Who can prepare a Traffic Management Plan in Victoria?

A TMP in Victoria must be prepared by a person holding current traffic management planning qualifications. The minimum is the Prepare a Worksite Traffic Management Plan unit (RIIWHS302E). For higher-risk works on motorways, freeways or high-volume roads, additional accreditation is required — typically TMD2 (RIISS00064) for high-volume roads and TMD3 (RIISS00065) for motorways and freeways.

Do I need a Traffic Management Plan to work in a road reserve?

In most cases, yes. A road reserve is the legally defined area that includes the road carriageway, the nature strip, the footpath and any service infrastructure within those boundaries. If your work affects any of that area, the relevant road authority or council will normally require a TMP and a Traffic Guidance Scheme before issuing a works permit.

What is the difference between a TMP and a TGS?

A Traffic Management Plan (TMP) is the full document covering risk assessment, stakeholder communication, emergency response and overall control strategy. A Traffic Guidance Scheme (TGS) is the scaled site diagram showing where each sign, cone, barrier and traffic controller is placed on the ground. For most projects both are required, with the TGS attached as the layout component of the TMP.

What does AGTTM-compliant mean?

AGTTM stands for the Austroads Guide to Temporary Traffic Management — the national framework that sets out how traffic should be managed around worksites in Australia. A document described as AGTTM-compliant has been prepared according to the device placement distances, speed-zone requirements, buffer specifications and documentation standards in the Guide. Councils and road authorities use AGTTM compliance as the baseline acceptance criteria for any TMP or TGS.

Can I get a Traffic Management Plan done same-day?

Yes. Same-day TMP turnaround is standard at OnPoint TGS for jobs received during business hours. The guaranteed turnaround is four business hours from confirmed payment, provided the site details are supplied. Complex multi-stage works or projects requiring multiple TGS layouts may extend to one or two business days.

What is required for a Construction Traffic Management Plan?

A CTMP needs to address project description and works staging, construction vehicle routes and movement volumes, site access and egress arrangements, pedestrian and cyclist management during the build, swept-path analysis for the largest vehicle types, hours of operation, delivery scheduling, and the supporting Traffic Guidance Scheme drawings. Higher-risk projects need more detailed pedestrian management and stage-by-stage layouts.

When do I need a swept path analysis for council?

A swept path analysis becomes a council requirement when your project depends on a vehicle being able to access, manoeuvre or exit a site without conflict and the council needs documented proof. Common triggers include planning permit conditions, basement or car park approvals, driveway or crossover modifications, and any site requiring large rigid truck or semi-trailer access.

How do I get a TMP approved by council?

Confirm the permit requirement with the council or road authority, engage a qualified planner to prepare the TMP, provide the site details, review the draft document, submit with the works permit or planning permit application, and allow 5 to 10 business days for council assessment. Approvals can stall when the TMP doesn’t match the council’s preferred format or when AGTTM compliance is incomplete.

Who is responsible for a TMP on a construction site?

Responsibility sits with the principal contractor — the entity legally responsible for the construction works. The principal contractor must ensure the TMP is current and that on-site controls match what the document specifies. The TMP author is responsible for the document’s compliance and accuracy on the day of preparation. WorkSafe and the relevant road authority can audit either party.

Traffic Management Plan FAQs

This page collects the most common questions we get from contractors, builders, project managers and event organisers about Traffic Management Plans, Traffic Guidance Schemes, AGTTM compliance and council approvals across Australia. If your question isn't covered here, get in touch and we'll add it. For urgent jobs, submit your site details online and we'll return a quote within two business hours.

