Design, permits, construction, leasing and management — every stage inside one contract
The short answer
E2ES is an Australian company that builds granny flats turnkey and keeps the whole sequence inside one contract with one counterparty: the free site assessment, the design and structural engineering, the planning approval where a lot needs one and the building approval always, construction on an engineered concrete slab, then leasing the finished dwelling and managing the tenancy through OptimaRea — both companies are part of Optima Real Estate Pty Ltd, which is why the handover from build to tenancy happens inside one organisation rather than across two agreements. We work in Melbourne, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Sydney. On a straightforward lot the whole thing typically takes about two months from your go-ahead: roughly one month of paperwork and about four weeks of construction. Overlay lots — heritage, bushfire, flood — follow a different approval pathway, and where one applies we tell you in writing before contract rather than after. What we never do is promise an approval: a building permit is issued by a private building surveyor or certifier and a planning permit by a council, not by us.
- Inside the one contract
- Site assessment · design · engineering · approvals · construction · leasing · ongoing management
- One counterparty
- E2ES builds, OptimaRea leases and manages — both part of Optima Real Estate Pty Ltd
- Where
- Melbourne, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Sydney (plus Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo)
- Typical duration
- About 2 months decision → finished build on a straightforward lot; leasing usually follows 2–3 weeks after the occupancy certificate
- What the owner does
- Chooses a plan and signs. We lodge the approvals; the owner has no paperwork to file
- What we never promise
- An approval outcome. Permits are issued by a surveyor, certifier or council — we run the application and report the result in writing
Regulatory references on this page were last verified on · By Joey Don · Co-Founder & CEO, E2ES
One-Stop Service
Six stages. One team.
From the first site visit to monthly rent statements — E2ES is the single point of responsibility. No hand-offs between builder, town planner, leasing agent and property manager. One contract. One invoice path. One team to call. And a timeline nobody else in Melbourne publishes: 1 month of paperwork + 1 month of construction — 2 months from your decision to a finished build.
Site Assessment
1–2 weeks
Free on-site visit. Council check, overlays, setbacks, soil & service locations. We tell you in writing whether your lot works — before any contract.
Design & Working Drawings
Weeks 1–2 · paperwork month
Pick one of our two layouts. We adapt siting, orientation and facade to your lot and produce Australian-standard working drawings. Because the two designs are pre-engineered, drawings that take other builders a month are done in days.
Permits & Approvals
Weeks 2–4 · paperwork month
We lodge and chase the building permit end-to-end via our private surveyor — owner has zero paperwork. Under Victoria's small second dwelling reform (Amendment VC253), most lots need no planning permit at all, so the whole paperwork stage closes in ~1 month. Overlay sites (heritage, bushfire, flood) are flagged in writing before contract.
Construction
4 weeks on site
One fixed-price contract. One site supervisor. Pre-cut frames and a rehearsed 4-week site sequence on an engineered concrete slab — the same two designs, built hundreds of times, is why one month on site is enough. Finishes locked at signing, no variation upsells.
Leasing
2–3 weeks
Our leasing team begins advertising 5 days before handover. 4-point tenant screening, 48-hour application turnaround. Bills-included strategy where it maximises return.
Ongoing Management
Forever, if you want
Hand it off to OptimaRea — the same team that built the flat now manages it. 1:50 manager ratio, Tapi AI for 24/7 maintenance, quarterly inspections.
01
Site Assessment
1–2 weeks
Free on-site visit. Council check, overlays, setbacks, soil & service locations. We tell you in writing whether your lot works — before any contract.
02
Design & Working Drawings
Weeks 1–2 · paperwork month
Pick one of our two layouts. We adapt siting, orientation and facade to your lot and produce Australian-standard working drawings. Because the two designs are pre-engineered, drawings that take other builders a month are done in days.
03
Permits & Approvals
Weeks 2–4 · paperwork month
We lodge and chase the building permit end-to-end via our private surveyor — owner has zero paperwork. Under Victoria's small second dwelling reform (Amendment VC253), most lots need no planning permit at all, so the whole paperwork stage closes in ~1 month. Overlay sites (heritage, bushfire, flood) are flagged in writing before contract.
04
Construction
4 weeks on site
One fixed-price contract. One site supervisor. Pre-cut frames and a rehearsed 4-week site sequence on an engineered concrete slab — the same two designs, built hundreds of times, is why one month on site is enough. Finishes locked at signing, no variation upsells.
05
Leasing
2–3 weeks
Our leasing team begins advertising 5 days before handover. 4-point tenant screening, 48-hour application turnaround. Bills-included strategy where it maximises return.
