A livable shed is a home that happens to be built the way a shed is built. Under the building rules that means Class 1A, engineered, drawn and approved as a home from day one. Here is what that takes, what comes in the package, and where to start.
Category: Shed Home Guides Author: Brian Best Reading time: Approx. 5 minutes
“Livable sheds” is what most people type into Google when they start looking. Some spell it liveable. Either way they mean the same thing: the space, the open plan and the honest look of a shed, in a building they can actually live in.
I have been building for 38 years, and here is the first thing worth knowing. The word livable is not in the building code. Council does not approve a livable shed. It approves one of two things.
Two classes, nothing in between
A shed is a Class 10A building. That is the code’s way of saying non habitable. A garage, a workshop, a hay shed.
A home is a Class 1A building. Habitable. Someone sleeps in it.
There is no class in between. A shed with insulation and a kitchen in it is still a Class 10A shed on paper, and paper is what council goes by. So when you go looking for a livable shed, what you are really looking for is a Class 1A home built the way a shed is built: a portal frame, wide open spans with no load bearing walls inside, and a Colorbond roof and walls. That is exactly what we supply.
If you want the full side by side, read Class 1A vs Class 10A explained.
What makes a shed livable
Four things, and every one of them is settled at the design and engineering stage, before anything is ordered.
1. Engineered as a home
The frame of a shed is allowed to move more than the frame of a home. Engineers write it as a deflection limit. A shed is typically designed to about L/150, which over a six metre span lets it move about 40mm. A lined ceiling needs far less than that. On our buildings I work to about 10mm over the same span. The difference is in the size of the steel, the spacings and the fixings, and the slab is engineered for the building too. None of it can be added later.
2. Drawn as a home
A home needs architectural drawings of a dwelling: the rooms, the windows, the wet areas, the lot. Not a shed drawing with a floor plan sketched inside it.
3. Rated as a home
A home has to meet an energy rating to be approved, assessed under NatHERS. The insulation and the windows are chosen to meet it. A shed has no energy rating at all.
4. Approved as a home
The documents are done in a fixed order: architecture, then engineering, then energy. You lodge them with your council or certifier, and the building is approved as a Class 1A dwelling before it goes up. See building approvals for how that works.
Why the shed you already own is not the shortcut
The call I take most often goes like this: put a shed up now, finish it as a home later. I wrote about one of those calls in I built a shed, can I turn it into a home? The short version is that you cannot add certification to a building later. It is designed in, or it is not there. A cheap shed is exactly that, you always get what you pay for.
What comes in the package
You are buying a lot more than steel. You are buying a home package, engineered for your block, and the knowledge of how to get it approved as a home. There are two levels.
- Base kit: the shell of the home, frame, roof and walls, plus the engineering for the building and the slab. Window openings only, no windows.
- Complete kit: everything in the base kit, plus windows, insulation, architectural drawings and the NatHERS energy assessment.
Not part of any kit: the slab itself, internal lining and the fit out, kitchen, bathroom, electrical and plumbing. We supply the kit only. The build is yours, as an owner builder or with your own trades.
Livable shed prices
Our kit prices are published on every model page, and there is a rate per square metre for working out a size of your own.
| Style of shed home | Base kit | Complete kit supply |
|---|---|---|
| Single level barn style | $340 to $420 /m² | $430 to $530 /m² |
| Single level with a workshop or breezeway wing | $380 to $400 /m² | $440 to $460 /m² |
| Two storey | $380 to $440 /m² | $470 to $530 /m² |
How to use these rates. Measure the total floor area under the roof, including verandas, then multiply by the rate for the style you like. Our own models work out between these numbers, so use our measurements as a guide: a 198m² barn style, a 280m² barn style with big verandas, or a 292m² two storey. Base kit is the structural shell and engineering. Complete kit supply adds windows, insulation, drawings and NatHERS. Internal lining and fit out are never part of a kit.
These are a guide, not a quote. Your real number depends on your block, your wind region, bushfire rating and what your council asks for, which is why we price against a full site address. Send us the address and a pin and you get a real figure instead of a rate.
The kit price is the only number we commit to. Your slab, trades and fit out are your own costs, and how much does a shed home cost walks through them.
Livable shed floor plans
We have seven standard designs, the Noosa, Tweed, Tasman, Kyogle, Bangaree, Kakadu and Fremantle, single level and two storey, each with its floor plans on its own page. See them all on our designs or in shed house designs and floor plans. Every one can be changed in the 3D designer, or you can start from a blank gable or skillion roof.
Livable sheds in Queensland, Tasmania and every other state
We supply Australia wide. The building classes are national, but approvals and owner builder rules are set by each state, so each state has its own page:
Where to start
People do not come to me for steel. They come for a way out of the mortgage trap, a piece of land, and a home they had a hand in. A livable shed, done properly, is that.
Pick the design closest to what you want, change it in the 3D designer, and send it through for review with your site address.
- Start your design in 3D
- Shed house plans and prices
- Class 1A vs Class 10A explained
- Shed and home under one roof
Brian Best
Founder & Builder
Shed Homes · Class 1A Kit Homes · Australia-Wide Delivery sales@shed-homes.com.au · 0488 510 550 · shed-homes.com.au
