Council Approval for Catering Services
If you prepare food at home to sell - catering, cakes, meal prep, tiffin services, market stalls - you are running a food business, and two separate obligations apply. Council has to approve the use of the premises, and the business has to be notified as a food business with a kitchen that meets the food premises standards. A domestic kitchen often needs modification. EHUP covers both the planning and the food safety side in one scope.
Free consultation
- Typically 6–10 weeks including kitchen works
- From $1,650 + GST for combined planning and food safety scope
- Quoted fixed after a free scope check
What this covers
Catering for events, celebration cakes and desserts, meal prep and meal delivery, tiffin and home meal services, preserves and shelf-stable products, market stalls, and small-scale supply to cafes or retailers.
The two obligations
Planning approval - council assesses whether food production at that address is acceptable. The issues are deliveries and collections, waste and odour, hours, refrigeration plant noise, and scale relative to the dwelling.
Food safety - the business must be notified to council as a food business, and the premises must meet the food premises standards in the Food Standards Code. This is where a domestic kitchen usually needs work.
What the food premises standards mean for a home kitchen
The practical requirements, in the order they usually come up:
A dedicated hand-washing basin. Not the sink you wash dishes in. This is the most frequently cited non-compliance.
Cleanable surfaces. Benches, splashbacks and floors must be smooth, impervious and easily cleaned. Timber benchtops and grouted tile floors in poor condition are commonly flagged.
Separation. Some degree of separation between commercial food production and domestic activity, including pets and household traffic.
Temperature control. Adequate refrigeration and freezing capacity with the ability to monitor and record temperatures, where you handle potentially hazardous food.
Waste. Storage that does not attract pests and a disposal arrangement that copes with commercial volume.
Ventilation. Depending on cooking method and volume, mechanical exhaust may be required.
Risk classification changes the answer
A business producing shelf-stable, low-risk items - jams, biscuits, dry mixes - faces a lighter set of obligations than one producing ready-to-eat, temperature-controlled meals. Both must be notified; the depth of the requirements differs substantially.
That is why the first question we ask is what you actually make, not what you call the business.
Scale, and when the answer becomes no
There is a point at which the volume of a food operation stops being compatible with a residential address - usually because of delivery vehicle movements, commercial refrigeration noise, or the sheer floor area required. If your operation is at or approaching that point, we will say so, and the conversation becomes about a small commercial kitchen instead. Better to hear it from us early than to invest in a home fitout that cannot carry the business you are building.
How it works
Understand the operation
Same day
What you make, volume, whether you deliver or clients collect, whether food is high-risk, and whether you supply to other businesses.
Kitchen and address assessment
2–4 business days
We assess the premises against the food premises standards and check the planning permissibility at your address.
One combined scope
Within 2 business days
Planning application, food business notification, kitchen works schedule and food safety documentation in one fixed-fee scope.
Approval and inspection
6–10 weeks typically
We lodge, manage council, and prepare you for the food premises inspection.
What we take off your hands
What EHUP handles
- Whether the scale of your operation is permissible at your address
- The planning application and a realistic operating description
- Food business notification with council
- Assessing your kitchen against the food premises standards
- Food safety program and food handler requirements where they apply
- Council liaison and inspection preparation
What you don't have to deal with
- Failing a food premises inspection on a fixture nobody mentioned
- Assuming a home kitchen is automatically suitable
- Being referred to a food safety consultant separately
Frequently asked questions
Can I legally sell food I cook in my home kitchen?
Sometimes, but not automatically. It depends on the type of food, the volume, and whether the kitchen can meet the food premises standards. Low-risk shelf-stable products are treated more leniently than high-risk foods requiring temperature control. The two things that always apply are notification as a food business and a planning approval for the use.
What does a home kitchen usually need changed?
Most commonly: a separate hand-washing basin used only for hand washing, adequate cleanable surfaces, a dedicated area or separation from domestic food preparation, appropriate refrigeration with monitoring, and adequate waste storage. Sometimes mechanical ventilation. The scope depends on what you are producing.
Do I need a food safety supervisor?
Businesses handling unpackaged, potentially hazardous food that is ready to eat generally need a certified food safety supervisor. Whether your operation falls into that category depends on what you produce - we confirm it as part of the scope rather than leaving you to interpret it.
What about selling at markets or online?
The food still has to be produced in premises that meet the standards, so the kitchen question does not go away. Market stalls carry additional temporary-premises requirements, and online sale brings labelling and transport-temperature considerations. All manageable, all worth knowing before you start taking orders.
I have been doing this for a while already. Am I in trouble?
Usually not if you come forward. Councils deal with a large volume of home food businesses becoming compliant, and voluntary notification is treated very differently from a complaint-led investigation. Call us before contacting council so it is framed properly.
Related services
Home Business Approvals
Most home-based businesses can be approved.
CDC - Restaurants & Cafes
A cafe or restaurant fitout, and in many cases the change of use to a food premises, can be certified as complying development in as little as two to three weeks where the premises satisfies the Codes SEPP in full.
Change of Use
A change of use application is needed when the building stays the same but what happens inside it changes - retail to cafe, warehouse to gym, office to medical suite.
Why clients choose EHUP
- 10+
- 250+
- 14
- 1
Not sure which approval you need?
Tell us the address and what you want to do. We'll help identify the appropriate planning pathway, whether it is exempt development, complying development or a full DA. Your first conversation is free.