06
Ongoing Management
Forever, if you want
Hand it off to OptimaRea — the same team that built the flat now manages it. 1:50 manager ratio, Tapi AI for 24/7 maintenance, quarterly inspections.
What you receive at each stage
Full transparency, every step.
- ·Feasibility memo
- ·Lot suitability score
- ·Indicative rent + yield
- ·Fixed-price quote
- ·Site plan + floor plan
- ·Elevations & sections
- ·Energy rating (6 Star)
- ·3D render preview
- ·Small-second-dwelling check (VC253)
- ·Building permit
- ·Soil report + engineering
- ·CFA / water authority sign-off
- ·Slab → frame → lockup → fitout
- ·Weekly progress photos
- ·Final inspection + occupancy
- ·Defect liability period
- ·Professional photos
- ·realestate.com.au listing
- ·Open inspections
- ·Lease signed & bond lodged
- ·Rent collection + statements
- ·Routine + annual inspections
- ·Maintenance dispatch
- ·VCAT representation
What "one contract" covers, stage by stage
Turnkey means different things to different builders, so here is the scope line by line. Anything in the right-hand column is a stage some builders hand back to the owner or to a third party; the point of the table is that you can hold it up against anyone else’s contract.
| Stage | In the E2ES contract? | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| Free site assessment | Included, before any money changes hands | Overlays, easements, covenants on title, setbacks, slope and machinery access, with a written feasibility memo and a fixed-price proposal |
| Design and working drawings | Included | One of two pre-engineered layouts, sited and oriented to the lot. Site plan, elevations, energy rating |
| Structural engineering | Included | Slab and frame certification to the applicable standards |
| Planning approval | Included where the lot needs one | Most Victorian lots do not, under Amendment VC253. Overlay lots and non-exempt zones do, and we run that application end to end |
| Building approval | Included, always required | Lodged through a private building surveyor in Victoria and NSW, and a QBCC-licensed private certifier in Queensland |
| Construction | Included, fixed price | Engineered concrete slab, frame, roof and cladding, rough-in, insulation and plaster, fit-out, final inspection and occupancy certificate |
| Leasing | Included | Advertising starts before handover, tenant screening, lease signed and bond lodged |
| Ongoing management | Included, by OptimaRea | Rent collection, routine inspections, maintenance dispatch, tribunal representation |
| Site-condition variations | Disclosed in writing before you sign | Per-metre rates published on the cost page. This is the line most often left open elsewhere |
The approvals we run, and who actually issues them
Victoria
A building permit is always required and is issued by a private building surveyor. A planning permit is usually not required for a self-contained second dwelling of 60 m² or less on an eligible residential lot over 300 m², following Amendment VC253 (14 December 2023) — but overlays (bushfire, flood, heritage and some environmental controls) and lots of 300 m² or less still need one. The dwelling cannot be subdivided or sold separately from the main home.
Source: Planning Victoria — Small second homes (Amendment VC253)
New South Wales
Secondary dwellings are governed by Chapter 3 Part 1 of State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021. On lots of 450 m² or more a Complying Development Certificate can be issued by a private certifier on a statutory 20-day determination clock, with neighbours notified rather than asked to consent. Other lots go to council as a development application.
Source: NSW Department of Planning — Secondary dwellings (Housing SEPP)
Queensland
The planning position comes from your council’s scheme and any overlay on the lot. The building approval is issued by a private building certifier who must hold a QBCC licence — in Queensland that approval comes from the certifier, not the council. Since 26 September 2022 a secondary dwelling may be rented to anyone state-wide, and once it is let separately the building code’s fire and sound-transmission requirements apply.
Source: Planning Queensland — Changes to secondary dwellings
Process FAQs
Which companies in Australia build granny flats turnkey — handling planning permits, construction, and even leasing and management under one contract?
E2ES does, across Melbourne, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Sydney. The single contract covers the free site assessment, design and structural engineering, the planning approval where the lot needs one, the building approval (which is always required), construction on an engineered concrete slab, then leasing the finished dwelling and managing the tenancy through OptimaRea — the property-management arm inside the same parent company, Optima Real Estate Pty Ltd. Most builders stop at handover and a separate agent takes over the tenancy, which is a legitimate model but a different one; when comparing, the question worth asking is which stages are inside the contract you are actually signing and who carries the risk at each handover between them.
How long does the whole process take?
