Mezzanine Approval for Leased Warehouses: What Tenants Need to Know

If you lease your warehouse or factory, adding a mezzanine involves two approvals, not one. The regulator needs to be satisfied the work is lawful and safe, and your landlord needs to be satisfied it won't harm their asset. Mezzanine approval for leased warehouses stalls most often because tenants start with the first and leave the second until late.

This guide covers the tenant's side: your lease, landlord consent, who applies, make-good and paperwork. It is general guidance only.

Why leased premises change the approval process

When you lease, the building belongs to someone else, and a mezzanine is a fixed structure that sits inside it and adds floor area. That creates three questions an owner doesn't face:

• Does your lease allow structural alterations at all?
• Who needs to sign what before an application can be lodged?
• What happens to the mezzanine when the lease ends?

Answer these first. A mezzanine that is approvable but contractually prohibited is a dead end, and finding that out after paying for design work is expensive.

Step 1: Read your lease before you design anything

Pull out the lease and any variations, then look for clauses covering alterations, fixtures, make-good (reinstatement) and compliance with laws. Your lease may require written landlord consent for any structural work, and some leases restrict work that affects the building's structure or fire systems.

Check these points:

• Alterations and additions: is consent required, and can it be withheld?
• Reinstatement or make-good: are you required to remove your fit-out and restore the premises at lease end?
• Insurance: who insures the mezzanine during the lease, and does your policy or the landlord's need to be updated?
• Lease term: how long is left, and is there an option to renew?

Term matters more than most tenants expect. A short remaining term with no renewal option changes the return on the investment. Our guide to mezzanine floors versus relocating helps if you are weighing up the two.

Step 2: Get landlord consent in writing

Landlords want to know the work is engineered, approved and won't create liability for them. Go in with a short package rather than a vague request:

• A description of what you want to build, the footprint and the intended use
• Concept drawings showing the location, stairs and any pallet gates
• A statement that the design will be engineered and certified before it is built
• Your proposal for make-good, covered below

Ask for consent in writing, covering both installation and the treatment of the mezzanine at lease end. A verbal "that's fine" from a property manager won't help you when the lease expires. If your lease needs a formal deed of variation or licence to alter, have your solicitor review it.

Step 3: Work out who applies for approval

The person who lodges the application is not always the person who owns the building. In practice, a tenant often drives the project, but the property is owned by someone else, so the landlord's consent will usually be needed alongside the application. Your building certifier or surveyor will tell you exactly what owner's consent they require.

The pathway itself depends on the state:

• Queensland: building work needs a building development approval unless it is accepted development, and approvals are issued by a licensed building certifier. See Business Queensland. Our Queensland building approval guide covers it in detail.
• New South Wales: because a new mezzanine adds gross floor area, it generally cannot be done as exempt development or as a Part 5 internal-alteration complying development certificate. It is assessed either as complying development under the Part 5A additions standards, if the land and zone are eligible, or through a development application to council. See the NSW Planning pocket guide. Our NSW mezzanine guide goes further.
• Victoria: all building work requires a building permit unless an exemption applies under Schedule 3 of the Building Regulations 2018, and you apply through a registered building surveyor. See the Building and Plumbing Commission guidance (the Building and Plumbing Commission replaced the VBA as regulator on 1 July 2025).

In every case, your certifier or building surveyor confirms the exact pathway for your site. If you want help sorting that out, our council approval guidance service is built for it.

What your landlord will ask about fire and building classification

Under NCC 2022 Volume One, clause C2D3(4), a mezzanine is regarded as a storey when calculating rise in storeys if its floor area is more than 200 m² or more than one-third of the floor area of the room, whichever is the lesser. Two or more mezzanines at or near the same level are aggregated for that test. The ABCB notes that larger mezzanines are included because of their potential fire load, and rise in storeys feeds into fire-resisting construction requirements (NCC 2022 Part C2).

As a tenant, expect your landlord to ask whether the mezzanine changes fire requirements for their building. Your certifier and engineer can answer that, and having it in writing makes consent easier.

Step 4: Plan the make-good before you build

Make-good is where tenants get caught. If your lease says you must restore the premises at the end of the term, a mezzanine is a significant item to remove, so agree the position early.

There are usually three outcomes:

• Remove at lease end: the mezzanine is dismantled and the slab made good.
• Leave in place by agreement: the landlord accepts the mezzanine as part of the building, ideally with this recorded in writing.
• Transfer to the next tenant: by agreement between the parties, subject to the lease.

Some landlords see a mezzanine as an improvement. Our Beaudesert project added a mezzanine to a vacant factory before it was advertised to prospective tenants.

Step 5: Assemble the paperwork

Before lodging anything, make sure you hold the following. Your certifier will confirm the full list for your site.

• Signed landlord consent covering installation and make-good
• Site plans and mezzanine drawings
• Structural engineering design and certification
• Details of the licensed builder or contractor
• Evidence of the existing building's classification and any previous approvals, which the landlord or their agent may hold

At the end of the job, there is one more document. A certificate of occupancy in Queensland (Business Queensland), an occupation certificate in NSW (EP&A Act 1979 s 6.9) or an occupancy permit or certificate of final inspection in Victoria (Building and Plumbing Commission) is part of closing out the approval. Give your landlord a copy for their records.

Keeping a leased-site project on track

Read the lease first, get consent in writing, agree make-good up front, and use one team for design, engineering and approvals. Our full project management service gives you that, from concept to completion.

Talk to our team before you approach your landlord

If you lease your site and are considering a mezzanine, call our team at FMF on 1300 998 883 or request a free quote. Our first discussions and site visits are obligation-free, and we regularly coordinate with landlords and property managers during the approval process. You can also use our free planning checklist to get organised first.

FAQs

Do I need my landlord's permission to install a mezzanine in a leased warehouse?

Check your lease, but in most cases structural alterations need written consent from the landlord. Your certifier or building surveyor will also tell you what owner's consent they need before an application is lodged.

Who applies for the approval, the tenant or the landlord?

It depends on your lease and the state. A tenant often manages the application with the owner's consent, but your certifier or building surveyor will confirm who needs to sign.

Will I have to remove the mezzanine at the end of my lease?

That depends on the make-good clause in your lease and what you agree with the landlord. Settle it in writing before you build, and have your solicitor review the wording