Design and documentation is a paid stage. It is a set fee, quoted and agreed in writing before we start any drawing. It is separate from your free consultation, on-site measure and ballpark figure.
Most renovations go wrong on paper long before anyone picks up a tool. Design and documentation is where money is either saved or quietly lost, because it is the only stage where changing your mind costs nothing but a redraw.
We provide design and documentation for renovation projects across South East Melbourne, either as a standalone service or as the first stage of a build we go on to deliver. The output is a set of drawings complete enough that any competent builder could price and construct from them without guessing.
What documentation actually includes
- Existing conditions drawings. A measured record of what is there now, which is the baseline everything else is checked against.
- Concept design. Layout options tested against your brief and your budget.
- Developed design. The chosen option resolved in detail, including levels, openings and services.
- Working drawings. Plans, elevations, sections and construction details at a scale trades can build from.
- Structural engineering. Beam sizing, footing design and connection details, prepared by a registered engineer.
- Energy rating. Required for permit on most renovation and extension work.
- Specification and schedules. Fixtures, finishes, joinery and appliances listed so nothing is left to interpretation.
- Permit documentation. The complete set required for building permit application, and planning where applicable.
Why documentation saves more than it costs
An underdocumented job cannot be fixed-priced. Builders pricing incomplete drawings either add a large risk margin or, more commonly, quote low and recover the difference through variations once you are committed and have nowhere else to go. Neither outcome is good for you.
Complete documentation does three things. It lets multiple builders quote the same scope, so the prices you receive are genuinely comparable. It removes the ambiguity that variations grow in. And it forces the decisions that are painful to make mid-build, such as where power points go and whether the ceiling can carry the light fitting you like, into a stage where changing them costs a redraw rather than a rebuild.
The documentation stage is also where clashes get found. Ducted heating that runs through the beam you need. A window in the wall the new joinery has to occupy. A sewer connection under the slab you were planning to extend over. Finding those on a drawing costs an hour of drafting; finding them on site costs a week and a variation.
How the process runs
- Brief and site measure. We record the existing building accurately and talk through what you need the finished house to do.
- Site and planning check. Setbacks, site coverage, easements and overlays, so the design is developed inside what is actually permitted.
- Concept. Options, with the trade-offs stated plainly rather than only the preferred scheme presented.
- Developed design. The selected option resolved, including 3D views where they help you visualise the result.
- Documentation and consultants. Working drawings, engineering, energy rating, soil report where required.
- Permit lodgement. We prepare and submit, and respond to any requests for further information.
Typical timeframes run four to ten weeks for design and documentation, then four to eight weeks for a building permit. Where a planning permit is required, add three to six months, and longer where public notification applies.
Owning your drawings
You keep the documentation we produce. If you decide to build with someone else, or to sit on the project for a year, or to tender it to three builders and compare, the drawings are yours to use. We think that is the only arrangement that makes the service honest: documentation that only works if you use one particular builder is not documentation, it is a lock-in.
Design and documentation across South East Melbourne
We document projects throughout the South East corridor, including Berwick, Narre Warren, Cranbourne, Pakenham, Officer, Clyde, Dandenong, Endeavour Hills, Hallam and Beaconsfield, and the surrounding suburbs.
Local knowledge matters at this stage more than at any other, because planning requirements are set by council and vary across the corridor. Overlays, neighbourhood character provisions and setback requirements differ between the City of Casey, the City of Greater Dandenong and Cardinia Shire, and a design developed without checking the right one produces a permit refusal rather than a permit. We check your specific block against your specific council before design work starts.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use your drawings to get quotes from other builders?
Yes. The documentation is yours, and getting comparable quotes is one of the main reasons to invest in it.
Do I need an architect, or is this enough?
For most residential renovations, extensions and secondary dwellings, this level of documentation is what the job requires. Complex or highly bespoke architectural projects may warrant an architect, and we will say so if that is the case.
What if I already have concept drawings?
We can take a concept from a designer or architect through to construction documentation and permit. We will review it first and flag anything that will not survive contact with a building surveyor.
Does the documentation cost come off the build price?
Where you proceed to build with us, we will discuss how the design stage is treated in the overall project cost at quoting time.
Who lodges the permit?
We do, and we manage the correspondence with the building surveyor and council through to issue.
What happens if council asks for changes?
Requests for further information are normal. We respond to them as part of the service and keep you informed of what has been asked and what it means for the design.
Start with the drawings
If you are early in a renovation and unsure whether what you want is possible, this is the right place to begin. You will finish the stage knowing what you can build, what it will cost, and holding a set of drawings you own.
Ask us what your design and documentation fee would be, or browse our recent projects to see what the process produces.