Backyard studio · 9.72 m² · Melbourne metro
Ten square metres.
Four costs.
One number.
A backyard studio has four separate costs, and most quotes show you one of them. We price the shell, the foundation, the install and the power connection on the same page — so the figure you see first is the figure you pay.
The four costs, on one page
Select a line to see which part of the building it pays for. The shell is the only one most suppliers advertise; the other three are quoted after you have committed.
Indicative only, and not a quote. Every figure firms up after a site visit, because soil, slope, access and the distance to your switchboard are what move them.
What it is, and what it is not
This matters more than it sounds. A 9.72 m² studio is a non-habitable building. That is what makes it fast — and it is also the line that decides what you can lawfully do with it.
What it is
- A home office, workshop, studio or hobby room
- Insulated, double glazed and lined, for year-round use
- Powered, lit and ready for a desk and a heater
- Demountable — it sits on piers, not a slab, unless you want one
- Buildable without a building permit, if it meets every condition below
What it is not
- Not a granny flat or a second dwelling
- Not somewhere anyone may sleep, including occasionally
- Not rentable, and not lettable as short-stay accommodation
- Not plumbed — no kitchen, bathroom or toilet
- Not counted as dwelling floor area when your home is valued
If what you actually want is a second dwelling you can rent or house family in, this is the wrong product and we will tell you so at the site visit. That is a 60 m² small second dwelling, it needs a building permit, and it is a different conversation.
What goes underneath
Melbourne's west and north sit on reactive basalt clay that swells and shrinks with moisture. A light building on shallow pads on that ground moves with the seasons — doors bind, floors go out of level. So the footing is a real decision, not a line item.
Screw piles
Steel piles wound down past the reactive layer. Installed in a day, no excavation, no spoil, and no concrete cure — so delivery is not waiting on anything.
Bored concrete piers
Augered holes filled with concrete. Well understood and widely used, but it adds excavation, spoil to remove, and curing time before assembly starts.
Concrete slab
Worth it if you already have one, or if you want a hard floor and a permanent feel. The slowest of the three, and the least forgiving on reactive ground.
We quote the foundation separately and openly, because pretending it is included is how the number you were told stops matching the number you pay.
Pick the colour
Nine standard COLORBOND® colours, at no cost difference. Choose one and the elevation at the top of this page changes with it.
Wall build-up, outside to inside
Why steel, and why no masonry
The frame and sub-floor are galvanised steel — rust-proof, and termites have no interest in it. That matters in a building sitting on piers close to soil.
The non-masonry construction is not only a preference. It is the fourth condition of the building permit exemption further down this page, so a brick or block skin would take the building out of the exemption entirely.
Two footprints
Both sit under the 10 m² line, and both are drawn to use full-length sheet material with the least waste. A custom footprint is possible — it just has to stay under 10 m².
Square-ish
3600 × 2700 mm — 9.72 m²
Long
4500 × 2200 mm — 9.90 m²
Both plans are drawn to the same scale, so the difference in shape is real. Door and window positions are indicative and get set at the site visit — where the door goes depends on where the path from the street can run.
Included in the shell
Standard build. Options and upgrades are priced at the site visit.
- Footprint2700 × 3600 mm — 9.72 m². Also available 2200 × 4500 mm — 9.90 m².
- HeightSkillion roof, under 3 m. Under 2.4 m where sited within 1 m of a boundary.
- StructureSteel frame and trusses on a welded galvanised sub-floor. Rust-proof and termite-proof.
- CladdingColorbond corrugated or fibre-cement, in the standard colour range. Non-masonry by design.
- GlazingDouble-glazed aluminium sliding windows and door.
- InsulationWalls and ceiling insulated; lined and painted internally.
- ElectricalRough-in for lights, power points and a switchboard connection. Connection quoted separately.
- PlumbingNone. This building is not plumbed.
- Lead time14 days from order to delivery. Two to three days on site.
The permit rules, in full
A building of this class is exempt from a building permit in Victoria — but only if it meets every one of these conditions. Most advertising quotes the first one and stops.
Building Regulations 2018 (Vic), Schedule 3, item 1 ↗
- Floor area does not exceed 10 m².
- No more than 3 m high — or 2.4 m if it sits within 1 m of a boundary.
- Sited no further forward than the front wall of the house.
- Not constructed of masonry.
- It is a Class 10a building — a non-habitable structure.
Separately: your council may restrict how close a structure can sit to a boundary, another building or an easement, and overlays such as heritage or flooding can still apply. We check your address before quoting. If your block does not qualify, we say so — that check is free and it is not conditional on you buying anything.
How it runs
Order is load-bearing here — each step depends on the one before it.
- Site checkDay 0
We look at access, slope, boundary distances and where your switchboard is, and confirm your block qualifies.
- Fixed quoteDay 1–3
All four costs, on one page, with the foundation type chosen for your soil.
- FoundationDay 10
Screw piles go in and are levelled. One day, no cure time.
- Delivery and assemblyDay 14–16
Shell arrives and is assembled, clad, glazed and weatherproofed.
- Power onDay 17
Licensed electrician runs the submain, terminates, tests and issues the certificate of electrical safety.
Where the claims come from
Every rule quoted on this page is from the regulator or the code itself, not from a summary of it. Check any of them.
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The building permit exemption — 10 m², height limits, front-wall rule, non-masonry, Class 10a Building Regulations 2018 (Vic), Schedule 3, item 1 — authorised version 030, in force 1 July 2026 content.legislation.vic.gov.au
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What Class 10a and Class 1a mean, and why a studio is not a dwelling National Construction Code — building classifications ncc.abcb.gov.au
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The definition of a habitable room, which is what decides how this building may be used NCC 2022 — glossary ncc.abcb.gov.au
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Small second dwellings — the 60 m² product this is not, and its separate planning rules Planning Victoria — small second homes (Amendment VC253, 14 December 2023) planning.vic.gov.au
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The building-side rules and the regulator that administers them Building and Plumbing Commission — small second dwelling bpc.vic.gov.au
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Footings — the standard that screw piles, bored piers and slabs are designed against AS 2870 — Residential slabs and footings Standards Australia · paywalled, not linkable
Checked 19 August 2026. The date matters more than it usually would. Victorian building regulation has changed three times in thirty months — the planning exemption for small second dwellings arrived in December 2023, the standards were revised in September 2025, and the regulator itself was replaced on 1 July 2025 when the Victorian Building Authority became the Building and Plumbing Commission. Anything written before mid-2025 may be describing rules, or a regulator, that no longer exist.