Category Archives: Relevant Information

Relevant Information

Custom House Plans & Designs

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With Custom Design Homes, it is important to achieve a functional design that will fulfil our client’s needs as well as cost effective to be constructed. The first stage of the design starts with client’s design brief. Once design brief is assessed, the designer/architect will come up with a concept design. The concept design will be done by considering some of the design aspects below :

– Slope of the land

– Size of the land

– North orientation of the site

– Any restrictions that will affect the design

Once concept design is completed, it is important for our client to analyse the concept design and provide a feedback.
After the concept stage is completed and all the final adjustments have been done. The next stage will be Working Drawings.

Working Drawings involves the items below:

– Site Plan

– Floor Plans / roof plan

– Elevations

– Sections & Details

After completion of the working drawings, the next stage will be obtaining a building permit for the construction.
Find out more about Building Permit Process

Building Permit Process

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A building permit is required before starting most of the building works. A building work can be a Custom Design Home, Dual Occupancy Development, Multi Unit Development, Demolition or Alterations to an existing dwelling. In many cases the builder offers to obtain the permit on behalf of the property owner.
It is always recommended to check out which building work requires a building permit
and which does not. This can be easily checked through your local Council or a qualified building surveyor.
If the building work requires a Town Planning Permit first, than building permit cant be issues till town planning permit is granted.

Getting a building permit requires the following items below:

1. A completed building permit application form
2. The permit application fee plus the statutory levies and referral costs.
3. Working Drawings to show compliance with the Building Regulations – ie:
•Copies of architectural drawings. Plans must be to scale and include-
•Floor plan (each floor level), including, where necessary, a roof plan
•External and sectional elevations
•Details ie footings and framing members
•A site plan including a north point, allotment dimensions, nearest street/intersection, any easements, position of building(s) on site, levels and stormwater layout
•Evidence of suitability that a material or design meets its performance requirement or deemed to satisfy provision
NB- In the case of alterations and additions, plans of existing site conditions with the new work clearly differentiated
•Details of any town planning permit and endorsed plans ( if required )
•Soil report (2 copies)
•3 copies of engineer structural drawings and computations
• A Bushfire Prone Areas Report
•3 copies of the project specifications
Documents that may be required to accompany application
•Re-establishment survey plan prepared by a licensed land surveyor (2 copies)
•Evidence of domestic building warranty insurance if the cost of building work is over $12,000 (if not owner/builder) NB- You must have a written ‘major domestic’ building contract when using certain tradespersons where the cost of building work is over $5000.
• A Copy of Report & Consent Approved by the relevent council if necessary.
•A Storm Water Drainage Design to Legal Point of Discharge (Obtained from the relevant council).
•Details of any protection of adjoining property before and during building work
• A 6-Star Energy Rating Report
•Details of any precautions to protect the safety of the public before and during the building work.

At Archinspire we offer to complete :
– Working Drawings
– Engineer structural drawings
– A Storm Water Drainage Design to Legal Point of Discharge
– A 6-Star Energy Rating Report
If the client request – we can organise the remaining paperwork to obtain the building permit.

Benefits of Dual Occupancy Development

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Buying a property suitable for a  dual occupancy can be a great way to get started as a home owner. One of the basic requirements is a sufficient space, which is related to the size and north orientation of the land. From 12m to 20m wide frontage is ideal for a dual occupancy development. Another requirement is the sufficient vehicle entrance and the exit access. ( an electricity pole or a nature strip tree can effect the design of the dual occupancy development )
Dual occupancy development can be great investments as they are very popular these days. These are some of the unique set of advantages that dual occupancy can offer:

– One of the big advantages is the option to rent one side out while you live in the other. This is particularly attractive for those just entering the market, as you can subsidise your own housing costs.
– It can also suit those buyers looking for affordability in high demand areas.
– It can be an ideal set up if you had an elderly parent to look after as duplexs offer flexibility, You can split the purchase with family or investment partners.

If your duplex is your primary residence then you may have the ability to use the potential rental income factored into the financing. It will depend on how the lender views you.
So if don’t mind sharing your garden, it’s a great way to get started as a homeowner.

Can I Subdivide my Land in Victoria?

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How to subdivide a land ? or Can I subdivide my backyard ? These are the questions on most of the home owners mind. To find out whether you can subdivide your land or not, First thing to look at is Zone and Overlays of the Land.

The zone determines the use of the land. Whether if it is a residential , commercial or a business zone. Zoning is the way the governments control the physical development of land and the kinds of uses to which each individual property may be put. Most of the residential zones will be suitable for a Dual occupancy or a Multi Unit Development. Also the commercial and business zones can be suitable for high density developments like apartments or mix use commercial buildings etc.

