Marquees and stages at events: when a temporary structure needs approval

One national standard, applied by each state

The Australian Building Codes Board publishes a standard for temporary structures. It sets technical design criteria for structural safety, particularly determining the appropriate wind actions, and for fire safety, egress, access, sanitary facilities and some ancillary matters. Which structures it applies to, and how, is for each state or territory authority to decide. Victoria’s Building and Plumbing Commission names the version it uses: the ABCB’s Temporary Structures Standard 2015.

New South Wales

Exempt development, and its conditions

The NSW Planning Portal says temporary structures for private or community events may not need planning approval. The State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008 sets them out, and the event-sized ones include tents, marquees or booths for community events, stages or platforms for community events and for private functions, and tents or marquees for private functions. To count as exempt, a temporary structure must:

• have the landowner’s written consent, and a council or other public authority counts as a landowner;
• leave car parking, and vehicle and pedestrian access to and from the land, unrestricted;
• be able to withstand the loads set by the relevant Australian and New Zealand Standards, be installed to the manufacturer’s specifications and comply with the Building Code of Australia;
• stand on a surface firm and level enough to hold it while in use;
• have an approval for the use of the land that matches the structure’s purpose;
• not redirect surface or ground water, or wash sediment onto a neighbouring property, and not damage any protected tree on or next to the site.

The person carrying out the development also needs public liability insurance for an amount the landowner agrees to. The exemption does not reach land listed on the State Heritage Register or under an interim heritage order, nor a wilderness area or critical habitat, and a structure on public land or over a public road, even a temporary one, must have approval from the council or Roads and Maritime Services.

Heritage NSW has its own standard exemption for temporary events and structures at State Heritage Register items, such as marquees, tents, gazebos and performance stages. It covers activity lasting less than 90 consecutive calendar days, set-up and pack-down included, and nothing more may go up on the site under it for 28 calendar days afterwards.

When the marquee is the venue

The National Construction Code 2025 carries NSW Part I5, with provisions for temporary structures used as entertainment venues. A few of its numbers:

Outside the codes, NSW’s Event Starter Guide adds a practical line: every structure has a wind rating, and a wind management plan should say at what wind speeds things are secured and when to evacuate.

Victoria

Prescribed temporary structures

In Victoria, some temporary structures need an occupancy permit from the Building and Plumbing Commission before they can be used for public entertainment. The Commission’s prescribed temporary structures include:

• tents, marquees or booths with a floor area over 100 m²;
• seating stands for more than 20 people;
• stages or platforms, wings included, over 150 m² in floor area;
• prefabricated buildings over 100 m², unless placed directly on the ground.

Public entertainment here means events the general public can get into, ticketed or not. Private or invitation-only events are outside it, as are structures used for retail, dining or offices. A prescribed temporary structure cannot be attached to, or stand on or inside, a permanent building.

The application rests on engineering: it has to show the structure poses no hazard to the people in it or nearby, with a compliance certificate for the structural design from a civil engineer registered in Victoria. A permit can cover one event, or state-wide use for up to five years. The rest of the timetable, as the Commission listed it on 8 October 2026:

1. A complete application at least 30 business days before the structure is first used; incomplete ones are not accepted.
2. An application fee of $384.90 per structure, paid again for each different structure or configuration, so a marquee with two different spans, such as 10 m and 15 m, pays twice, while one joined to an identical marquee pays once.
3. Fees are not refunded if an application is refused for missing documents.

Queensland

Landowner first

The Events in Queensland guidelines start with the landowner’s permission before any structure or signage goes up, and note that some structures may need weighting down rather than pegging. Some sites may need a council application or engineering certification. For safety, they also suggest monitoring the weather forecast and using a professional rigger for any signage hung overhead.

Exits, lighting and crowd movement inside a structure connect to the event safety guide; a structure on a road connects to the road closure guide.