Type the deck size, pick the timber and see it in 3D with a supply-and-install price for Melbourne. Add your address to put it on your own block and check the permits. Free, no sign-up.
Deck
Length runs along the house, depth runs out into the yard. Height is from the ground to the top of the boards.
Boards
Balustrade & stairs
Your block optional
Victorian addresses: we read the lot boundary, zone and overlays from Vicmap and put the deck behind your house on the aerial photo.
The grey box is our guess at your house. Slide it until it sits on the roof in the photo; the deck follows the back wall.
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Permits & rules
A guide only. A registered building surveyor makes the call on the building permit, and the council on the planning permit.
Most likely yes, a building permit at least. Any deck fixed to the house needs one, whatever its size. A freestanding deck is exempt only when it is 10 m² or smaller, no more than 800 mm above the ground and not attached to a building (Building Regulations 2018, Schedule 3). Exempt or not, it still has to be built to the regulations. A registered building surveyor issues the permit, usually in two to four weeks.
A planning permit is a separate thing from the council, and most decks don't need one. The usual triggers are an overlay on the land, such as a Heritage Overlay or a flood overlay, or a lot under 300 m² with a deck floor more than 800 mm above the ground. Put your address into the tool and it reads the zone and overlays for your lot from Vicmap.
What a deck costs in Melbourne
Installed prices in 2026 sit around $250–$370 per square metre for treated pine, $350–$580 for merbau, $400–$630 for spotted gum and $400–$700 for composite. A deck more than a metre off the ground costs more for the longer posts and bracing, and then needs a balustrade, which adds roughly $150–$470 per lineal metre depending on timber, aluminium or glass. A flight of stairs is usually $1,000–$4,700, and the building surveyor and permit $800–$2,500.
Questions people ask
When does a deck need a balustrade?
Under the National Construction Code, once the deck surface is more than 1 m above the ground below. The balustrade must be at least 1 m high and no gap may let a 125 mm sphere through, so horizontal rails that kids can climb are restricted on higher decks.
Merbau, spotted gum or composite?
Merbau is the common Melbourne choice: dense, stable and mid-priced, though it bleeds tannin onto paving for the first few months. Spotted gum is harder and pricier and some grades suit bushfire areas. Composite costs about the same as good hardwood, needs no oiling and doesn't splinter, but gets hot in full sun.
Which way should the boards run?
Usually along the house, so the joists run out from the wall and the deck reads wider. Boards running out from the house suit a narrow deck or one that leads your eye to the garden. Switch it in the tool to compare.
Does a freestanding deck avoid the permit?
Only if it is 10 m² or less and no more than 800 mm high. Moving it a few centimetres off the house doesn't help once it's bigger than that.