An international literature review was undertaken to identify the most appropriate design for a pervious paving system. The literature review revealed that information contained in design guidelines is often unclear and occasionally conflicting and this can be confusing for designers and other stormwater professionals. This literature review was to form the basis of a design for a new research study on the benefits of using pervious pavements to promote street tree health has recently commenced at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia. The review identified four typical pervious paving surfaces porous concrete porous asphalt, permeable inter locking concrete pavers, and concrete and plastic grid pavers. All four pavement surfaces were found to have high stormwater pollutant removal performance in a variety of conditions, with a wide range of designs. Maintenance procedures can have a significant impact on the rate of clogging of pervious pavements which can impact on the effective life span and there is conflicting and unreliable evidence to support the inclusion of a geofabric layer within pervious paving systems. This paper summarises the literature review findings and is intended as a practical resource for designers and researchers of pervious pavement systems.