An approval condition can send you hunting for a document you've never seen, can't download, and have to pay for. On a residential driveway that document is AS/NZS 2890.1 more often than anything else.
It's the Australian and New Zealand standard for off-street parking, and a garage with a driveway running up to it is off-street parking, which is how a single house ends up inside a parking standard. It doesn't apply on its own, though. Part 1 governs your job when an approval condition, a planning scheme or a council standard names it, and most of this page is how to tell whether yours does.
The current edition is AS/NZS 2890.1:2004, Parking facilities, Part 1, Off-street car parking, published jointly by Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand and still listed as current (checked 18 August 2026). It's a paid publication, and this page carries none of its gradient or transition figures, because they're copyright.
What the document is
The AS/NZS prefix comes from the joint publication with Standards New Zealand. The 2004 edition was published on 4 March 2004, with Amendment No. 1 following on 18 August 2005 (Standards New Zealand, checked 18 August 2026). A current copy carries the amended text.
A revision has been running for years without landing. Public comment on a draft closed on 9 November 2023, and in March 2026 Standards Australia said the proposed changes wouldn't proceed in their current format. That leaves an edition published two decades ago as the one a certifier assesses against.
Several websites describe a 2021 edition of Part 1, but both publishers still sell the 2004 edition as the current one (Standards Australia, Standards New Zealand, checked 18 August 2026). If a drawing cites a 2021 edition, ask what it means.
It covers the design and layout of off-street parking facilities, from a handful of spaces to a multi-storey car park, and the access serving them.
Why a house driveway sits inside a parking standard
A garage and the driveway reaching it are off-street parking, and the scope covers private facilities and their access, so a single dwelling falls inside the standard.
It doesn't get there through the building code. The NCC 2022 referenced documents schedule for Volume One lists AS/NZS 2890.6, the accessible parking part, and not Part 1 (checked 18 August 2026). It lands on a residential job through a planning scheme, a condition on the development approval, or a council engineering standard that names it.
How to tell whether your job is caught by it
Four places to look, in the order that settles it fastest:
- The conditions on the approval. They usually name the document, and often a drawing number too. A condition naming AS 2890.1 settles it.
- The planning scheme code for vehicle access and parking in that local government area. Some cite the standard directly for driveway design.
- The council's standard drawings. Where one exists for vehicle crossings, it governs that strip whatever the standard says.
- The certifier. Ask which document and which edition they're assessing against, before the drawing goes in.
If nothing names it, a Queensland job falls back to QDC NMP 1.1 as the state-level reference. For the same decision with the council standard drawing in the mix, see which of the three documents applies.
A council drawing can override it
The strip between kerb and property boundary is usually council-owned, built to the council's drawing rather than a standard the council didn't write. Who owns the crossover varies by local government, and that changes what you're allowed to draw.
Councils publish figures for the driveway behind the boundary too. Brisbane City Council's published rate of change is tighter than the state code's transition figure, and a profile drawn to the looser number does not comply there. Where two documents apply and disagree, design to the tighter. A profile that satisfies the stricter number satisfies both.
Driveway gradients in Queensland sets out those state figures in full.
How to get hold of a copy
Buy it from the Standards Australia store, or from Standards New Zealand. A single-user PDF was listed at roughly $230 including GST on the Australian store, checked 18 August 2026. Prices move, and the two stores price in their own currencies.
Standards Australia also runs Reader Room, free and heavily limited. Read-only viewing, personal and non-commercial use only, three publications per 12 months, 24 hours each, no download and no print (terms of use, checked 18 August 2026). A homeowner checking one figure can use it. A drafter who needs it week to week can't. Some public and university libraries hold subscriptions you can read on site.
Disclaimer
This article is general information, not advice. It describes what AS/NZS 2890.1 covers and does not reproduce any part of it; the standard is copyright to Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand and must be obtained from them. Edition status, prices and access terms were checked on 18 August 2026 and change over time. Planning schemes, council standard drawings and conditions on individual approvals may impose different or additional requirements. Confirm what applies to your project with the relevant council or a qualified certifier before relying on anything here.
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