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Building and home renovation

Before you start building, renovating or subdividing, make sure your plans meet our criteria for flood, water asset and waterway protection.

​If your land is subject to flooding or near our assets, your council won’t issue you with a planning or building permit until we review and approve your plans.

How it works:

  • Step 1 – get our pre-development advice
  • Step 2 – meet our flooding criteria
  • Step 3 – find out if our assets are on or near your property
  • Step 4 – check if there are any subdivision charges
  • Step 5 – send your updated plans to your council

Step 1: Get our pre-development advice

Get our free advice early in your planning. We can:

  • provide flooding levels and requirements to protect your proposed development from flooding
  • locate our assets and easements relevant to your plans
  • review and approve your plans and provide our consent

Apply for our pre-development advisory service

Step 2: Meet our flooding criteria

Before you start building or renovating, your council will want to know:

  • if your property is subject to flooding
  • that we consent to your plans if your land is subject to flooding

If you simply want the flood level for a property and to understand if a property is subject to flooding, you can do this through:

Our service costs $53.92 and takes 14 days. The LANDATA and Dye & Durham services cost approximately $50 and can take 10 days.

If your land is subject to flooding, we need to consent to your proposed work before council will issue a permit.

If your property is subject to flooding, you may also be asked to get a flood level statement (velocity) for the purposes of the Building Code of Australia (Building in Flood Hazard Area).

This service is free and takes 14 days.

Step 3: Check if our assets are on your property and get our approval

We manage an extensive network of pipes and other resources across greater Melbourne. Most are on our land, but some may be on or near your property.

To check, contact the free Dial Before You Dig service (call 1100).

If our assets on or near your property, you’ll need to email us at [email protected] for help with providing detailed location information to your council in order to apply for the planning permit.

You’ll also need our written approval for your council or a building surveyor to approve/submit your building permit.

Step 4: Check if there are any subdivision charges

Do your building plans include a subdivision?

If so, you may be charged drainage or stormwater offset contributions based on the area developed and the development type. These fees fund our important drainage and stormwater works.

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