Restumping permits in Victoria — building permit, VBA registration, Reg 126

Victorian restumping rules: permits, practitioners and the Reg 126 certificate

Victoria regulates reblocking more thoroughly than any other state regulates restumping — a building permit, a registered practitioner, and a certificate at the end. That's good news: the paper trail protects you at resale, and the rules give you a free quality filter for contractors.

Last reviewed 20 August 2026 Editorial policy

The building permit

Restumping is building work under Victoria's Building Act, and it needs a building permit before work starts. The permit is issued by a building surveyor (usually private, engaged by your contractor) against drawings and computations showing stump sizes, materials and founding depths. Expect the permit package — surveyor fees, documentation, inspections — to run roughly $800–$2,000 inside the quote, and to add a few weeks of lead time before work begins. Mandatory inspections during the job are part of the deal, not an optional extra.

Registered practitioners

The work must be carried out or supervised by a building practitioner registered with the Victorian Building Authority (VBA) in an appropriate class. This is your cheapest due-diligence tool: the VBA's public register lets you check a contractor's registration, class and any disciplinary history in about two minutes, before you've spent anything. A firm that hesitates when asked for its registration number has answered your real question.

The Reg 126 certificate

At completion, the building surveyor issues a certificate of final inspection — and the contractor should also provide the compliance certificate commonly called a "Reg 126" in the trade, certifying the work complies with the permit documentation. Do not make the final payment without it. This single page is what future buyers' conveyancers and building inspectors will ask for, and chasing it years later from a wound-up company is somewhere between painful and impossible.

Domestic building insurance

For domestic building work over the statutory threshold (currently $16,000 in Victoria), the builder must take out domestic building insurance in your favour before accepting a deposit — it covers you if the firm dies, disappears or is deregistered before honouring its warranty. Most full reblocks clear the threshold comfortably, so ask for the certificate of currency with the contract. No certificate, no deposit.

Your Victorian checklist

Before signing: VBA registration checked on the public register; building permit named in the quote as the contractor's responsibility; domestic building insurance certificate provided; stump material, size and founding depth specified in writing. At completion: certificate of final inspection and Reg 126 in hand, warranty documented, and the whole file kept with the house papers. Ten minutes of admin, and the job protects the house's value instead of complicating it.

Common questions

Does a partial restump need a permit in Victoria?

Replacing a small number of stumps like-for-like can fall under exemptions, but the boundaries are narrow and interpretation varies — a two-minute call to a private building surveyor settles your case. Full reblocks always need the permit.

The contractor says the surveyor is 'their guy' — is that a problem?

It's normal — private building surveyors are engaged by the builder on most Victorian jobs. The surveyor still carries statutory duties and personal liability. If it worries you, you're entitled to engage your own instead; just arrange it before the permit application.

What if my house was reblocked before I bought it, with no paperwork?

Common, unfortunately. A building inspector can assess the physical work, and the absence of a permit trail mostly matters as a negotiating point and an insurance question. Going forward, any new work you commission should be fully documented — it partially rehabilitates the file.