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Places of Public Entertainment (POPE) and Prescribed Temporary Structures

A place of public entertainment (POPE) is a building or place used or intended to be used for conducting public entertainment or a public meeting.
 

Building permits

Places of public entertainment

'Public entertainment' means 'entertainment or meeting to which admission may ordinarily be gained by members of the public'. This means that the general community (public) is eligible to attend the entertainment or meeting. As such this does not include private (invitation-only) events such as weddings. 

Examples would include (but are not limited to):

  • circus
  • rodeo
  • music festival
  • community fair/show (for example: Royal Geelong Show)
  • kids carnival
  • community cup
  • live performances (for example: concerts).
     

An occupancy permit must be issued by the Municipal Building Surveyor before a building or place can be used as a Place of Public Entertainment.

Prescribed places and temporary structures

The following places are 'prescribed' for the purposes of the Building Regulations. This means that approval is required to conduct a public entertainment in these places:

  • a public assembly building with a floor area more than 500 square metres or
  • a place of more than 500 square metres which is intended to be used for providing public entertainment and is either:
    • enclosed or substantially enclosed or
    • to which admission can be gained by payment of money or other consideration or
  • a prescribed temporary structure (PTS) being one of the following:
    • a marquee or tent with an area of more than 100 square metres
    • a seating stand for more than 20 persons
    • a stage or platform (including sky borders and stage wings) with an area of more than 150 square metres
    • prefabricated buildings with an area of more than 100 square metres (not placed directly on the ground surface) 

Temporary structure siting approvals

A siting approval of a prescribed temporary structure is required to be obtained prior to erection of any of the following structures for the purpose of conduction a public entertainment:

  • tents marquees or booths with a floor area greater than 100 square metres or
  • stages or platforms (including sky borders and stage wings) exceeding 150 square metres in floor area or
  • seating stands for more than 20 persons or
  • prefabricated buildings exceeding 100 square metres other than ones placed directly on the ground surface.

Each prescribed temporary structure should have an Occupancy Permit issued by the Building and Plumbing Commission (BPC) before it can be used for public entertainment.

The purpose of the siting approval is to ensure that the proposed prescribed temporary structures are suitable construction for the proposed site and meet the required structural fire safety and evacuation standards and in accordance with the conditions of the BPC Occupancy Permit for the structure.

The Building Regulations provide an exemption for places greater than 500 square metres from the requirement to obtain an occupancy permit for place of public entertainment if the:

  • place is used for the purposes of conducting an event or activity which is organsied and controlled by a community-based organisation and
  • number of persons in the place at any one time during the event or activity is less than 5000 persons.

The fees must be paid when making the application. The fees are based on the number of people attending.

Application must be made by lodging a Prescribed Temporary Structures Siting Approval Application with all supporting documentation at least 20 working days prior to proposed erection of the structure/s.

The fees must be paid when making the application. The fees are based on the number of structures which will need to be assessed.

Prior to lodging an application, please contact our Events department to make all suitable arrangements for your event. 

They can be contacted via [email protected] 

  • An event within our parks gardens or reserves may require an event permit.
  • Any temporary structures erected on roadways or footpaths must be approved by our Engineering Department and/or VicRoads as applicable.
  • Additional fees may apply for the use of the roadway or footpath - see Street Occupation.
 


 

Need to know more...

For further information, please contact our Building Department on 03 5272 4450

Documents

Place of Public Entertainment - Application Form 118 KB | docx
Places of Public Entertainment Checklist 156 KB | DOC
Temporary Structure Siting - Application Form 115 KB | docx
Prescribed Temporary Structures Siting Approval Checklist 132 KB | DOC
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