Restumping permits in Victoria: what's actually required
Restumping is structural work, and in Victoria that means a building permit is mandatory — everywhere, every time, no dollar threshold that exempts it. Here's how it works and why you should never let anyone talk you out of it.
What's required
- A building permit issued by a registered building surveyor — private surveyor or council, your choice (private is usually faster in regional areas).
- Engineering computations: a structural engineer's stump layout and specifications for your specific house and soil.
- Inspections: typically at excavation (before new stumps go in) and completion.
- Certification on completion — the document that matters enormously when you sell.
What it costs and how long it takes
Permit plus engineering typically runs $1,200–$2,000 and should appear as a line item in your quote. Allow a few weeks' lead time (longer on flood-prone land, where "report & consent" also applies — common near the Murray and in parts of the Wimmera); a good contractor lodges the paperwork the day you accept the quote so it never delays the job.
If you skip it
Building permits in Victoria are overseen by the Building and Plumbing Commission (BPC). Unpermitted structural work can mean orders to expose or redo the work, insurance complications after any structural claim, and real trouble at sale time — Section 32 vendor statements and buyers' building inspections surface unpermitted restumps constantly, and buyers use it to renegotiate hard. The $1,500 you "save" can cost many times that at settlement.
Who handles it
Any professional restumping outfit arranges the permit, the engineering and the inspections for you — it should be their overhead, listed transparently in the fixed quote. If a quote doesn't mention a permit, that's not an oversight; it's a strategy. Ask why.