Less volume at the pit
Water is held in the base and released slowly, which can take pressure off an OSD tank and the pipes downstream.
Sydney and NSW
Permeable Concrete Sydney
We pour it on site. It is concrete, not pavers, and rain passes straight through the slab into a stone base that holds it and lets it go slowly.
How we run Sydney work
We will be straight with you. Our factory and head office are in Melbourne, and NSW jobs are run through our national team with crews travelling to site. Sydney metro is routine for us, along with the Central Coast, Newcastle and Wollongong. Further out we plan pours around travel and batch nearby jobs together. We say all of that at quoting stage rather than promise a date we cannot hold. The system itself does not change: Permcon is designed, manufactured and installed by one team, Australian made, with ISO 9001, 45001 and 14001 certification behind it.
What it changes on a Sydney site
Helps tight infill numbers
Site coverage and landscaped area conditions bite hardest on dual occupancies. A permeable driveway helps the arithmetic.
No standing water
Short heavy bursts drain through the surface instead of sheeting across it toward the garage or the neighbour.
Trees stay alive
Water and air reach the root zone, so it is one of the few pavements that can go inside a tree protection zone.
Will it work at my place?
Check if permeable concrete suits your site
A few quick questions about your site. You get a straight answer about whether permeable concrete is the right call, including when it isn't, before anyone asks for your details.
Site check · 1 of 5
What are you surfacing?
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Tell us about your project
Get in touch today to discuss your project. We're here to help with all your permeable concrete requirements, from a single driveway to major civil infrastructure.
📞Call us1300 010 499✉️Email us[email protected]
📍Head officeFactory 7, 25-39 Cook Road, Mitcham VIC 3132
The finish, poured
How a NSW job runs
From on-site assessment to handover
01
On-site assessment
We look at soil, fall, levels, catchment, loads and the council conditions already sitting on the job. No charge, and no square metre rate until we have done it.
02
Design of slab and base
Slab thickness, mix and base depth get set around the site. On shale and clay the base is storage with a controlled outlet. On sandstone, more of it infiltrates.
03
Working with your consultant
We give your hydraulic consultant and civil engineer the numbers they need for the DCP response, rather than leaving them to guess at what the pavement does.
04
Excavation, base and pour
Open-graded stone base compacted in layers, edges restrained, then the mix placed in a continuous run and compacted while it is workable.
05
Curing, finish and handover
Covered curing, edges and transitions finished, and a sweeping schedule matched to how much sediment the site actually collects.
Sydney questions we get asked
Will it get rid of my on-site detention requirement?+
Sometimes it shrinks the tank. Rarely does it remove the condition on its own. Permeable concrete cuts the volume and slows the flow arriving at the pit, and your hydraulic consultant decides how that changes the OSD sizing under your council's DCP. Anyone promising you a specific outcome before seeing the site is guessing.
Do you have a Sydney depot?+
No. Our factory and head office are in Melbourne, and NSW work is scheduled through our national team with crews travelling to site. Sydney metro, the Central Coast, Newcastle and Wollongong are routine for us. We would rather tell you that than imply a yard around the corner.
Does it work on western Sydney clay?+
Yes, with the base designed as storage rather than soakage. Clay does not infiltrate quickly and we do not pretend otherwise. The open-graded base holds the water and a controlled outlet lets it go slowly, so the surface still drains and the peak flow still drops.
Is this permeable pavers?+
No. Pavers are individual units laid on bedding aggregate with jointing stone between them, and the water goes through the joints. Permeable concrete is a single continuous pour with the voids inside the material. We do not supply pavers, and our comparison page says plainly where pavers are the better choice.
How does BASIX fit in?+
BASIX deals with water and thermal performance for housing and sits alongside your drainage design rather than replacing it. Stormwater stays with the council DCP and your hydraulic consultant, which is where permeable paving does its work.
Can it take a commercial car park?+
Cars, utes and light commercial traffic, yes, with the mix, slab thickness and base build-up designed for the loads. Occasional service and waste vehicles can be designed for as well. High-speed heavy-traffic pavement is where we draw the line.
What does it cost?+
It depends on area, access, base depth and finish, and on a NSW job it also depends on how the work is scheduled. We quote after the site assessment, not before. The assessment is free.
Permeable concrete in Sydney, poured as one continuous surface
Permeable concrete is a no-fines mix. Cement, water and coarse aggregate, with the sand left out. What is left is a matrix of interconnected voids through the slab, typically 20 to 26 per cent of the volume against 3 to 5 per cent in conventional concrete. Rain passes through the surface into an open-graded stone base below.
It goes down as a continuous pour, not as laid units. There are no joints across the area and nothing to migrate under a turning wheel. If you have been quoted permeable pavers, that is a different product installed by a different trade, and we compare the two honestly on our permeable concrete vs pavers page.
Infiltration commonly runs between 80 and 720 litres per minute per square metre. Sydney rain arrives in short heavy bursts, so peak flow is the design problem rather than annual totals, and taking a driveway or car park out of the runoff equation shaves that peak instead of piping it somewhere else.
The strength question
Driveways, footpaths and car parks are typically specified around 20 to 25 MPa, with the wider class running about 5 to 25 MPa. That handles cars, utes and light commercial vehicles at the speeds they move on a driveway or in a car park. High-speed heavy-traffic pavement is outside what we recommend, and we will say so rather than sell you the wrong thing.
Book a free on-site assessment
Tell us the council, the site and the area you need covered. We will come and look, then tell you what we would build and whether permeable concrete is the right call.