In Victoria, re-stumping, re-blocking, demolition and structural work must be done by registered building practitioners, whatever the job costs. Consumer Affairs Victoria prints that rule on its checklist for home improvements costing $10,000 or less, the page written for small jobs.
General informationA summary of Consumer Affairs Victoria’s checklist, the BPC’s page on domestic building work and the Building Regulations 2018, as at 9 October 2026. Not legal advice about any job. The BPC’s website is where Consumer Affairs Victoria sends readers to check a builder’s registration.
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.
Two lines, drawn in different places
Victoria draws two lines for registration. One is a price. The other is a kind of work, and the stumps sit on that one.
| Question | The price line | The work line |
|---|---|---|
| What brings it into play | Building work worth more than $10,000. On its landscaping page, the BPC measures that by the contract price: a registered practitioner is needed for domestic building work whose contract price is over $10,000. | What the job is: demolition, re-stumping, re-blocking or structural work. |
| Jobs using one trade | A job that involves only one of the tasks on Consumer Affairs Victoria’s list needs no registered building practitioner. A tradesperson combining more than one, such as plastering and painting, must be registered once the total cost passes $10,000. | The checklist’s list of single tasks does not include structural work, re-stumping or re-blocking. |
| A permit as well | Set by the work, not the figure: the BPC says all building work needs a building permit unless the Regulations exempt it. | For structural work, a building permit is needed, and the checklist says to check with the building surveyor. |
The two lines work separately. A small job can be under the price line and still on the work line, and the checklist’s own wording, registration “regardless of the cost of the work”, is written for exactly that case.
Which registration covers the stumps
Registration is not a single licence. The BPC lists 30 classes in which a domestic builder can be registered.
- Domestic Builder (Unlimited). Responsible for carrying out, managing and arranging every component of domestic building work. The BPC’s description of the class names the maintenance of a home alongside its construction, renovation and improvement.
- Domestic Builder (Limited). Someone in a limited class can do only certain types of domestic building work; the BPC gives carpentry and glazing as examples.
- Limited to re-stumping and re-blocking. One of the limited classes the Regulations prescribe. For registration in it, they set a certificate in civil foundations from a registered training organisation, with additional units of competency, and at least two years of practical experience.
This is why the BPC’s advice to check that a practitioner is registered or licensed for the work in question matters under the floor. A registration in a limited class covers that class’s work, and nothing wider.
What registration carries with it
Registration is a standard as well as a permission. The BPC says registered building practitioners must do their work competently and professionally, in a way that supports the health and safety of the people living in homes.
ExampleTwo jobs in one older house, both well under $10,000. Retiling a kitchen floor is a single task on Consumer Affairs Victoria’s list, so on its own it needs no registered building practitioner. Replacing three stumps under the same floor is re-stumping, so it needs a registered building practitioner, and its cost plays no part in that.
The same rule, seen from the owner-builder’s side
Consumer Affairs Victoria’s page for owner-builders makes the same point as a recommendation: registered builders for reblocking, restumping, demolishing or removing a home, whatever that work is worth. The third guide looks at what that means for an owner running their own project.