Going out on your own as a builder in VIC
Checked against Building and Plumbing Commission (formerly the Victorian Building Authority) on 8 August 2026.
To take jobs in your own name
Registration as a building practitioner, Domestic Builder (Unlimited) or (Limited)
Victoria is different: one registration both authorises the work and lets you contract for it. There is no separate contractor licence.
- What you need before you apply
- The qualifications and experience for the class, plus Minimum Financial Requirements for new domestic builder applicants: Victoria tests whether you can afford to run the business, not just build.
- What it costs
- BPC fees, GST exempt, individual, 2026-27: Domestic Builder (Unlimited) application $1,039, Domestic Builder (Limited) $831.20. Annual fees on top.
- What you can do without it
- $10,000 is the line. You must engage a registered builder for domestic building work worth more than $10,000, counting labour, materials and GST across the whole project. Under that you can contract unregistered.
- Insurance the regulator requires
- Home Warranty replaced Domestic Building Insurance on 1 July 2026. It is cover the builder buys on the homeowner's behalf, and it is mandatory.
Read this before you rely on it
- The BPC does not publish a processing time, only that it varies with the type of application and the information supplied.
- Home Warranty is new as of 1 July 2026. Anything you read describing Domestic Building Insurance is describing the old scheme.
Where this came from
Read off Building and Plumbing Commission (formerly the Victorian Building Authority) on 8 August 2026. Fees and processing times usually change on 1 July, so check before you budget.
Once you are up and running, we also have a page on what ONARA Ops does for builders.
When you are ready to take the first job
Once the licence is sorted, you need to look like you have been doing this for years: a website people can book from, and quotes and invoices with your logo that go out the same day you finish. That part is us.
Working across borders, or not sure this is the whole picture?
Every trade and state we have researched, side by side, including the ones that need no contractor licence at all.
Compare every state and tradeStill working out whether this job needs you registered at all?
It turns on what the work is worth, and the figure is different in every state. Here they are side by side, with what changes the moment you cross one.
Do you need to be a registered builder?Other trades in VIC
We are not accountants, lawyers or insurance brokers, and none of this is advice. It is what the regulators and the ATO publish, gathered in one place with links to the source, so you know what to go and ask about. Rules and fees change, so check with the authority before you act on anything here. Government fees shown are for the 2026-27 year and are indexed every 1 July.