If you wish to act as an owner-builder, and the value of the proposed building work is more than $16,000 (including labour costs and materials), you will need to apply for a Certificate of Consent.
You must provide the Certificate of Consent to your building surveyor in order to obtain a building permit.
Refer to the owner-builder eligibility page on the Victorian Building Authority website for information on how to provide one.
Written contracts
As the owner-builder, you’ll need to enter into a contract with a building practitioner, contractor or tradesperson for domestic building work costing more than $5,000.
If you intend to engage a single builder to do all the building work, you should not submit an owner-builder application. You will not qualify as an owner-builder in this case. Instead, you’ll need to enter into a domestic building contract with a registered building practitioner.
The Victorian Building Authority warns against situations where a builder or tradesperson asks you to sign a building permit as an owner-builder, even though they will be doing the work.
Refer to the Victorian Building Authority’s owner-builder page for the latest information on owner-builder requirements.