A TMP in Victoria must be prepared by a person holding current traffic management planning qualifications. The minimum is the Prepare a Worksite Traffic Management Plan unit (RIIWHS302E), which is now usually delivered as part of the AGTTM-aligned training framework. For higher-risk works on motorways, freeways or high-volume roads, additional accreditation is required — typically TMD2 (RIISS00064) for high-volume roads and TMD3 (RIISS00065) for motorways and freeways. OnPoint TGS planners hold the relevant national qualifications across all three road environments, which is what allows us to prepare documentation for everything from suburban street works to arterial road projects under VicRoads management.
In most cases, yes. A road reserve is the legally defined area that includes the road carriageway, the nature strip, the footpath and any service infrastructure within those boundaries. If your work affects any of that area — even a footpath repair or a service connection — the relevant road authority or council will normally require a TMP and a Traffic Guidance Scheme before issuing a works permit. Exceptions exist for very low-risk activities (such as residential gardening on the nature strip), but anything involving plant, machinery, lane impacts or pedestrian rerouting needs documented traffic management. If you're unsure, ask the council or send the details to us — we'll tell you what's required.
A Traffic Management Plan (TMP) is the full document that explains how traffic will be managed across a project — including the risk assessment, stakeholder communication, emergency response and overall control strategy. A Traffic Guidance Scheme (TGS) is the scaled site diagram that shows where each sign, cone, barrier and traffic controller is placed on the ground. For small or low-risk jobs, a TGS alone may be sufficient. For anything larger — lane closures on arterial roads, construction projects, multi-stage works — the road authority will want a full TMP, with the TGS attached as the layout component. We prepare both as a single integrated package.
AGTTM stands for the Austroads Guide to Temporary Traffic Management — the national framework that sets out how traffic should be managed around worksites in Australia. AGTTM replaced AS 1742.3 as the leading reference and is now adopted by every state road authority in some form. A document described as AGTTM-compliant has been prepared according to the device placement distances, speed-zone requirements, buffer specifications and documentation standards in the Guide. Councils and road authorities use AGTTM compliance as the baseline acceptance criteria for any TMP or TGS — a non-compliant document will normally be rejected on first review, regardless of the urgency of the works.
Yes — same-day TMP turnaround is standard at OnPoint TGS for jobs received during business hours. Our guaranteed turnaround is four business hours from confirmed payment, provided we have the site details we need to prepare the document. Most clients receive a draft TMP the same day they submit the job. For complex multi-stage works, projects requiring multiple TGS layouts, or sites with unusual access challenges, the timeline may extend to one or two business days. We tell you upfront if a job cannot be completed same-day so you can plan around it. After-hours and weekend lodgements are usually returned the next business morning.
A Construction Traffic Management Plan (CTMP) needs to address the specific traffic risks created by the construction phase of a project. The required content varies by council and state but the consistent expectations are: project description and works staging, construction vehicle routes and movement volumes, site access and egress arrangements, pedestrian and cyclist management during the build, swept-path analysis for the largest vehicle types accessing the site, hours of operation, delivery scheduling, and the supporting Traffic Guidance Scheme drawings. Higher-risk projects (CBD sites, multi-storey builds, sites near schools or hospitals) need more detailed pedestrian management and may require stage-by-stage layouts. We prepare CTMPs to each council's preferred submission format.
A swept path analysis becomes a council requirement when your project depends on a vehicle being able to access, manoeuvre or exit a site without conflict — and the council needs documented proof. Common triggers: a planning permit condition asks for it explicitly, a basement or car park requires approval, a driveway or crossover is being constructed or modified, waste truck or delivery vehicle access must be demonstrated, or a large rigid truck or semi-trailer needs to navigate a tight site. Most Melbourne councils ask for swept path analysis as part of planning approvals for any commercial or multi-unit development. We prepare these as standalone documents or alongside the TMP, with output formatted for council and planning tribunal submission.
The standard process is: confirm the permit requirement with the council or road authority, engage a qualified planner to prepare the TMP, provide the site details and works information, review the draft TMP and confirm the TGS layout reflects the actual site, submit the document with the works permit or planning permit application, and allow 5 to 10 business days for council assessment. Approvals can stall when the TMP doesn't match the council's preferred format, when AGTTM compliance is incomplete, or when site-specific risks haven't been addressed. We prepare TMPs to each council's specific documentation standards to keep first-time approval rates high.
Responsibility for the TMP sits with the principal contractor — the entity legally responsible for the construction works. The principal contractor must ensure the TMP is current, that the on-site controls match what the document specifies, and that any changes to site conditions are reflected in the document and communicated to traffic controllers. The TMP author (the qualified planner who prepared it) is responsible for the document's compliance and accuracy on the day of preparation. WorkSafe and the relevant road authority can audit either party. For projects with subcontractors performing work in the road reserve, the principal contractor remains responsible unless responsibility has been formally delegated through the project agreement.
Send us the question through our contact form or call the operations line on 0409 753 118. If we get the same question more than a couple of times, we'll add it to this page. For urgent quotes, submit your site details online and we'll come back within two business hours.