Tasmania · Planning guide
Fast track approvals in Tasmania
Tasmania has three quick lanes and one slow one. Work listed in the exemption tables of clause 4.0 needs no permit at all. A use that is No Permit Required in the zone, built to every Acceptable Solution, also needs no permit. A Permitted use or development that meets every Acceptable Solution needs a permit but the council must grant it within 28 days without public notice. Anything that relies on a Performance Criterion is Discretionary and goes through notice and a longer decision period.
Sources read on 9 September 2026. Provisions are quoted word for word from the instrument.
Exempt: no permit under clause 4.0
Clause 4.0 of the State Planning Provisions lists uses and works that are exempt from needing a permit provided they meet the stated requirements. The list is long and domestic. It includes internal building works, maintenance and repair, minor alterations such as re-cladding and re-roofing, small outbuildings, garden structures, fences within limits, retaining walls, rainwater tanks, solar panels and heat pumps.
Each exemption has conditions. An outbuilding, for example, is exempt only if it is not between the frontage and the building line, and its roofed area is within the limits in the table. Those limits step down where the lot already has outbuildings, and the exemption falls away where the Local Historic Heritage Code requires a permit or the site is in an electricity easement or inner protection area.
Front fences in the residential zones are exempt up to 1.2 metres if solid, or 1.8 metres if the part above 1.2 metres is at least 30 per cent transparent. Clause 6.5.1 confirms that anything exempt under clause 4.0 needs no permit, and clause 4.0.2 adds that works the Act itself protects from planning schemes need none either.
The exemptions work as a checklist rather than a judgement. Each item states what is exempt and then its conditions, and the item fails as a whole if one condition is missed. Several conditions refer back to the zone standards, such as an outbuilding on a vacant lot needing to sit behind the Acceptable Solution frontage setback, so the exemption tables and the zone chapter are read together rather than in isolation.
Use or development listed in Tables 4.1 – 4.6 is exempt from requiring a permit provided it meets the corresponding requirements.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
A permit is not required to commence or carry out a use or development if it is exempt from requiring a permit under clause 4.0 of this planning scheme.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Construction or placement of an outbuilding if: (a) it is not between a frontage and the building line, or if on a lot with no buildings, the setback from the frontage is not less than the relevant Acceptable Solution requirement; and (b) the area of the new outbuilding that is roofed is not more than: (i) 10m² if: a. there is not more than one other outbuilding on the lot; b. the total area of all outbuildings on the lot that are roofed will be not more than 20m2; c. no side of the new outbuilding is longer than 3.2m; and d. the building height of the new outbuilding is not more than 2.4m; or (ii) 18m² if: a. there is no other outbuilding on the lot; b. the roof span of the new outbuilding is not more than 3m; c. the building height of the new outbuilding is not more than 2.4m; d. the new outbuilding is not less than 0.9m from an existing building on the lot; e. the new outbuilding has a setback of not less than 0.9m from any boundary; and f. the change in existing ground level as a result of cut or fill is not more than 0.5m, unless the Local Historic Heritage Code applies and requires a permit for the use or development, or it is within an inner protection area or a registered electricity easement as defined in the Electricity Transmission Infrastructure Protection Code.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Fences (including free-standing walls) within 4.5m of a frontage, if located in: (a) the General Residential Zone, Inner Residential Zone, Low Density Residential Zone, Village Zone, Urban Mixed Use Zone, Local Business Zone, General Business Zone, Central Business Zone, Commercial Zone or any particular purpose zone, and if not more than a height of: (i) 1.2m above existing ground level if the fence is solid; or (ii) 1.8m above existing ground level, if the fence has openings above the height of 1.2m which provide a uniform transparency of at least 30% (excluding any posts or uprights);
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Use or development which, under the provisions of the Act, including sections 12(1) - (4), a planning scheme is not to prevent, does not require a permit under this planning scheme.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
No Permit Required: the zone's own free lane
Every zone use table sorts uses into No Permit Required, Permitted, Discretionary and Prohibited. In the General Residential Zone the Residential use class is No Permit Required if for a single dwelling. That is the lane a new house or an extension travels in, provided the building meets every applicable standard.
Clause 6.6.1 sets five conditions. The use must be in the No Permit Required part of the table. The use or development must comply with each applicable standard without relying on any Performance Criteria. It must not be Discretionary or Prohibited under any other provision. And no code may require a permit. Miss any one and the free lane closes.
For a house that means meeting the Acceptable Solutions for frontage setback, garage setback, building envelope, site coverage, private open space, garage openings, privacy and frontage fences in clause 8.4. It also means checking the code overlays at the parcel, because a bushfire, flood, landslip or heritage code can require a permit for an otherwise free house.
