Liquor Redline Plans Melbourne: PDF vs DWG + PDF

A liquor redline in Melbourne is usually lodged as a PDF. That file can get the application in the door. It's a weak file to keep. The next variation, fitout change, consultant or builder needs the drawing underneath: an editable DWG, plus the PDF.

This guide is about that difference for bars, restaurants, cafés and hotels. It doesn't reprint Liquor Control Victoria's checklist. For what the plan must show, read Liquor Licence Redline Plan Victoria: Requirements & Cost and LCV's page, Red line plans for licensed areas.

What you lodge, and what you should keep

LCV asks for a plan of the licensed area: where alcohol is sold, served or consumed, and anywhere a patron may go with a drink. You upload it with the application. Once it's approved, you keep a copy at the venue for a liquor inspector or Victoria Police.

A PDF does that reading and lodgement job. It's a picture of the drawing. You can print it, email it and upload it. You can't reliably move a wall, extend a courtyard, or hand the geometry to someone who draws for a living. The lines are flattened. A dimension on the page is text, not a length a CAD program can check.

A DWG is the editable CAD file of the same plan. The next person can revise the red line, confirm a measurement, or add an area without tracing the PDF first.

At Arya Designs, every liquor redline is DWG + PDF. The PDF is for the Liquor Portal and the copy on site. The DWG is for the next change. LCV doesn't ask you to upload the DWG. We still issue it, because the lodgement file and the working file are not the same thing.

Why a lodgement PDF alone limits you

Future variations

You must apply to vary the licence if the red line's size, in square metres, or its perimeter changes. An internal change, such as moving the bar, doesn't need a variation on its own if the size and perimeter stay the same. If that internal change affects maximum patron capacity or another licence condition, you do need to apply. The path is set out in How to Change Your Red Line Plan in Victoria.

Whatever the path, someone has to draw the new plan. If the only file you hold is the approved PDF, or a photo of the plan on the wall, the drafter traces it before they can extend it. Tracing is where dimensions drift. A DWG means the variation starts from the drawing, not from a redraw of a picture.

Fitout changes

Venues move between variations. A new servery, a room closed off inside the same red line, a point of sale shifted along the bar. LCV's current guidance is that an internal layout change doesn't, by itself, force a variation. The plan at the venue should still match the building, because an inspector can ask to see the current plan.

With only a PDF, each of those updates is a new drawing. With the DWG, the same file is revised, a new PDF is issued, and you can tell which version is current.

Consultants and builders

A licensing consultant, lawyer or builder rarely wants only the file you uploaded.

A consultant checking the licensed area wants geometry they can measure.
A builder marking an on-site change wants a CAD base, the same way they mark any other drawing.
A fitout designer coordinating kitchen, bar and dining needs a file they can draw over.

A flattened PDF can be dropped into CAD, but it arrives as one lump. Someone still redraws it. That is the quiet cost of a lodgement-only PDF: the application looks finished, and the next professional starts from zero.

DIY vs Professional Liquor Redline Plans covers when a careful hand drawing is enough to lodge. LCV will accept a neat hand-drawn plan. A hand drawing doesn't leave you a DWG.

What LCV needs, without repeating the checklist

We draft to the requirements LCV publishes. The short version: a continuous red line around the licensed area, north, the address and surrounding streets, measurements, the total licensed floor area in square metres, labelled key areas, and a note on how any boundary that is not a wall is marked. Don't base the plan on a satellite image, and don't show the safe. Approved plans are public.

Licence type changes what belongs inside the line, especially outdoors. Kitchens, toilets and council-approved footpath areas are the usual traps for cafés and restaurants. Those are covered in Red Line Plans for Cafés and Restaurants in Victoria, not repeated here.

LCV's format rule is a readable plan, drawn by hand or on a computer, at least A4. Meeting that rule gets the PDF accepted. It doesn't give your consultant an editable file six months later.

When a site measure is needed

The $499 liquor redline is for venues where existing plans are usable. Usable means the drawing matches the floor, is to scale, and shows the rooms the red line has to cover.

Measure first when:

There are no plans, or only a lease sketch or a marketing floor plan
The file is a blurry scan or a photograph of an old plan
The fitout has changed since the drawing was made
Outdoor areas are in scope and nothing shows them properly

That on-site visit is site measurement and as-built drawings in Melbourne, quoted for the venue. A call-out fee may apply for the site visit. We don't publish a measure price, and we don't publish a laser-scan price. You receive a fixed quote before we book. The drawings from the visit are DWG + PDF as well. Once that base exists, the liquor redline is the $499 step.

If you already have a clean architectural or fitout DWG, send it. Most standard liquor redlines don't need a visit.

Why DWG + PDF is standard with Arya

A PDF-only redline can lodge. It doesn't stay useful. On every job we issue both files:

PDF for lodgement, the venue copy, and anyone who only needs to read the plan
DWG, the editable CAD file, so a variation, a fitout change, a consultant or a builder is editing a drawing

Architectural and council redlines, where the job is a council request for information or a builder's markup rather than an LCV licensed area, are a free quote. The deliverable is the same: DWG + PDF. You should not be left with a file nobody can edit.

How a liquor redline runs

Send what you have. Floor plans, a fitout PDF or photos, the licence type, and whether outdoor areas are in scope.
We confirm the track. Usable plans: $499 flat, typically 48 hours. No usable plans: a measure quote first. A call-out fee may apply if we visit.
We draft to LCV's checklist and issue DWG + PDF.
You lodge the PDF and keep the DWG for the next change.

See redline plans for liquor licences. That page splits the flat liquor fee from quoted architectural and council work.

Frequently asked questions

Will LCV accept a PDF?

Yes. LCV accepts a neat plan drawn by hand or on a computer, and the PDF is the usual file to upload and keep on site. What they accept for lodgement is not the same as the file you will want when the floor changes.

Is the DWG an extra?

No. At Arya Designs the editable DWG is part of the job, with the PDF, on every redline. It's not an add-on to a lodgement PDF.

Can you work from a PDF I already have?

Often, if it's accurate and to scale. If it's a scan that doesn't match the venue, we will say so and quote a measure, rather than treat a flattened PDF as a CAD file.

Ready for a plan you can lodge and edit?

Send the venue address, the licence type and any existing plans. If those plans are usable, the liquor redline is $499 flat in 48 hours, as an editable DWG plus the PDF. If they are not, we quote the measure first. Architectural and council redlines are a free quote.

Liquor Redline Plans in Melbourne: PDF vs DWG + PDF