Trade
Send us the drawings. Same surveyor, every job.
If you sell, design, install or demolish the things that need a building permit, this page is how to hand a customer to us — and what to tell them so the permit isn't the part that stalls your job.
Most shed, verandah, deck and retaining-wall permits start with a supplier or a landscaper telling the customer to "get a surveyor". Most demolitions start with the contractor. That hand-over is where jobs go quiet: the customer rings council, gets told to find a private surveyor, and the order sits on hold.
So send the drawings to us direct. We quote your customer a fixed fee, check the siting before anything is ordered, and come back to both of you. The permit is issued in the owner's name and one registered building surveyor holds it from assessment to sign-off.
Or email the package to admin@cstonebs.com. We aim to reply within one business day.
Who this is for
The trades that refer the work.
Residential, commercial or rural — if your product or your job needs a building permit, it fits here.
Shed and kit suppliers
Steel sheds, garages, barns and kit homes sold with standard engineering. Send the engineering as supplied — we do not need it redrawn.
Verandah, pergola, carport and deck installers
Kit structures and carpenter-built decks. We check the exemptions and the siting before the customer orders, not after the posts are in.
Landscapers and retaining-wall contractors
Sleeper, block and concrete walls, walls near boundaries and walls over easements. We tell you which ones need a permit before the engineer is booked.
Demolition contractors
Knock-down rebuilds, garages and partial demolitions. We run the Section 29A referral and the demolition permit so your start date holds.
Draftspeople and designers
Permit packages for sheds, outbuildings, extensions and new homes. One request for information, not a drip-feed.
Builders
Repeat work runs on a fee schedule and a direct line to the surveyor. No re-explaining the job each time.
How referring works
Four steps, and you are not the applicant.
Send the package once. We ask for anything missing in one list, quote the owner, and keep you in the loop.
- 01
Send what you have
The kit's standard engineering as supplied, a site plan or a marked-up aerial photo with the distances to the boundaries and the house, the property address, and your customer's name and contact details. Use the quote form or email it through.
- 02
We quote the owner and come back to you both
One fixed fee for the assessment, the building permit and the required inspections. If the design needs report and consent from council or an easement consent, we say so at quote stage, before the kit is ordered or the wall line is set.
- 03
The owner signs the appointment
Under the Building Act 1993 the owner appoints the building surveyor, so your customer signs the appointment and the permit is issued in their name. You are not the applicant and you do not carry the permit.
- 04
One surveyor on every job
The surveyor who assesses the drawings issues the permit, does the inspections and signs the job off. Your installer books inspections by email with the permit number, and you ring one person if anything changes.
Suppliers and installers: use the quote form and tell us you are referring a customer. Builders and drafting firms: the same form, or email the package. Inspection bookings go to inspections@cstonebs.com with the permit number, the site address, the stage and a site contact.
What to tell your customers
You don't apply to council for a building permit.
The sentence we hear most from a customer a supplier has sent us is "I thought I had to apply to council." In Victoria, a building permit is issued by a registered building surveyor. The owner appoints the surveyor — a private building surveyor, or the council's municipal building surveyor — and that surveyor assesses the drawings, issues the building permit, carries out the inspections and signs the work off at the end.
A planning permit is a different document. It comes from council, it is about land use and the zone and overlays on the lot, and it is a separate question from the building permit. Whether one is needed depends on the zone and any overlays, and we check that at quote stage and tell you both. Where a planning permit is needed, it has to be in place before the building permit can be issued.
The other thing worth saying early: a kit that is small enough to be exempt from a building permit is not exempt from the siting rules. Setbacks, height near boundaries and overshadowing still apply, and that is the check we do before the customer orders.
"Where a building permit is needed, it comes from a registered building surveyor, not from council. With your OK we send your drawings to Cornerstone Building Surveyors. They quote a fixed fee, check whether a permit is needed and whether the siting works, and issue the permit in your name. The same surveyor does the inspections and the sign-off."
Use it as is or in your own words. Link to this page or to the guides below.
Fee schedule
Ask for our fee schedule.
Repeat referrers work from a fee schedule: fixed fees by job type, quoted to the customer before they commit, with levies and any council consent fees itemised separately. We don't publish it on the website. Email us and we send it back to you directly.
Request the fee scheduleWhat builders say
Cornerstone Building Surveyors have been a great asset throughout our building process. Frank, in particular, has been excellent to deal with — professional, prompt, and always willing to offer clear guidance and support. His experience and attention to detail make the construction process a smooth and easy trip to completion. Highly recommend Cornerstone to anyone in the building industry looking for reliable and efficient surveyors.
Couldn't be happier with Cornerstone Building Surveyors, excellent service from start to finish. Communication was always clear, thorough inspections throughout my construction process. Highly recommend for anyone needing reliable building surveying services, look forward to completing numerous projects alongside the team at Cornerstone.
Send your customer this
Plain-English pages you can link to.
Each guide answers the "do I need a permit?" question for one trade. Each service page says what we need and how the fee works.
Guides
Contact
Talk to the surveyor. (03) 9802 9459
Get a quote
Send the drawings. We come back to you and the owner.
A kit's standard engineering, a marked-up aerial and the address is enough to quote. Tell us who the customer is and we take it from there.