Once you find out which zone is your land falls under, than you can look for, if any Overlays affecting your land.
Some properties might not be affected by any overlays, but some do have overlay controls. The reason for the overlays are to protect things like heritage and vegetation or show areas that need special care, like areas that are prone to flooding.

You can get a FREE PROPERTY REPORT to find out which zones and overlays applies to your property.

Once these zones and overlays have been researched carefully, than the subdivision process can start.

The first thing you will need for subdivision is a Town Planning Permit,

Find out more about Town Planning Permit & Stages of a Town Planning Permit

Stages of Town Planning Permit Application

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The seven stages of town planning permit as follows :
1- Research
2- Preparation & Submission of the application
3- Council checks the application
4- Public notification
5- Council assesses the application and prepares a report
6- Decision
7- Review by VCAT ( if required)

1- RESEARCH

It is important to find out exactly what planning controls apply to your property and it is important to discuss them with your Local Council planner.
Each property has a set of planning controls that specify when a planning permit is needed. To find out what controls apply to your property you can:

– Purchase a planning certificare
– View planning scheme maps online
– Undertaking Planning Assessment.

2- PREPARATION & SUBMISSION OF THE APPLICATION

At this stage, You have to complete the following information and requirements below :
The information that needs to be included will vary depending on what permit is required. However, generally they include:
– An application for a planning permit form
– A lodgement fee
– A description of what the permit is for
– Estimated costs of the works
– A current Certificate of Title
– Copies of Architectural plans and any other additional information

3- COUNCIL CHECKS THE APPLICATION

At this stage, The planning officers at you local council will check the application to make sure everything has been filled in correctly and all the required information has been included.
If more information is needed, The planning officer will contact the applicant to complete the application.
The application may also be referred to other internal departments, such as engineering or heritage advisers, or external agencies such as Melbourne Water or VicRoads.
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If the application needs to be referred, please allow for extra time.

4- PUBLIC NOTIFICATION

The Victorian planning system is set up to ensure that you have a chance to comment on a planning permit that may affect you, before a decision is made.
The council planner will decide if and how public notification needs to be given.
This could take the form of:

-Direct mail notification ( letters will be sent out to the neighbours )
-On-site signage ( advertising board )
-Advertisements in the local newspaper ( If required )

If public notification is required, it must be carried out for a period of at least 14 consecutive days.
During this period, and up to the time when a decision is made, a person can make a submission either in support or objection to the proposed permit.
Anyone can lodge an objection to a planning permit application, and Council must consider all objections when assessing the application.

5- COUNCIL ASSESSESS THE APPLICATION & PREPARES A REPORT

If public notification is required, after the advertising period, if there are minimum number of objections from the community a planning officer will assess the application and make a decision.
If Council receives maximum number of objections a consultation meeting will be held to provide an opportunity for the objectors, Ward Councillors and the applicant to discuss any concerns.
It is a good idea to look at ways that the applicant may be able to compromise with the objectors through amending your proposal or agreeing to certain conditions on your permit. This may occasionally lead to people actually withdrawing their objections.
The council officers then prepare a report that outlines:

– The proposal
– The relevant policies and planning scheme requirements
– The assessment process
– Objections or referral comments.

They then make a recommendation and Councillors will make the final decision.

6- DECISION

Approval- If there are no objections, Council can issue a permit immediately.
Notice of Decision- If Council want to approve the application, and there minimum number of objections, Council must issue a Notice of Decision to Grant a Permit. All objectors will be sent this notice and will have 21 days to lodge an application for review at VCAT, if they wish.

If no objectors lodge a review with VCAT during this time, Council will grant the permit. Similarly, if the applicant is unhappy with any of the proposed permit conditions, they can also apply to VCAT within the 60 days to have the conditions reviewed.

Refusal- Council can decide to refuse a permit, even if there were no objections to it.
If a permit is refused, a Refusal to Grant a Permit notice will be issued that will detail why the permit has been refused. This will be sent to the applicant and all other parties who commented on the application. If you wish to challenge the refusal, the applicant have 60 days to apply for a review at VCAT.

7- REVIEW BY VCAT

If the applicant or the objector is unhappy with Council’s decision with regard to a planning permit, The applicant or objector can lodge an appeal with VCAT. This includes:
– Objecting to the granting of a permit
– Objecting to a refusal of a permit
– Objecting to the conditions placed on a permit/or lack of conditions