Building in Melbourne’s east means six councils — Knox, Maroondah, Whitehorse, Yarra Ranges, Monash and Manningham — and older housing stock with more overlays than the growth corridors. Cornerstone handles building permits, the mandatory inspections and sign-off for every class of building work across the eastern suburbs — residential, commercial and industrial — from second storeys in Box Hill to retaining walls on the sloping blocks out to Lilydale and office and warehouse fit-outs along the main roads.
You deal with one practice from the first siting check to the occupancy permit or certificate of final inspection. Fees are fixed and quoted up front. We work across the east every week; inspections are booked in runs, with fast turnaround times whether the job is in Croydon or Box Hill.
What’s different about building in the east
Established blocks. Most of the east was built out between the 1950s and the 1980s, so the typical job is a brick veneer house on a large block being extended, given a second storey, or pulled down and rebuilt. Extensions and second storeys bring the siting rules in Part 5 of the Building Regulations 2018 into play — setbacks, wall heights on boundaries, overshadowing and overlooking. Where the design does not meet them, we prepare the report and consent application before lodgement.
Knock-down rebuilds. Doncaster, Glen Waverley, Ringwood and Wantirna see a steady run of knock-down rebuilds. These need a demolition permit, with Section 29A consent from council, before anything comes down, and a separate building permit for the new home. We run both and time the consent so the builder is not waiting on council with a vacant block.
Sloping sites in the foothills. From Boronia and Bayswater up through The Basin, Montrose and Mount Evelyn, the blocks climb into the Dandenongs, and around Lilydale they roll out into the Yarra Valley. Cut-and-fill, retaining walls and split-level slabs are the norm. The key threshold for a retaining wall is a metre in height: a wall under that, standing on its own, is exempt, but one that is part of other building work or holds up a neighbour’s land needs a permit whatever its height, and in practice an engineer’s design, and a wall carrying a driveway or a building is generally in that group. Decks and verandahs on the downhill side of a house are permit work, and need a compliant balustrade once the fall reaches a metre. Our guide on which verandahs, pergolas, carports and decks are exempt covers the rest.
Bushfire prone areas and BAL ratings. Much of Yarra Ranges and the fringes of Knox sit in a designated bushfire prone area. A new home or extension there needs a Bushfire Attack Level assessment, and so does a shed, garage or deck that is attached to the house or close to it. The construction then has to match that rating under AS 3959. A Bushfire Management Overlay adds planning requirements on top, and we flag both at the quote stage.
Heritage and neighbourhood character overlays. Whitehorse, Manningham and Maroondah use heritage and neighbourhood character overlays across many older streets. A building permit cannot be issued while a required planning permit is outstanding, so we check the planning property report first and tell you whether a planning permit is needed before you pay for construction drawings.
What’s in demand across the eastern suburbs
- Extensions and second-storey additions — the bulk of the work in Box Hill, Glen Waverley, Doncaster and Ringwood
- Knock-down rebuilds and new homes, including dual occupancies on the larger Knox and Maroondah blocks
- Retaining walls and cut-and-fill on sloping sites
- Decks, verandahs, carports and pergolas, especially on sloping blocks
- Sheds and garages on the larger foothill blocks
- Shop and office fit-outs along Whitehorse Road, Maroondah Highway and Burwood Highway
- Warehouses, factory units and change of use in the Bayswater, Kilsyth and Scoresby industrial areas
Nearby
Our Knox page covers Wantirna, Boronia, Bayswater and Rowville in more detail. South of the Monash Freeway the work rolls into south-east Melbourne — Dandenong, Cranbourne and the City of Casey. Past Lilydale and Healesville it becomes regional Victoria, serviced the same way: one practice, a fixed fee, inspections booked in runs.