The No Permit Required lane has no paperwork of its own. There is no application and no council decision, which is convenient but also means nothing on the council file records that the house was designed to the Acceptable Solutions. Some owners ask the council for written confirmation before building, and that is a sensible habit where the design sits close to an envelope or coverage limit.
A permit is not required to commence or carry out a use or development if: (a) the use is within a Use Class specified in the applicable Use Table as being a use for which no permit is required; (b) the use or development complies with each applicable standard and does not rely on any Performance Criteria to comply with each applicable standard; (c) the use or development is not Discretionary under any other provision of this planning scheme; (d) the use or development is not Prohibited under any other provision of this planning scheme; and (e) a permit for such use and development is not required by a code.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
No Permit Required Natural and Cultural Values Management Passive Recreation Residential If for a single dwelling. Utilities If for minor utilities. Permitted Residential If not listed as No Permit Required. Visitor Accommodation
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Where there is an inconsistency between a provision in a code and a provision in a zone, the code provision prevails.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Permitted: a permit the council must grant
The Permitted lane is Tasmania's real fast track for anything beyond a single house. Multiple dwellings, visitor accommodation and subdivision in the residential zones are Permitted. Under clause 6.7.1 a Permitted use or development that complies with each applicable standard without Performance Criteria, and is not Discretionary or Prohibited elsewhere, must be granted a permit. The council has no discretion to refuse.
The Land Use Planning and Approvals Act backs that with a clock. Section 58 requires the planning authority to grant a Permitted application that meets the scheme within 28 days of receiving it, or such further period as the council and applicant agree in writing before the 28 days expire. There is no public notice and no representation period.
The price of the lane is total compliance. One Performance Criterion anywhere in the application converts the whole thing to Discretionary.
Permitted also covers subdivision and other development that is not sorted into a use class. Clause 6.7.2 gives the same must-grant outcome to such development where applicable standards exist and are all met without Performance Criteria, so a compliant two lot subdivision travels in the Permitted lane even though subdivision is not a use. The same clock in section 58 applies.
A use or development must be granted a permit if: (a) the use is within a Use Class specified in the applicable Use Table as being a use which is Permitted; (b) the use or development complies with each applicable standard and does not rely on any Performance Criteria to comply with each applicable standard; (c) the use or development is not Discretionary under any other provision of this planning scheme; and (d) the use or development is not Prohibited under any other provision of this planning scheme.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
(1) This section applies to an application for a permit in respect of a use or development for which, under the provisions of a planning scheme, a planning authority is bound to grant a permit either unconditionally or subject to conditions or restrictions. (2) If an application for a permit to which this section applies meets the requirements of the planning scheme to which the application relates, a planning authority must grant the application either unconditionally or subject to conditions or restrictions not later than the expiration of the period of 28 days from the day on which the planning authority received the application or such further period as is agreed to, in writing, by the planning authority and the applicant before the expiration of that 28-day period.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
A development that is not required to be categorised under sub-clause 6.2.6 of this planning scheme and must be granted a permit if: (a) there are applicable standards that apply to the development; (b) the development complies with each applicable standard and does not rely on any Performance Criteria to comply with each applicable standard; and (c) the development is not Discretionary or Prohibited under any other provision of this planning scheme.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Discretionary: the slow lane and how you land in it
Clause 6.8.1 gives the council a discretion to refuse or permit a use or development where the use is listed as Discretionary, where the proposal relies on a Performance Criterion to meet a standard, or where another provision makes it Discretionary. Section 57 of the Act then requires public notice, gives any person 14 days to make representations, extendable by up to 14 days, and lets the council refuse outright on receipt.
Prohibited is the end of the road. Under clause 6.9.1 a use not listed in the table at all, or a development that fails an Acceptable Solution with no matching Performance Criterion, must not be granted a permit.
The practical lesson is that the fast lanes are decided by design, not by application type. A single house designed inside the Acceptable Solutions needs no permit. The same house with its garage forward of the building line and less than 5.5 metres from the street relies on a Performance Criterion and needs a Discretionary permit with public notice. Reading the Acceptable Solutions before drawing is what keeps a project in the fast lane.
A refusal or a condition on a Discretionary permit can be appealed, but a Permitted permit that meets the scheme leaves nothing to argue about, which is the other reason to design to the Acceptable Solutions from the start.
