in most cases
Mandogalup draftsman	Transitional and semi rural, confirm zoning before assuming residential provisions
Naval Base and Postans draftsman	Predominantly industrial, different provisions entirely

The City’s Building Services team can be reached on 9439 0208.

Kwinana draftsman questions

How long does a building permit take in Kwinana?

It depends which route you use. A certified application, lodged on a BA1 with a certificate of design compliance from a private building surveyor, gives the permit authority 10 business days to decide. An uncertified application on a BA2, assessed by the City’s own surveyor, gives it 25 business days. That is a 15 business day difference and it is usually the biggest single lever on your timeline.

Do I need a building permit for a patio in Kwinana?

Not if it is freestanding, has a floor area no greater than 10m2, is no more than 2.4m high, and is not in wind region C or D. The City also advises that such a patio sit at least 900mm from the dwelling and at least 500mm from the lot boundary. Anything outside those limits needs a permit, and planning approval may be needed as well.

Does my Kwinana patio need an engineer?

Yes, for the permit application. The City requires scaled elevation and cross-section drawings at minimum 1:100 certified by a practising structural engineer, covering roof pitch, footing size, connection details to the existing house, roof cover type, and eave and ridge heights. Steel framed patios need engineer designed and certified drawings covering steel sizes, member dimensions, bracing, wind load design and fixings.

What is the difference between a patio and a pergola in Kwinana?

A patio is a pergola with an impervious roof covering, such as Colorbond or polycarbonate sheeting. If the structure is open or covered only in water permeable material, it is a pergola and the patio requirements do not apply in the same way.

Do I need planning approval before a building permit in Kwinana?

If the structure requires planning approval, yes. The City states that planning approval must be obtained before lodging the building permit application. On most compliant residential work no planning approval is needed, but where a variation is involved, that application comes first.