Victoria · City of Glen Eira
Your Melbourne southeast council approval guide
The City of Glen Eira covers Caulfield, Elsternwick, Bentleigh, Ormond, Carnegie, Murrumbeena and surrounding suburbs. Ongoing heritage reviews (including the 2020 post-war review) mean the heritage-overlay map is actively evolving. Structure plans apply in the major activity centres (Elsternwick, Bentleigh, Carnegie).
Active heritage review program
The 2020 Heritage Review catalogued post-war and pre-war properties for potential overlay protection. Additional heritage amendments continue, check the property's status carefully before design.
Structure plans in activity centres
Elsternwick, Bentleigh and Carnegie all have Structure Plans that specify height, setback and use. Larger developments in these areas must conform.
Clause 52.06 car parking
Height confirmation from a licensed land surveyor is commonly required for larger applications.
Victoria separates planning permits (about land use, from your council) and building permits (about construction methods, from a Relevant Building Surveyor). You usually need the planning permit FIRST, then the building permit.
Check zoning + overlays
Use VicPlan (planning-schemes.app.planning.vic.gov.au) or your council's interactive map to identify the zone, any heritage overlay, character area, environmental overlay or growth area zone that applies to your block.
Planning permit (if required)
If your project needs a planning permit (most heritage / character-area / larger developments do), lodge with your council. VicSmart is a fast-tracked pathway available for some minor applications.
Appoint a Relevant Building Surveyor (RBS)
The RBS must be appointed by the OWNER (not the builder). Choose either a municipal or private building surveyor. This is a legal requirement in VIC.
Building Permit Number (BPN) via BAMS
Your RBS applies for a 13-digit BPN through the Building Activity Management System (BAMS). Since 26 November 2025 a new formula for the Calculated Cost of Works (CoW) applies. New BAMS reporting fields (including mandatory architect status) took effect 20 March 2026.
Building Permit Levy
Required for works costing over $10,000. Rate: 0.00064 general levy + 0.00064 DBDRV levy of the CoW. Pay via the BPC secure portal (BPAY or card). Your RBS cannot issue the permit until the BPN is received.
Construction, inspections + occupancy
Build proceeds under RBS inspection at prescribed stages. On completion, the RBS issues an Occupancy Permit (or Certificate of Final Inspection for extensions).
These are STATE fees, identical across every Melbourne council. Your council may charge additional planning-permit application fees on top, see per-council notes below.
Possibly. The 2020 Post-War Heritage Review catalogued around 400 properties for potential listing, and Glen Eira has been progressively amending the planning scheme ever since. Any interwar or post-war house in Caulfield North, Elsternwick, Bentleigh, Ormond or Carnegie is worth double-checking on the council interactive map before you commit to a knock-down. If the property is under review but not yet listed, you may still be able to demolish under existing rules, though the goalposts can move mid-project. Ask council for a written confirmation of current status.
Height and use, mostly. Each of the three Structure Plans divides the activity centre into precincts with prescribed maximum heights (typically four to eight storeys, with some flexibility above with a design excellence argument). They also lock in ground-floor active-use requirements along the main streets. If your project sits inside one of these areas, the Structure Plan is where you start, not the general residential zone. The Elsternwick Structure Plan is the most detailed and the most strictly enforced.
For anything more than a single-storey extension, yes. Clause 52.06 car parking and Clause 55 (ResCode) both assess against measurements that a licensed land surveyor can certify, and council routinely rejects applications that submit builder-drawn heights or setbacks without survey backing. Budget $900 to $1,800 for a full feature survey plus contour plan. It is not optional in Glen Eira the way it sometimes is in outer growth-area councils.
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