In general, a person must not carry out works without the relevant approvals and permits where one is required.
The City’s Local Planning Scheme No. 3 applies to residential, commercial and industrial zoned land. It prescribes development controls for all land uses and suitable locations / zones in order to protect the amenity of those areas. Land uses conducted where not permitted or without approval from the City, can cause considerable problems for the community.
Approval that is required after an unauthorised structure has been completed is referred to as retrospective approval. This retrospective approval process may help those who are buying or selling a property that has an unauthorised structure.
Planning and building service requests
The City can investigate planning and building service issues:
- Business from home
- Commercial vehicle parking
- Dangerous or unsafe buildings
- Overlooking / privacy issues
- Departure from approved plans
- Swimming pools / spa barrier
- Unauthorised structures
- Unauthorised signage
- Unauthorised land use
- Unauthorised cut and/or fill.
To submit a development services planning and building service request, please complete the following form:
Planning and Building Service Request
Unauthorised works
Building safety
Asbestos
If you are thinking of renovating, you need to be aware that household materials could contain asbestos and take precautions to protect yourself. Any person handling or disposing of asbestos must comply with the Health (Asbestos) Regulations 1992.
For more information on how to identify and correctly remove asbestos, you can visit the WA Health website.
Disposing of asbestos
Residents can dispose of asbestos at Tamala Park and Redhill landfill sites. For further information on their opening hours and disposal requirements, please visit the Mindarie Regional Council and East Metropolitan Regional Council websites.
Please note that the City's Recycling Centre Balcatta does not accept asbestos.
Hazardous waste disposal
If you have concerns about an asbestos risk in our community, please complete an illegal dumping form.
Decommissioning of septic tanks
Septic tanks are full of untreated wastewater which if abandoned and incorrectly decommissioned, can leak contaminants into the soils and ground water.
For more information, please visit the WA Health website.
Dust
If there is excessive dust coming from a building site that requires investigation from the City, please use the following Health Compliance request form:
Environmental health service request
Service delivery delays
We are experiencing some delays in service delivery due to COVID-19 and an impact on our staffing. We’re aiming to minimise disruption to our customers and to maintain delivering essential services. We are prioritising services that ensure the health and safety of our community.
The following requests may take up to four weeks to be resolved. You can continue to lodge these services, however please take into account the delay in delivery.
- Litter/dumped rubbish on private property
- Dust complaints
- Noise complaints
- Animal complaints - cat, rats, chickens, pigeons and bees
- Odour complaints
- Light spills (that do not cause harm to the public).