Hospitality fitouts are the most approval-heavy work we do. A kitchen brings together fire, plumbing, drainage, mechanical exhaust, electrical load, food safety and waste, and each has its own authority. Get the sequence right and opening day holds. Get it wrong and a finished kitchen can fail its final inspection over a hand basin in the wrong spot.
Step 1: Confirm the use and the site
Before signing a lease, check whether a café or restaurant use needs a planning permit in that zone, and whether the tenancy has what a kitchen needs: a grease trap connection or space for one, a route for the exhaust to discharge, and enough electrical and gas capacity (or confirmation that the base building supports an all-electric kitchen).
Since 1 July 2025, you no longer need a planning permit just to serve alcohol, because Clause 52.27 was deleted from the Victoria Planning Provisions. A permit may still be needed for the restaurant or bar use itself, depending on the zone.
Step 2: Talk to council environmental health early
Food businesses in Victoria are registered with their local council under the Food Act 1984. Premises are classified (Class 1, 2, 3, 3A or 4) based on the highest-risk food activity, and most cafés and restaurants handling unpackaged, potentially hazardous food fall into Class 2.
Many councils ask to see a scaled floor plan before construction. For example, the City of Greater Dandenong asks for plans at 1:100 or better showing layout, equipment, hand basins, surface finishes and waste areas, and expects the Environmental Health Officer to confirm the plan meets the Food Act before construction and fit-out start. After completion, a final inspection happens before registration is issued, and you cannot trade until you are registered.
Step 3: Trade waste and grease traps
Food businesses discharging greasy wastewater to sewer need consent from their water corporation. Yarra Valley Water, for example, states it is against the law for a food business to discharge to the sewer without a Trade Waste Agreement and the appropriate grease trap. Grease trap sizing and location affect the floor layout, the slab and sometimes the neighbouring tenancy, so resolve it in design, not on site.
Step 4: Kitchen exhaust and ventilation
Commercial kitchen exhaust hoods are part of the mechanical ventilation design. Where the Deemed-to-Satisfy pathway of the National Construction Code is used, AS 1668.2 is the standard for mechanical ventilation including kitchen exhaust. The discharge point, fire-rated ductwork through other floors, and noise and odour to neighbours all need resolving before documentation is complete.
Step 5: The building permit
Most hospitality fitouts need a building permit. Typical triggers include new walls, a change of use, fire services changes, accessible toilets, increased occupant numbers and exhaust ducting through fire-rated construction. The building surveyor will check egress, fire safety, accessibility and essential safety measures. NCC 2025 has applied to new building work in Victoria since 1 May 2026.
Step 6: Plumbing, gas and electrical compliance
Licensed trades must certify their work. Plumbing work valued over $750 (including materials, labour and GST) needs a compliance certificate lodged with the Building and Plumbing Commission. Electrical installation work needs a Certificate of Electrical Safety. Keep every certificate. Council, the building surveyor and your landlord will ask for them.
Step 7: Final inspections and opening
Build in time for the building surveyor's final inspection, the council environmental health inspection, and landlord handover requirements. Registration is only issued once the premises pass.
The hospitality fitout checklist
- Use permitted in the zone, or planning permit applied for
- Signage permit checked (Clause 52.05)
- Landlord approval and tenancy design criteria confirmed
- Environmental Health Officer comfortable with the floor plan before construction
- Trade waste agreement and grease trap sized and located
- Exhaust hood and discharge designed and coordinated
- Building permit issued before work starts
- Plumbing compliance certificates and Certificates of Electrical Safety collected
- Final building inspection passed; occupancy permit or certificate of final inspection issued
- Council food premises registration issued before trading
How AxisPro helps
Hospitality is a core part of our fitout work, from restaurant and bakery fitouts to CBD dining. We sequence the council, water authority, building surveyor and landlord approvals together so that your kitchen layout is signed off once, not redrawn three times.