Fencing PerthSheet 5 · Western Australia

When a fence needs a building permit in WA

Under Schedule 4 of WA’s Building Regulations 2012, a fence, other than a fall prevention barrier, needs no building permit if it is built in accordance with a fencing local law that applies in its council’s district. Where a district has no such local law, a fence needs none if it is no more than 0.75 m high in masonry, or 1.8 m in any other material, and is not in wind region C or D.

General information from the Building Regulations 2012 as at 1 October 2026 and the Building Act 2011 as at 28 May 2026, not building advice. Building and Energy recommends asking your local government, which assesses a permit application, what it will need from you and which local laws apply.

Schedule 4, item 4, in the Regulations’ words

Building work for which a building permit is not required, quoted from the Building Regulations 2012 as at 1 October 2026.

“Construction, erection, assembly or placement of a fence, screen or similar structure, other than a fall prevention barrier, if”

(a)“the fence, screen or similar structure is constructed in accordance with a local law made under the Local Government Act 1995 section 9.60 that applies to the construction of the fence, screen or similar structure in the district in which the fence, screen or similar structure is, or is to be, located; or”
(b)“the fence, screen or similar structure is, or is to be, located in a district in which there is no local law of a type referred to in paragraph (a) and the fence, screen or similar structure”
1. (i)“if constructed of masonry … is no more than 0.75 m in height; and”
2. (ii)“if constructed of a material other than masonry … is no more than 1.8 m in height; and”
3. (iii)“is not located in wind region C or D as defined in AS 1170.2.”

So where your council has a fencing local law, the first question is whether the fence is built in accordance with it. The local laws keep the building rules in view: the City of Cockburn’s 2026 law says nothing in it affects the need to comply with any building permit requirements under the Building Act 2011, and the City of Canning’s 2021 law says the same of the Act and the Building Regulations 2012. What each council’s law counts as a sufficient fence is compared on the council fencing local laws sheet.

What some councils’ pages say

Councils put the rule in their own words, for their own districts:

City of Bayswater: any fencing over 1.8 metres high needs a building permit, as does a brick fence 0.75 metres high or more; a dividing fence over 1.8 metres also needs the neighbour’s written consent.
City of Melville: a building permit is generally not needed for a dividing or boundary fence of materials such as fibro-cement sheets, Colorbond or timber. A dividing fence goes on the higher ground of a retaining wall on a shared boundary, and one fixed to a retaining wall needs a structural engineer to design how it is fixed.
Shire of Kalamunda, 2016 local law: a stone or concrete fence counts as a sufficient fence only if a structural engineer designs it, where it is over 1800 mm high or the Shire requires it.

When work next door would remove your fence

Part 6 of the Building Act 2011 deals with building work that affects land beyond the boundaries of the land being worked on. Section 83 lists six notifiable events. Two concern removing a fence and going onto your land:

(e)“a fence, gate or other barrier to land on or beyond the boundaries of the works land is removed;”
(f)“in doing the work a person goes onto other land as defined in section 81(1);”

A third, (d), covers work that affects the structural, waterproofing or noise insulation capacity of a substantial dividing fence, one built under a building permit or other approval.

If such an event is reasonably likely, the person responsible for the work must give notice of it to each owner of the affected land (section 84). For a fence, the notice must name the fence, the reasons for removing it and any temporary barrier proposed, and seek each owner’s consent (section 85(1)(g)).

Section 80(1) says the person responsible for the work must ensure that “no fence, gate or other barrier to land on or beyond the boundaries of the works land is removed”:

(a)“unless each owner of the land that shares, or on which is located, the fence, gate or other barrier consents to the removal; or”
(b)“unless the removal is in accordance with an order under section 86(2)(g); or”
(c)“unless the removal is required as a matter of urgency to prevent imminent collapse of, or damage to, any land including a building or structure on the land; or”
(d)unless the removal is needed to build a close wall, a building permit for that wall is in effect, and at least 7 business days’ notice of the removal has been given to each owner of the land and, if no owner lives there, to at least one adult occupier;
(e)“unless the land that shares, or on which is located, the fence, gate or other barrier is vacant land, or any building on that land is vacant; or”
(f)“except in prescribed circumstances.”

A close wall, in the Act’s words, is a wall, fence, post or column “so close to a boundary of the land on which the wall or fence is located that it is not reasonably practicable to build a separate dividing fence along the boundary”. Where work requires removing a fence, the person responsible must make sure a temporary barrier is put up if necessary, and that it is adequate and suitable for how the other land is used (section 80(3)). If an owner does not consent, the person responsible may apply to the Magistrates Court for an order (section 86).

Going onto your land to do the work is limited too. It needs an owner’s or adult occupier’s consent, a court order, an urgent need to prevent collapse or damage, vacant land, or prescribed circumstances (section 81(2)); you must be given reasonable notice of each 24-hour period of access (section 81(4)); and unless consent or an order sets the times, access is limited to between 8.00 am and 6.00 pm (section 81(5)).

Form BA20, for encroaching on or affecting your land

Building and Energy’s form BA20, in the version the Building Commissioner approved on 17 July 2026, is the notice and request for consent when work would encroach on or adversely affect your land. It tells an owner who receives it that the person responsible for the work could be the builder, the demolition contractor or the owner of the land being worked on, and that they have 28 days to consider what is proposed. The work affecting your land must not start without your consent or a court order, and the person responsible may instead change the design so your land is not affected. BA20 itself notes that other kinds of notifiable event use form BA20A.

If the fence that would come down is asbestos cement, the old asbestos cement fences sheet sets out WA Health’s guidance and the regulations that apply to it.

Asbestos safety

The Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency says it is “not recommended that you handle or remove asbestos yourself”, and in Western Australia the law sets limits: WorkSafe WA says a homeowner may take out less than 10 square metres of non-friable material themselves, and that more than that, or any amount of friable material, must be removed by a licensed removalist, and that a home owner doing it must follow strict safety precautions and wear protective equipment. The national agency adds that, even if you follow every safety step, hiring a licensed asbestos removalist who is trained, insured and equipped for the work is much safer and easier. Asbestos waste can only go to a landfill licensed to accept it. WorkSafe WA says there is no safe level of asbestos exposure.

HealthyWA says never to use power tools on materials containing asbestos, whether to drill, cut, sand or remove them, because they release asbestos fibres. WorkSafe WA says Western Australian law bans some tools and methods with asbestos because they put dangerous fibres into the air: never dry-sweep asbestos dust with a broom or brush; never cut, grind, sand or drill it with high-speed power tools; never clean it with high-pressure water or compressed air; and never use industrial drying fans where damaged or friable asbestos might be, until the area has been certified clear. The national agency warns never to clean asbestos materials with high-pressure water or any abrasive process, such as scrubbing, sanding or grinding. Queensland’s asbestos site lists, among the things not to do: “Saw, sand, scrape or drill holes in asbestos materials.”

In Western Australia, HealthyWA says all asbestos material must go to a landfill or waste disposal site that the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation has licensed to accept it.