Consumer Affairs Victoria says structural work to a building needs a building permit, and tells owners to check with their building surveyor. Behind that sits the BPC’s summary of the law: under the Building Act 1993 and the Building Regulations 2018, all building work needs a building permit unless the Regulations exempt it.
General informationA summary of the BPC’s page on when a building permit is required, Schedule 3 of the Building Regulations 2018 and Consumer Affairs Victoria’s checklist, as at 9 October 2026. Not legal or building advice about any job. The BPC suggests asking the local council whether a building permit or a planning permit is needed.
Dotto is not a builder, tradesperson or property manager. Dotto holds no builder’s or trade licence. It does not do, offer, contract for or arrange any building, trade or maintenance work. This is general information, not advice.
The exemption for repairs, and its edge
The BPC lists “repair work for maintenance purposes” among the possible exemptions from a building permit. The word “possible” matters. The exemption itself is item 3 of Schedule 3 to the Regulations, which covers the repair, renewal or upkeep of part of a building that already exists, and only on conditions.
Three of those conditions decide most sub-floor jobs. The item does not reach work that:
- would harm the structural soundness of the building;
- includes underpinning, or replacing footings;
- removes or alters any part of the building that helps support another part.
The item’s other conditions point the same way. It asks that the new materials be of a kind usually used for the same job as the old, and for work that leaves the safety of occupiers and the public, and any essential safety measure, unharmed. It also excludes any change to the building’s floor area or height. Read as a whole, item 3 is written for repairs that leave the structure as it was.
Whether a particular job under a floor falls inside or outside it is a question for a building surveyor. For structural work, Consumer Affairs Victoria has already given its answer: a building permit is required.
A planning permit, and heritage
A building permit is only one of two permits a project may need, and the BPC suggests finding out early whether the work needs one of the two permits or both. The local council issues planning permits, and where one is needed it must come first: a building permit cannot be obtained before it.
The Regulations add a note to the exemption for repairs. A job exempt from a building permit can still require a planning permit, and a house under a heritage overlay can be held to particular materials for its upkeep.
Who issues it, and what it carries
A building permit is approval in writing, given by a building surveyor who may be private or municipal. An owner appoints a registered building surveyor first and applies through them. The permit lets the work go ahead to the approved plans, specifications and other documents, and the permit carries a levy worked out from what the work costs.
The BPC sets out what having a permit gives an owner. It says a permit protects you by ensuring:
| The point | What it means under a floor |
|---|---|
| The people doing the work | The building practitioners on the project are registered and carry the insurance required. |
| The paperwork | There is enough documentation for the work to be done correctly and to building law. |
| The inspections | Key stages of the work are inspected independently. |
| The result | The building is suitable to be occupied. |
Whose job the permit is
Consumer Affairs Victoria puts it on the homeowner: it is the owner’s responsibility to make sure planning and building permits are obtained. The builder carries duties too. The BPC says a builder may not enter a major domestic building contract without being registered as a building practitioner, and must not carry out the work until the registered building surveyor who issued the permit has authorised it, where a permit is required.
If a permit is refused
A surveyor can refuse a permit. The BPC gives two ways forward from there: change the application so that it complies with the Regulations, or appeal the refusal to the Building Appeals Board.