Planning and building – what's the difference?
The City of Melbourne's planning and building services provide assistance and advice about construction and land use in the municipality.
Our planning services cover the administration and enforcement of the Melbourne Planning Scheme. This includes the consideration of planning permit applications.
For further information, visit:
- Melbourne Planning Scheme
- Planning services and permits
- Applying for a planning permit
- Planning compliance and enforcement
- Planning alerts.
Our building services include the administration and enforcement of building legislation and related acts and regulations to ensure Council meets its statutory obligations.
For further information, visit:
Planning and building services are controlled by different Acts of Parliament, regulations and schemes, including:
- Melbourne Planning Scheme
- Planning and Environment Act 1987
- Building Act 1993
- Building Regulations 2018
- Activities Local Law 2024.
These acts, regulations and schemes are administered by three different teams within the City of Melbourne: the Planning Team, the Building Control Group and the Construction Management Group (Site Services).
Role of each team
The Planning Team is responsible for:
- assessing applications for planning permits
- assessing applications for the subdivision of land
- providing general advice to the community on town planning matters.
The Melbourne Planning Scheme controls land use and development within the City of Melbourne. It contains state and local planning policies, zones and overlays and other provisions that affect how land can be used and developed.
The scheme also determines if a planning permit is required to change the use of land, or to construct a building or make other changes to the land.
In most instances, buildings and works in the municipality, whether residential or business, must be approved by the City of Melbourne through the planning permit application process.
The City of Melbourne requires owners and occupiers to obtain planning permits for a wide range of works to residential, business and other properties within the City of Melbourne. Even minor alterations to your property can have a big impact on others in your neighbourhood.
A planning permit ensures works are legal, and prevents unreasonable negative impacts on neighbours. Failure to comply can result in fines or other penalties.
Building surveyors and inspectors ensure compliance with building legislation and related Acts and regulations to ensure City of Melbourne meets its statutory obligations and to provide a safe built environment for the community.
City of Melbourne is responsible for the administration and enforcement of requirements under the Building Act 1993 and Building Regulations 2018. In many cases, Council and State standards are imposed through a permit validation system.
Breaches under this system, such as failure to obtain a required permit, may result in fines or may be prosecuted as summary criminal offences by authorised persons and agencies or the police.
The Building Control Group monitors the municipality and responds to complaints, enforcing requirements by methods appropriate to the circumstances.
For more information see Building services.
The Construction Management Group (Site Services) is responsible for:
- the assessment and approval of construction activities that potentially impact on the public as provided for under the Activities Local Law 2024
- the enforcement of local law permits where a breach of the Activities Local Law 2024 has occurred, such as excessive noise from a building site, or works undertaken outside of permit conditions or without an appropriate permit
- assessing and approving Construction Management Plans (CMPs) which are often required as a condition of a planning permit or requested under the Local Laws and must be approved prior to community consultation.
For more information, see Construction management.
Planning and building support
The City of Melbourne provides face-to-face support in relation to planning and building enquiries.
You can also receive planning and building advice over the phone.
Contact us
Hours of operation
7.30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday for payments and enquiries.
Location
Melbourne Town Hall
Administration Building
120 Swanston Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Phone
