Building permits and builder registration for restumping on the Mornington Peninsula

The short version

Restumping, reblocking, relevelling and underpinning are building work under the Building Act 1993. The building permit comes from a private registered building surveyor, because Mornington Peninsula Shire does not issue them. The builder must be registered with the Building and Plumbing Commission whatever the job costs. Over $10,000 the job needs a written major domestic building contract. Over $20,000 the builder must take out Home Warranty insurance. The Shire comes into it for a lodgement fee, a property information certificate, and report and consent where the lot is flood prone or the work is near an easement. That is the whole list for an ordinary restump. The rest of this page is where each line comes from and what it costs in 2025-26.

Why a restump needs a building permit

The Commission's practice note BP-01 on when a building permit is required starts from the position that building work needs a permit unless an exemption in Schedule 3 of the Building Regulations 2018 applies. The exemption for repair, renewal or maintenance of part of an existing building does not extend to underpinning or replacement of footings, or to work that would adversely affect the structural soundness of the building. Stumps are footings. A bearer supports joists and the joists support the floor. So replacing stumps, underpinning a footing or replacing a bearer sits outside the exemption and needs a permit. Relevelling on existing sound stumps, with nothing replaced, is the one job on this site that can arguably sit inside it, and the surveyor decides.

The Shire's own building page puts the division of labour plainly: building permits are issued by private building surveyors, and the Shire's statutory building team enforces the Act, issues property information certificates and handles report and consent. The team sits at 90 Besgrove Street, Rosebud, on 1300 850 600 or 03 5950 1000.

Who issues it

A private registered building surveyor. In practice the restumper nominates a surveyor they work with, the surveyor checks the planning overlays and the flood and termite designations on the lot, asks for an engineer's design if the job is underpinning, issues the permit, inspects at the stages the permit sets, and issues the final certificate. The surveyor sets their own fee, and the quote should say whether it is inside the price. On top of it the Shire charges a building permit lodgement fee under section 30 of $138.35 in 2025-26, which the surveyor pays when the permit is lodged with the Shire.

Who can do the work

A builder registered with the Building and Plumbing Commission. Victoria's general threshold for domestic builder registration is $10,000, but the Commission, then the Victorian Building Authority, clarified in 2017 that any builder in the business of reblocking or restumping a home must be registered regardless of the cost of the work, and that position is still current. Consumer Affairs Victoria's domestic building consumer guide repeats it: a builder must be registered to restump or reblock a home regardless of the value of the work. Ask for the registration number with the quote and check it on the Commission's practitioner register. The Commission replaced the Victorian Building Authority on 1 July 2025 and took over the domestic building insurance scheme at the same time, so older paperwork says VBA and DBI where current paperwork says BPC and Home Warranty. Interstate builders can work here through automatic mutual recognition, and still show up on the register.

Contracts and insurance

Consumer Affairs Victoria's page on preparing a major domestic building contract sets out what the written contract has to contain. The Commission's insurance page says eligible building work over $20,000 must have Home Warranty cover from 1 July 2026 and that the registered builder is responsible for the premium; before that date the figure was $16,000 under the old scheme. A quote near either threshold should say which side it is on.

Two practical points follow. A contract that is split into a restump under $20,000 and a separate bearer job under $20,000 to avoid the insurance is not a smaller job, it is the same job with the cover removed, and the surveyor sees one permit application for one house. And a quote that says the builder will take out Home Warranty cover should be followed by the notice of cover itself before the crew arrives; the builder pays the premium, and the notice is yours to keep with the permit and the final certificate.

The Shire's part

• Property information certificate. Issued under regulation 51(2) for $53.62 in 2025-26. It states in writing whether the lot is designated flood prone and whether it sits in the termite designation, which the whole Shire does. The surveyor tells you whether your lot is flood prone; the certificate says so on paper, and it has to be under three months old for a flood prone application.
• Report and consent for flood prone land. A large percentage of the Shire is designated flood prone, meaning a 1 per cent annual exceedance probability. Building work on it needs the Shire's report and consent under regulations 153 and 154, at $329.60 per regulation in 2025-26, with a property information certificate and a Melbourne Water response each under three months old and plans showing AHD levels. There is no shire-wide minimum floor level; the response sets it. A report and consent cannot be obtained after the building permit has been issued, so the surveyor applies first, usually on the owner's behalf.
• Easements. Consent is needed before building over or near an easement or council drain, through the Shire's online portal, and South East Water's consent through its Build Over portal for its own easements. Regulation 130 sets footing and excavation limits and clearances from council pipes. Underpinning near a sewer or drain easement is where this bites; a straight restump rarely does.
• Asset and Amenity Protection Permit. Under the Community Amenity Local Law 2022 it is required for building works valued $100,000 or more, all such works from 1 October 2025, and must be held before any work or deliveries. The application fee is $360 and the refundable bond $1,700 in 2025-26, and the permit can take up to 10 business days. A typical restump is well under $100,000, so it is normally not triggered. A restump that is part of a large renovation can be; check with the Shire if the whole job passes $100,000.
• Owner-builders. A certificate of consent is needed for domestic building work over $16,000. Given the registration rule for restumping, an owner-builder is rarely the right route.
• Relocated dwellings. If the job is a house being moved onto a Peninsula block and set on new stumps, the Shire's relocated dwellings guidance says a planning permit is needed wherever a new dwelling would need one and wherever Design and Development Overlays DDO2 to DDO7 apply, and the house must connect to sewer and drainage. The stumps are the easy part of that job.

What happens in what order

1. Inspection and quote. The restumper goes under the house and produces a stump count, a view on the bearers and a written price. The cost guide says what it should name.
2. Contract. Over $10,000, a written major domestic building contract. The builder's registration number is on it.
3. Surveyor. The builder or the owner engages a private registered building surveyor. The surveyor checks the overlays and designations, and asks for an engineer's design where the job is underpinning.
4. Report and consent, if any. Flood prone land, easements or a siting matter go to the Shire before the permit is issued, with the fees above.
5. Home Warranty cover, if over $20,000. The builder takes it out after the contract is signed and you receive the notice.
6. Permit, work, inspections, final certificate. The surveyor inspects at the stages the permit sets and issues the certificate at the end. Keep it with the house papers; the buying guide explains why the next buyer will ask for it.