Home business laws for studio?

hi guys, i have a question to ask, im not sure in which forum it would belong but i suppose this one is fine, i want to build a studio like that of sonar but before i do i need to ask if anyone knows how the laws work with regards to a home studio open to the public. Is it seen as a home business and do the same laws aply as any business run from the home or is it more of a hobby? i know it differs from territory to territory but there should be overall laws regarding this? could i get into any trouble opening up a studio of this size in a residential area (my backyard) and making a bit of extra cash?

this would be a Wombat Hole topic ;)

actually its applicable to design because there are significant differences between a project studio and commercial one. one of which - does your community allow businesses to be run within the residential areas or not? assuming it does, then you are probably required to adhere to a variety of laws and ordinances including business permits, parking, noise, safety, accessibility, hours of operations, and associated with those, a lot of building codes to make it all happen - all of which will tend to be much more rigorous than a simple home studio for yourself and some friends. so a commercial studio will tend to automatically require different design (thus tactics) than just converting your basement or garage for personal use.

Reading Glenn's post, what it reminds me of it is all local. Which locality is OP asking about? Andre

It al kinda depends.... there's no real rules here in Holland for that. funny enough.. We, my partner and I, run a reahearsal space for over 15 years. Always on "hobby" basis, for personal use. We started practising ourselves in those rooms and invited other friends/bands. We split rent. A few years ago the municipal of our town decided we we're doing bussiness on a "pro" basis.. .uh, we do? So we ended up having to allign to all kinda stupid rules and what not. how, bizar. We only play for fun, we don't rent out space on commercial basis. There are no real rules about that , or so we found out.