01What is the difference between the driveway and the crossover?
Your driveway runs from the garage to your front boundary, on your land. The crossover carries it the rest of the way, over the nature strip and footpath to the road, on council land. One pour, two sets of rules: the driveway is yours to finish as you like, while the crossover is built to the council's standard drawing and sits under its permit system. Both halves are priced together in a driveway quote because they are built in the same job.
02When is a vehicle crossing permit required?
Before a crossover is built or widened. That covers the two jobs Greater Dandenong generates constantly: new crossings for dual occupancy and unit builds, and widenings where a 1960s single crossing no longer fits the household's cars. Like-for-like replacement sits in a greyer zone, and the council assesses every residential application, so the safe course is to ask before cutting. Working without a permit can draw a fine of up to $1,000, and the council can require unpermitted work to be redone.
03How do you apply, and what does it cost?
Applications go through the council's online portal only; paper and email lodgement ended in July 2022. The application needs a site plan or sketch with dimensions and a current certificate of $10 million public liability insurance from the contractor doing the work. The fee is $329 per application, paid online at submission, non-refundable and GST free, and the permit runs for 12 months from issue. The council can also ask for a bond in certain circumstances. Fees sit outside any concreting quote because they are the council's, not ours.
04What standards does the crossover have to meet?
The council publishes standard drawings by kerb type: SD300 for barrier kerb and channel, SD301 for rollover kerb, SD306 for the older kerb profiles, and SD703 for rural crossings. Whatever the street, the minimum width at the building line is 3 metres. The drawings specify the construction, which is why decorative finishes live inside your boundary; our published specification covers how the two halves meet at a clean line.
05Who deals with the inspections?
The council inspects at set stages: once when the crossing is prepared for construction, once when excavation is complete, and a final inspection to confirm the work meets its standards. Bookings run through the council's systems, and the job cannot close out without them. A crew that pours crossings in this municipality every week builds those hold points into the programme rather than discovering them mid-job.
06Who sorts the permit, you or your concreter?
The permit belongs to the job, and what your job needs is identified in the written quote before anything is booked, so there is no surprise after the deposit. The application itself is lodged with the council, with the insurance certificate coming from the contractor. What we never do is tell you a permit is "included" or "handled" as if the council's process were ours to promise; it is the council's process, and the honest version is to walk you through it and build the job around it.
07What does the driveway itself cost once the permit is sorted?
Concrete driveways run $95 to $185 per square metre by finish, supplied and laid, and taking out an old driveway or crossover adds $35 per m2 including disposal. Site conditions and variations can shift any price here; the figure on the written quote after the site measure does not move. The cost guide sets out worked examples and the calculator prices your size and finish in ten seconds.