Heritage overlays and brickwork in Melbourne: a general guide

Melbourne has streets full of period homes, and many sit inside a heritage overlay. If yours does, brickwork is not always a free-for-all, so it pays to understand the lay of the land before you start. None of this is legal advice, and your council is the final word.

What a heritage overlay can mean

A heritage overlay is a planning control that protects the character of a building or a precinct. For brickwork it can affect things like:

• Repointing and the colour, profile and mix of the mortar
• Repairing or replacing damaged bricks to match the original
• Painting or rendering over face brick that is currently exposed
• Changes to a street-facing wall, fence or front facade

The rules vary street by street and council by council, so two homes that look similar can sit under different controls.

How to find out what applies

The overlay sits on your property title and planning information, not on the look of the house.

• Check your property on the Victorian planning maps to see if an overlay applies
• Read your local council's heritage guidance for what it allows
• Ask the council heritage advisor early, as many offer free guidance
• Confirm whether your specific work needs a planning permit

Do this before you order materials. It is far cheaper than undoing work that was never going to be approved.

Working sympathetically with old brickwork

Even where a permit is not needed, period brickwork rewards a careful hand.

• Match the original brick in size, colour and texture where you can
• Use a mortar suited to soft old bricks rather than a hard modern mix that can damage them
• Copy the existing joint profile so repairs blend in
• Keep original face brick exposed unless you have approval to change it

Good heritage brickwork should look like nothing happened at all.

If you are restoring or extending a period home, send us a photo of the brickwork and your suburb, and we will talk you through a sympathetic approach and point you to the right council checks.