Running a Home Business

A Home Office is business activity carried out entirely within your home by you as the resident, with no clients or customers visiting and no external changes to the appearance of your home.

Examples include a graphic designer working from a spare room, an accountant managing clients remotely or a consultant who works from home but meets clients elsewhere.

Key criteria

• No clients or customers visiting the property.
• No advertising signs on the property.
• No external changes to the appearance of the home.

Approval required?

No. A Home Office does not require Development (Planning) Approval from the City.

A Home Occupation is a small-scale business carried out from your home where the activity is limited in size and impact on the surrounding neighbourhood.

Examples include a music teacher with students visiting by appointment, a beauty therapist seeing a small number of clients, or a tradesperson operating from home.

Key criteria

• Only members of your household may work in the business
• Must not adversely affect the amenity of the neighbourhood
• Maximum floor area of 20 square metres
• Signage no larger than 0.2 square metres
• No retail sales, display or hire of goods from the property
• No additional parking requirements beyond what is normal for a residential property
• No vehicles over 2 tonnes.

Approval required?

Yes. A Home Occupation requires Development (Planning) Approval from the City.

A Home Business is a larger-scale activity carried out from your home or the land around it. It permits a slightly greater level of activity than a Home Occupation but is still limited to ensure it does not impact the surrounding neighbourhood.

Examples include a small trade business, a beauty salon seeing multiple clients per day, or a business with one or two employees who are not household members.

Key criteria

• No more than two employees who are not members of your household
• Must not adversely affect the amenity of the neighbourhood
• Maximum floor area of 50 square metres
• No retail sales, display or hire of goods from the property, except online sales
• No traffic difficulties or significant increase in traffic volumes
• No vehicles over 4.5 tonnes
• No use of essential services beyond what is normally required in a residential area.

Approval required?

Yes. A Home Business requires Development (Planning) Approval from the City.

A Family Day Care is a childcare service provided from a residential home. It offers flexible, home-based education and care for children through a network of registered educators.

Key criteria

• Maximum of seven children aged from birth to 13 years, including the educator's own children.
• No more than four children below pre-primary school age.
• Approval and regulation of educators is managed by the Child Care Licensing and Standards Unit, Department of Communities

Approval required?

Yes. A Family Day Care requires Development (Planning) Approval from the City.

Note: If food is provided to children in a Family Day Care, a separate application to construct, alter or amend a food business is also required. Refer to Food Businesses section.

If you plan to offer beauty therapy, waxing, facials, lash extensions, brow treatments, nail services, tattooing, body piercing or any other service involving skin contact, you will need two separate approvals from the City before you can see clients.

Step 1: Development (Planning) Approval

First, confirm that your home business use is permitted at your property by obtaining Development (Planning) Approval from the City's Planning Services team. You will need to identify whether your business is a Home Occupation or Home Business based on the criteria above.

Step 2: Health premises approval

Once your Development (Planning) Approval is confirmed, apply for a Beauty, Hair and Skin Penetration Premises approval from the City's Environmental Health Services team. This involves an assessment of your treatment space against required health and safety standards and an inspection before you open.

Building Permit

If your fit-out involves any structural changes, such as removing or adding walls, installing new plumbing or making other alterations to the space, a Building Permit is required before work begins. Apply for your Building Permit after your Development (Planning) Approval is confirmed but before any physical work starts.

You cannot see clients until all required approvals are in place.

Since June 2024, hairdressing businesses no longer require a health premises approval from the City of Canning. The Hairdressing Establishment Regulations 1972 were repealed, and hairdressing is now governed by WA Health industry guidelines under the Public Health Act 2016.

You must comply with those guidelines, but you do not need a City health approval to operate.

Development (Planning) Approval still applies if you are operating from home and your activity meets the criteria for a Home Occupation or Home Business.

For more information, read the WA Health Guidelines for Hairdressers.

Operating a food business from home is subject to specific rules under the Food Act 2008. Not all food preparation can be carried out from a domestic kitchen.

Low-risk food activities may be permitted from a home kitchen. Higher-risk food preparation is unlikely to be approved in a residential setting and will require a commercial kitchen premises.

Development (Planning) Approval is required before you set up, and food business registration must be completed before any fit-out work begins. If your fit-out involves building or structural work, a Building Permit is also required before work starts.

Full guidance on what is and is not permitted from a home kitchen, and how to register your food business, is available on the Food Business Approvals page.

In addition to Development (Planning) Approval, Family Day Care operators must comply with childcare licensing requirements managed by the Child Care Licensing and Standards Unit, Department of Communities.

If food is provided to children in your care, a separate food business application is required. Contact our Environmental Health Services team before you begin any fit-out or food preparation.

If your home requires any building or structural changes to accommodate the service, a Building Permit is required before work begins.

For more information, visit the Department of Communities website.

For trades, professional services, online businesses, consulting and other home-based activities, the first step is to identify which classification applies to your business using the criteria above.

Once you have identified your classification, the Development (Planning) Approval page will guide you through the application process. If any building or structural work is involved, a Building Permit is also required before work starts.

If you are not sure where to start, contact our Business Facilitator who can help you work through your specific situation.