For Tasmanian fitout and shopfitting companies

The planning risk is in the use, not the joinery

You are rarely the one who needs the permit, but you are usually the one on site when it turns out one was needed.

Where Tasmania catches people out

The client says planning is sorted

Often what is sorted is the lease. Whether the new use is no permit required, permitted or discretionary in that zone is a separate question a signed lease does not answer.

The premises already had a permit

A permit attaches to the use it was granted for. Changing what the premises is used for is a new question, and the previous approval does not carry across.

A discretionary application is just paperwork

It is advertised, open to representations and appealable. If your programme assumes otherwise, the delay lands on your schedule rather than the client's.

Getting started

A quick check at quoting stage tells you whether the use is settled. It is the cheapest protection on a fitout programme, and it keeps the delay off your invoice.

General information about the Tasmania planning system, not advice on a particular site. What applies to a property depends on its zone, the controls affecting it and what is proposed.