What a pergola costs in Melbourne

What drives the price

The roof. An open pergola, posts and rafters with no roofing, is the cheapest version, and Victorian guides put whole open timber pergolas at about $3,000 to $7,000. Roofing changes the structure as well as the cover: Melbourne guides price a polycarbonate-roofed pergola at roughly $220 to $540 per square metre supplied and installed, a flat Colorbond roof at $250 to $600, a gable Colorbond roof at $350 to $950 and insulated panels at $350 to $750, because the posts, beams and footings have to carry wind loads and the roof needs gutters and stormwater.

No Australian guide publishes a per-square-metre rate for an open pergola, so the estimator derives one, about $170 to $450, from the roofed rates less the cost of the roofing, which lines up with the published open-pergola totals and the one worked example that gives a size. A steel frame adds 15% to 40% over timber in the Victorian guide. A new concrete slab underneath is priced per square metre on its own line.

• Floor area, and the height to the top of the structure
• Roof: none, polycarbonate, flat or gable Colorbond, or insulated panels
• Frame: treated pine, hardwood or steel
• Attached to the house, or freestanding on its own posts
• What it sits on: existing paving or deck, or a new slab

Permit: it turns on the roof

The Building Regulations 2018 define a pergola as an open structure that is unroofed, and exempt one from a building permit when it is no more than 3.6 m high, no more than 20 m² in floor area and not forward of the house’s front wall (or no more than 2.5 m forward of it). Put any roofing on it, even partly, and it becomes a verandah: the Building and Plumbing Commission’s practice note says a verandah attached to a building needs a permit regardless of size. A freestanding roofed structure can still be exempt as a small outbuilding if it is no more than 10 m² and 3 m high (2.4 m within 1 m of a boundary), not masonry, and set back at least 9 m from the front street and 2 m from any side street.

Councils apply this differently: Boroondara and Monash restate the thresholds, while Stonnington says to get a permit for any pergola. The estimator reads the regulations and tells you which case you are in; a registered building surveyor or your council confirms it, and a heritage or other overlay can add a planning permit. The decks guide covers the related rules for a deck underneath.

Who builds it, and the contract

A carpenter can build a pergola, and a licensed roof plumber does Colorbond roofing and gutters. Over $10,000 the job needs a builder registered with the Building and Plumbing Commission and a major domestic building contract, with the deposit capped at 10% under $20,000 and 5% from $20,000; contracts over $20,000 signed from 1 July 2026 need Home Warranty insurance. New footings mean digging, so use Before You Dig Australia first.

What the quote should cover

• Design and drawings, and who applies for the permit and any engineering
• Footings: number, depth and concrete
• Posts, beams and rafters: material, size and finish
• Roofing, gutters, downpipes and where the stormwater goes
• A slab or paving underneath, or a note that it’s excluded
• Lighting and power, by a licensed electrician, if wanted
• Clean-up and disposal of spoil

Example brief

“Build a 5 m × 4 m timber pergola attached to the back of a single-storey brick house in Clayton, with a flat Colorbond roof and a gutter into the existing downpipe, over existing paving. Please quote footings, the structure, roofing and stormwater, arranging the building permit and engineering, and painting or staining the timber.”

Before you ask for quotes

• Measure the footprint and decide on the roof before anything else
• Check how far forward of the front wall it would sit
• Expect a permit for any roofed structure attached to the house
• Ask who applies for the permit and the engineering, and include them in the quote
• Compare quotes on footings, timber sizes and stormwater, not just the price

The estimator’s Get quotes button carries your details into the job form as a draft. You can also start a job request from scratch, read the decks and outdoor structures guide, or compare the written quotes once they arrive. Availability depends on real postings, and registration must be enabled to submit.

How this estimate is built

Each line multiplies a per-unit range from the named sources by the quantity you entered, fixed items are added as their own lines, and the total is widened to round numbers. The sources were checked on 2 November 2026. It is an indicative range for comparing written quotes from a carpenter who has seen the job, not a quote. See all cost guides for how the ranges are made.