Do I need a planning permit in Tasmania?

Exempt work is listed in the tables under clause 4.0, with conditions attached to each item. Internal works, maintenance, minor alterations, small outbuildings behind the building line, fences within height limits, rainwater tanks and solar panels are the common domestic items. Clause 6.5.1 confirms that exempt use or development needs no permit.

No Permit Required is a zone status rather than a list. In the General Residential Zone the Residential use class is No Permit Required if for a single dwelling. Clause 6.6.1 then attaches conditions: the development must comply with each applicable standard without relying on any Performance Criteria, must not be Discretionary or Prohibited under another provision, and must not need a permit under a code.

The two commonest ways a homeowner falls out of this lane are a design that misses an Acceptable Solution, such as a garage too close to the street, and a code overlay at the parcel. Bushfire prone areas, flood and landslip hazard areas, local heritage places and precincts, and attenuation areas are mapped in the council's Local Provisions Schedule, and a code provision prevails over the zone.

Exempt and No Permit Required are not the same thing, and the difference matters later. An exempt item stays exempt regardless of the zone standards, because clause 4.0 lists it outright, subject only to its own conditions. A No Permit Required use is free only while the development meets every Acceptable Solution, so a house that is later extended past the building envelope has moved out of the free lane even though the use has not changed.

Where a permit is needed, Tasmania has two levels and the Act treats them differently. A Permitted application is one the council is bound to grant if it meets the scheme. Under clause 6.7.1 that is a use listed as Permitted, complying with every applicable standard without Performance Criteria, and not Discretionary or Prohibited elsewhere. Section 58 of the Act requires the council to grant it within 28 days of receipt unless a longer period is agreed in writing, and there is no public notice.

A Discretionary application is one the council may refuse or permit. Under clause 6.8.1 that is a use listed as Discretionary, any proposal that relies on a Performance Criterion, or anything another provision makes Discretionary. Section 57 of the Act requires public notice, gives any person 14 days to make representations, extendable by up to 14 days, and allows the council to refuse on receipt without notice.

The Act's own definitions match the scheme. A discretionary permit is one to which section 57 applies, and a permitted use or development is one prescribed for the purposes of section 50A.

Start with the zone at the parcel on the council's Local Provisions Schedule maps and read the zone use table for your use. Then check the exemption tables in clause 4.0 for the work. If the use is No Permit Required, read every Acceptable Solution in the zone's development standards against your design. If it is Permitted, do the same. Then list every code overlay on the parcel and check whether that code requires a permit or adds standards.

If the use is No Permit Required, every Acceptable Solution is met and no code bites, no planning permit is needed. If the use is Permitted and every Acceptable Solution is met, apply for a Permitted permit and expect a decision within the statutory period. If any Acceptable Solution is missed, or a code makes it Discretionary, apply for a Discretionary permit and expect public notice.

The Local Provisions Schedule can change the answer for particular land through a specific area plan or a site specific qualification, and the whole use table can be different in a particular purpose zone. Clause 5.6.1 requires compliance with each applicable standard in both the state provisions and the local schedule, so both must be read.

Building approval runs separately under the Building Act 2016. A planning permit or No Permit Required status does not authorise construction, and a building surveyor decides the building approval category. That side of the process is not covered by the planning scheme and is not described here.

Keep a record of the standards you relied on. Because the No Permit Required status depends on compliance rather than on a council decision, nothing on the council file records it unless you ask the council for written advice. If a neighbour or a later buyer questions the building, the Acceptable Solutions it was designed to are the answer, and a short letter from the council confirming them is worth having before construction starts.