We work across Melbourne’s north every week. The region runs from Broadmeadows and Epping up the Hume corridor through Craigieburn, Mickleham, Kalkallo and Donnybrook to Beveridge, Wallan and Kilmore, and west to Sunbury, Greenvale and Roxburgh Park. The Plenty Valley arm runs out through Epping, South Morang, Mill Park and Bundoora to Mernda, Doreen, Wollert and Woodstock, and on to the Whittlesea township. That takes in three councils: Hume City Council, the City of Whittlesea and Mitchell Shire Council. The inner north — Preston, Reservoir, Coburg and the rest of Darebin and Merri-bek — is also covered.
We issue building permits, carry out the mandatory inspections and sign off with the occupancy permit or certificate of final inspection, with one practice accountable for the file from lodgement to final. That covers every class of building work — new homes, extensions, townhouses and sheds through to warehouses, offices and shop fit-outs. Builders and drafting firms doing volume work get fast turnaround times and a surveyor who answers the phone. Owner-builders get straight answers on what needs a permit and what does not.
Building in the growth corridor
Most of the work in the corridor is estate-scale new housing — Merrifield and Annadale at Mickleham, Highlands across Craigieburn and Mickleham, Cloverton at Kalkallo, Olivine at Donnybrook, Aurora and Rathdowne at Wollert, Mandalay at Beveridge, Wallara Waters at Wallan and Redstone at Sunbury. Whether the package comes from a volume builder or a homeowner with a block and a set of plans, the same local issues come up.
Reactive clay and engineered slabs. The basalt plains and reactive clay through Hume and Whittlesea mean slabs are engineer-designed rather than standard. The soil report sets the class, and the slab and footings are designed to it. We need the soil report and the engineer’s slab design before the new home permit is issued, and the footing inspection is where we check the set-out and reinforcement match that design.
Small lots and estate design guidelines. Developer estates come with building envelopes and design guidelines registered on title, and lots under 300 square metres that the plan of subdivision nominates for the Small Lot Housing Code (a restriction on title marking the lot Type A, B or C) are assessed against that code by us, with no planning permit needed if the design complies. Setbacks, garage placement, wall heights on boundaries and site coverage are all checked at permit stage. Get the envelope plan to us early and we will tell you whether the design fits or needs a report and consent.
Sheds on larger lots. Wallan, Beveridge, Wandong, Kalkallo and the rural edges of Mitchell Shire still have acreage and lifestyle blocks, and farm sheds, workshops and double garages are steady work. The small-shed exemption rarely applies at this size; siting rules and planning overlays — bushfire in particular — often do. Our shed and garage permits page covers what we need.
Retaining walls on cut-and-fill lots. Sloping estate lots in Doreen, Mernda, Wollert and Sunbury are benched, so retaining walls along side and rear boundaries are common. The key threshold is a metre in height, and a wall that is part of other building work — a driveway, a slab, a fence on top — or that protects a neighbour’s land needs a retaining wall permit at any height, usually with an engineer’s design. It is easier to get that sorted before the landscaper arrives.
What’s in demand
New home permits and inspections for builders across the corridor; knock-down rebuilds and extensions in Broadmeadows, Greenvale, Epping and Preston, and second dwellings on the older blocks through Thomastown, Lalor, Reservoir and Coburg; sheds, garages, verandahs and carports everywhere; demolition permits, with the Section 29A report and consent from council that a full demolition needs, for knock-downs of the older housing stock; and shop and warehouse fit-outs in the Craigieburn, Epping and Somerton industrial precincts. Fixed fees quoted up front for all of it.
Nearby
Local pages for Mickleham, Craigieburn, Wollert, Sunbury, Wallan and Preston have the suburb-level detail. Sunbury borders the western suburbs, and Mitchell Shire runs north into Seymour and on towards Bendigo and Shepparton, which we handle through our regional Victoria work.