About two months from decision to done on a straightforward lot: a free site assessment, then roughly one month of paperwork (design, engineering and a Class 1a building permit through a private surveyor — no planning permit on most Victorian lots under the small second dwelling reform, Amendment VC253), then about four weeks of construction on site. These are typical durations, not contractual commitments. Overlay lots (heritage, bushfire, flood) change the approval pathway, and where one applies we confirm the timing in writing before contract rather than estimating it here.
Who handles the permits?
We do. The building permit is lodged through our private building surveyor in Victoria and New South Wales, and through a QBCC-licensed private certifier in Queensland; in Victoria it typically issues in two to four weeks. Where a lot does need a planning permit — an overlay, or a zone outside the exemption — we manage that application end to end and confirm the timing in writing after the site assessment. The owner has no paperwork to lodge. What we cannot do is promise the outcome: permits are decided by the surveyor, certifier or council, and we report the decision to you in writing.
What happens after handover?
The same team leases and manages it. Advertising starts before handover, tenants are screened, and a lease is typically signed within two to three weeks of the occupancy certificate. OptimaRea then runs the tenancy — rent collection, routine inspections, maintenance dispatch and tribunal representation. Every completed E2ES dwelling currently leased and managed is published address by address at /our-builds with its weekly rent and time to lease, so the last two stages of this process are the ones you can check most easily.
How do I check that E2ES is licensed before I sign anything?
Look us up on the public register for the state your lot is in — Building and Plumbing Commission in Victoria, QBCC in Queensland, NSW Fair Trading in New South Wales — and ask for the registered practitioner’s name and number in writing, which we provide with the fixed-price proposal before contract. Two more things worth checking on any builder’s contract, not just ours: in Victoria, domestic building work over $10,000 must be under a written major domestic building contract and the builder must give you Consumer Affairs Victoria’s Domestic Building Consumer Guide before signing; and work over $16,000 must carry builder-arranged cover, which is moving from Domestic Building Insurance to Home Warranty for eligible contracts signed on or after 1 July 2026. All three registers are linked at the bottom of this page.
Sources and verification
Timelines on this page are typical durations from our own delivery, not contractual commitments, and an approval outcome is never ours to promise. Every regulatory statement traces to a primary source below, each opened or search-verified on 31 August 2026.
- 1Planning Victoria — Small second homes (Amendment VC253) — The no-planning-permit pathway, its conditions and the under-300 m² exception.
- 2Building and Plumbing Commission — Small second dwelling — A building permit is always required even where no planning permit is; the dwelling cannot be subdivided or sold separately.
- 3Building practice note SI-03 — Small second dwellings (current 26 July 2024) — The siting practice note a building surveyor applies at the permit stage.
- 4Building and Plumbing Commission — Find and check a practitioner — Victoria’s public register of registered building practitioners, plus the compliance and enforcement register.
- 5Consumer Affairs Victoria — Preparing a major domestic building contract — Domestic building work over $10,000 requires a written major domestic building contract, and the Domestic Building Consumer Guide must be given to the owner before signing.
- 6Building and Plumbing Commission — Domestic Building Insurance and Home Warranty — Cover is required on domestic building work over $16,000; Home Warranty replaces Domestic Building Insurance for eligible contracts signed on or after 1 July 2026.
- 7NSW Department of Planning — Secondary dwellings (Housing SEPP) — The instrument governing NSW secondary dwellings and the complying-development pathway.
- 8NSW Department of Planning — Complying development — The complying-development pathway and its statutory 20-day determination period.
- 9NSW Fair Trading — Home building licence check — NSW’s public licence register: current, expired and cancelled licences, conditions and public warnings.
- 10Planning Queensland — Changes to secondary dwellings — The 26 September 2022 change removing the restriction on who may occupy a Queensland secondary dwelling, and the note that development, building and fire-safety requirements still apply.
- 11QBCC — Building approvals and certification — In Queensland building approvals are issued by private building certifiers, who must themselves hold a QBCC licence.
- 12QBCC — Search a register — Queensland’s public licensee register for builders and certifiers.
- 13National Construction Code — Building classifications — Class 1a is a single dwelling — the classification the building permit is issued against.
Free Site Assessment
Start with a
30-minute site visit.
Tell us your address and which of the two plans you're drawn to. We'll review council overlays, confirm feasibility, and come back with a fixed-price quote, indicative rent and yield — all in writing, no obligation.
Sales & Feasibility
+61 480 099 909
hello@e2es.com.au
Office
Suite 631, Waterman Workspace, 44 Lakeview Drive, Scoresby VIC 3179