The planning authority has a discretion to refuse or permit a use or development if: (a) the use is within a Use Class specified in the applicable Use Table as being a use which is Discretionary; (b) the use or development relies on a Performance Criterion to demonstrate compliance with an applicable standard; or (c) it is Discretionary under any other provision of this planning scheme.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
A use or development is Prohibited and must not be granted a permit if: (a) the use is not specified as being No Permit Required, Permitted or Discretionary within a Use Class in the applicable Use Table; (b) the use or development does not comply with an Acceptable Solution for an applicable standard and there is no corresponding Performance Criterion; or (c) it is Prohibited under any other provision of this planning scheme.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
(1) This section applies to an application for a permit in respect of a use or development which, under the provisions of a planning scheme– (a) is of a kind specified as being a use or development which a planning authority has a discretion to refuse or permit; or (b) may not proceed as proposed by the applicant unless a planning authority waives, relaxes or modifies a requirement of the scheme, or otherwise in its discretion consents to the use or development proceeding. (2) The planning authority may, on receipt of an application for a permit to which this section applies, refuse to grant the permit and, if it does so – (a) it does not have to comply with subsection (3) ; and (b) . . . . . . . . (c) it must, within 7 days of refusing to grant the permit, serve on the applicant notice of its decision. (3) Unless the planning authority requires the applicant to give notice, the authority must give notice, as prescribed, of an application for a permit.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Any person may make representations relating to the application during the period of 14 days commencing on the date on which notice of the application is given under subsection (3) or such further period not exceeding 14 days as the planning authority may allow.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
A garage or carport for a dwelling must have a setback from a primary frontage of not less than: (a) 5.5m, or alternatively 1m behind the building line; (b) the same as the building line, if a portion of the dwelling gross floor area is located above the garage or carport; or (c) 1m, if the existing ground level slopes up or down at a gradient steeper than 1 in 5 for a distance of 10m from the frontage.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
What changes council by council in Tasmania
The state instruments set the frame. These points are set by each council's own instrument or mapping, so the answer for an address depends on which council it sits in.
- Which zone applies, and therefore which use table and Acceptable Solutions decide the lane, is set on the zoning maps in the council's Local Provisions Schedule.
- Code overlays mapped in the Local Provisions Schedule (bushfire prone areas, flood, landslip, coastal, local heritage, attenuation) can require a permit for a use that is otherwise No Permit Required or exempt.
- The Local Historic Heritage Code, applied through the council's heritage lists and precincts, switches off several clause 4.0 exemptions including outbuildings and fences.
- A specific area plan or site specific qualification in the Local Provisions Schedule can change the use status or the Acceptable Solutions for particular land.
- Councils still on an interim planning scheme apply a different exemption list and use tables.
For your address
How the $150 report settles this for one site
A Casa preliminary planning report reads the zone use table, the Acceptable Solutions and the code overlays at the parcel and states which lane the described work sits in: exempt, No Permit Required, Permitted or Discretionary. It names the standard or code that decides the lane and the conditions the design must keep to stay there. It does not shorten the statutory periods or predict a Discretionary outcome.
Common questions
Is there a fast track approval in Tasmania?
Yes, in effect. A Permitted use or development that meets every Acceptable Solution must be granted a permit, and section 58 of the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act requires that within 28 days of receipt unless a longer period is agreed in writing. There is no public notice.
Do I need a planning permit for a shed in Tasmania?
Not if it meets the outbuilding exemption in Table 4.3: behind the building line, with a roofed area within the 10 or 18 square metre limits and the height, roof span and setback conditions in that item, and not caught by the Local Historic Heritage Code or an electricity easement or inner protection area.
Do I need a permit for a front fence?
Not in the residential zones if it is within 4.5 metres of the frontage and no more than 1.2 metres high if solid, or 1.8 metres with openings above 1.2 metres giving at least 30 per cent transparency, unless the Local Historic Heritage Code requires a permit.
What makes an application Discretionary?
A use listed as Discretionary in the use table, reliance on any Performance Criterion to meet a standard, or another provision such as a code that makes it Discretionary. Discretionary applications are advertised and any person may make representations for 14 days.
Can a Permitted application be refused?
Not if it meets the requirements of the scheme. Clause 6.7.1 says such a use or development must be granted a permit, with or without conditions.
Sources read for this guide
- Tasmanian Planning Scheme, State Planning Provisions, SPP-20260907-v17.pdf (v17 effective 07/09/2026), Tasmanian Planning Scheme Onlineread 9 September 2026
- Tasmanian Planning Scheme Online, planning schemes list confirming the current SPP file and versionread 9 September 2026
- Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993 (Tas), whole Act, version current from 16 June 2025, Tasmanian Legislation Onlineread 9 September 2026
- Tasmanian Planning Commission, Tasmanian Planning Scheme index pageread 9 September 2026
Not covered here
- Only the outbuilding and front fence exemptions are quoted from Tables 4.1 to 4.6. The remaining exemption items were read but not reproduced.
- The Building Act 2016 (Tas) building approval categories, which run separately from the planning lanes, were not fetched.
- Section 57(6) of the Act, which sets the decision period for Discretionary applications, was not captured in full and is not quoted.
More TAS guides
- Granny flat rules in Tasmania
- Dual occupancy rules in Tasmania
- Subdivision rules in Tasmania
- Height and setback rules in Tasmania
- Do I need a planning permit in Tasmania?
Fast-track approvals in other states
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