Building Plans
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Request for copies of house plans / industrial plans
Many people utilise the Council building permit registry to obtain a copy of house plans or other building permit plans and documents held in storage by the Council.
It is important to note that house plans and other structure building permits, where available, are the property of the owner. As such, copies of these documents may only be provided to the owner, or an agent of the owner and evidence of identity will be required. eg. drivers licence.
House Plans
Most requests relate to the plans for the original dwelling as built on the property but depending on your reasons for needing the plans it may also be appropriate to request copies of other plans held by Council under subsequent permit files for house additions, garages or other outbuildings. Unless you are clear on the permit file/s required you should ask for the building permit files applying to your property to be checked by the Customer Service Department prior to formalising your request.
Industrial Plans
Plans and other documents relating to multi unit residential developments or commercial / industrial / public buildings can also be provided, however;
- additional issues pertaining to ownership may apply and may limit the extent of the information available.
- it is recommended that for larger projects the permit file should be perused by the applicant after retrieval and the documents required be identified for copying. Additional copying charges may apply for large developments with very large plan sets.
Fees
Residential
A search fee of $70.00 is payable for file retrieval and plan copying for any permit file relating to a detached house or associated outbuildings.
If more than one permit file for buildings on the same property are requested at the same time a discounted search and copy fee of $20.00 is payable for each additional permit file relating to a detached house or associated outbuilding.
Industrial
A search fee of $115.00 is applicable for multi unit residential developments or commercial / industrial / public buildings.
Additional permit files relating to commercial / industrial / public buildings will be subject to the full search fee of $115.00.
These fees must be paid to Council's Customer Service Centres before any file retrieval can be effected.
Retrieval Time
File retrieval and plan/document copying can usually be achieved within 48 hours of the request.
Why do you need copies of plans/documents?
Most people need copies of plans to assist in the preparation of designs for new building work on the property. Subject to the following cautions copies of permit file plans/documents should assist in this regard.
- The search fees are non-refundable and no guarantee that the required plans or documents can be located or will be fit for the intended purpose can be provided.
- Permit files more than 20 – 30 years old are unlikely to be available.
- Boundary setbacks and other dimensions shown on permit file plans should not be relied upon without being confirmed on site.
- Sewer drainage lines are rarely shown on building permit plans and stormwater (roof run off) drainage lines, if shown, are usually indicative only and also cannot be relied upon without being confirmed on site.
Further Information
If you require any further information regarding this matter please contact the Building Department on 9705 5200.
Please note that to obtain any information from permit files, proof of ownership must be sighted; ie drivers licence or rates notice.
Application Forms
Please click here to obtain the application forms
