Owner-builders

In 2005 legislation was passed by the Victorian Parliament to limit the building activity of owner-builders.

The reforms require owner-builders to:

• Obtain one building permit for one house in any three year period, with no limits to additional permits to that same home
• Read information on their legal obligations and responsibilities
• Obtain a Certificate of Consent from the Building Practitioners Board to apply for a building permit to carry out domestic building works valued at more than $12,000

To obtain a Certificate of Consent owner-builders must declare they:

• Are building or renovating only one dwelling
• Have not had a permit to undertake work as an owner-builder within the past three years
• Understand the obligations and responsibilities associated with undertaking domestic building work as an owner-builder
  
  
• Owner_Builder_Declaration.pdf
• Building Commission Website - Owner-builders information

Owner-builder responsibilities

Now that the building permit has been issued, the hard work really begins.

However, as an owner-builder you have a number of obligations under the Building Act and Regulations in addition to other legislation with which you must comply.

Owner-builders need to understand not only the technical aspects of building, but also the administrative, legal, occupational health and safety and taxation requirements associated with building construction.

This information aims to inform you generally about these matters but there will be occasions where you will need to seek more specific advice from us or other relevant government departments and authorities.

Calculating the cost of building work

Inspections

The Building Regulations define the mandatory notification stages of a building project.

At each of these stages the person in charge of the work must notify the relevant building surveyor who issued the building permit to arrange an inspection.

The stages are listed on the building permit.

Project documentation

The owner-builder must also ensure that construction is undertaken in accordance with the approved plans and documents.

Any variations to the approved documents must be authorised by the relevant building surveyor under the building permit.

It is your responsibility to ensure that amended plans/details are supplied and approval for any proposed variations is granted prior to the commencement of these works.

Although you may make various changes throughout the construction phase, it is critical that the most up-to-date documents are followed during construction, so that there is no confusion on site.

Contractors & sub-contractors (domestic construction)

Each building trade contractor (tradesman) an owner-builder employs to carry out work on their project is for legal purposes a ''Contractor'' as opposed to a sub-contractor.

When a Contractor carries out building work exceeding $5000, including labour and materials, the Building Act 1993 requires that person to be registered with the Building Practitioners Board and to provide building defects insurance appropriate to their work.

If an owner-builder engage someone to supervise building work on their behalf - a carpenter arranging and/or coordinating the work of another trade - that person is treated by the Building Act 1993 as a manager/supervisor and must be registered with the Building Services Unit.

Other information

• Being an owner-builder
• Owner-builder information & education kit