Subdivision Certification Process

Council encourages all applicants to make contact and either speak with a planner or organise a pre-application meeting before submitting an application for a planning permit to subdivide land. On our Planning Help page we offer written advice, checklists and our library of planning policies and strategies to assist with preparing your application.

You need to engage a licensed land surveyor to first prepare a plan of subdivision.This is the formal plan submitted with your planning permit application and eventually your certification application.

Licensed land surveyors are the only people qualified in Victoria to determine the location of your title boundary and surveying new title boundaries.

Most land surveyors are registered with SPEAR (Surveying and Planning through Electronic Applications and Referrals) and will lodge using this online portal.

If your land surveyor is a registered SPEAR user they can register you as a guest user so you can track the progress of your subdivision certification application online. You can also track the status of your certification application through our online certification application register.

The Association of Consulting Surveyors Victoria and the Institute of Surveyors Victoria can help you find a licensed land surveyor.

Apply for and obtain a planning permit to subdivide 

You can either lodge the planning permit application yourself or opt to have it lodged by your consulting land surveyor. 

There are fees payable for a planning permit application involving subdivision.

We may refer your application to servicing authorities including, but not limited to, the local water supply and sewerage authority as well as gas, electricity and telecommunications authorities.

If your planning permit application is approved, it will contain conditions that must be satisfied in order for the subdivision to proceed. This may include conditions from servicing authorities or to complete public works or other works in association with the development of the land.

Apply for and obtain a certified plan of subdivision

Once a planning permit has been issued, the plan of subdivision that was prepared by the land surveyor must be certified by Council in accordance with the Subdivision Act 1988.  The application for certification is separate from and follows the approval of your planning permit application.

Before Council certifies your plan of subdivision, there may be a range of permit conditions which need to first be satisfied. As well as satisfying conditions on the planning permit, the servicing authorities must consent to the plan being certified.  

Additional fees are payable for an application to certify a plan of subdivision.

Obtain a Statement of Compliance

A Statement of Compliance is issued by Council once all the requirements of the planning permit are met and all of the servicing authorities have consented to the issuing of the Statement of Compliance.

Once you have a Statement of Compliance, you can lodge it and your certified plan with Land Victoria who can then embark on the process to issue new titles for each newly created lot.