Open for business | City of Casey

Your premises

Does your business need a physical store to operate?

If you’ve found your ideal premises, you'll probably want to incorporate some changes to make the place your own.

To ensure you do this correctly, you'll need to:

Check if you need a planning permit, building permit or any other permit in Casey by heading to our Permits section.

Organise a pre-application meeting with a council planner – this helps ensure your plans will be processed by Casey and avoid delays, and you can utilise this meeting to discuss likely issues with the current plans.

Contract a private registered building surveyor or a builder/registered building practitioner (RBP) in your area.
- Use the Victorian Building Commission's Practitioner Search for a list of registered inspectors, surveyors, builders, draftsperson, landscapers, engineers and similar trade services.

Check if you need a new safety assessment of your workplace by contacting Worksafe Victoria. If you have up to 60 employees, you may be eligible for a free three-hour Victorian Workcover Authority session.

Know what insurance cover you should have, and what must you have. Read the basics of finding the right insurance.

If you're making changes to a leased premise, you'll need to complete the steps above, as well as making sure you:

Check the lease to see if you need to request changes through your landlord – in most cases, you'll need written approval from your landlord before making any modifications to your leased premises
Read the Retail Leases Act 2003 on the Victorian Small Business Commission (VSBC) website for guidance if you're leasing a retail premise or a shop
Check your lease agreement to see if it includes a clause to use a trade worker chosen by your landlord
Check the VSBC frequently asked questions
Check if your lease has a 'make good' clause, and talk with your landlord about whether your changes can be permanent, or if you need to revert them at the end of your lease – if this is the case, remember to budget for this
Visit our retail lease disputes page for three easy steps to resolve your dispute – even the most carefully laid plans can go wrong.

Before you submit your permit application to Council, you should:

Ask your landlord if they'll pay for any of your changes – they may be interested in sharing costs if the changes enhance the value of their property
Talk to your neighbours so you're aware of their concerns – most people appreciate the opportunity to discuss plans before the formal notice process commences

Submit your application to the City of Casey advertising your change proposal
Give notice to anyone who might be affected by the proposal – your local council will advise the best method to notify neighbours, usually by letter and a visible sign on-site
Receive your Notice of Decision to Grant a Permit from Council, signalling council's decision to grant the permit and identifying the conditions to be included on it
Meet any conditions the Council stipulates in your permit approval, for example, a permit to add a cafe to a clothing store might be issued on the condition a certain number of car-parking spaces are provided
Inform your customers about any changes to your operating hours, car parking or access during construction.