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Building and Plumbing Commission

Ready to become a registered domestic builder in Victoria?

Already working as a carpenter, supervisor or builder? BLS checks whether DB-U, DB-L or a conditioned DB-U fits, identifies what is missing and helps prepare your registration application for BPC assessment.

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At a glance

Start with the right application.

  • Know which domestic registration may fit
  • Use projects that show your real role
  • Prepare qualifications and registered referees

Registration

Who must register

You must register with the Building and Plumbing Commission (BPC) if you do domestic building work in Victoria and any of these apply.

  • You handle a domestic building contract worth more than $10,000.
  • You restump, reblock, demolish or remove a home, at any value.
  • The job needs a combination of skills, such as plastering and painting.

From 1 July 2026, Home Warranty applies to new eligible domestic contracts signed on or after that date, worth more than $20,000, for homes or residential buildings up to three storeys, subject to exclusions. Existing domestic building insurance policies continue.

Consumer Affairs Victoria says you do not have to register with the BPC for a job that involves only one of these:

  • plastering
  • tiling (wall and floor)
  • electrical work
  • glazing
  • installing floor coverings
  • insulating
  • painting
  • plumbing, gas-fitting and draining
  • attaching external fixtures (awnings, security screens, insect screens and balustrades)
  • erecting a chain wire fence around a tennis court
  • erecting a mast, pole, antenna, aerial or similar structure
Consumer Affairs Victoria: becoming a registered building practitioner Consumer Affairs Victoria: about builders, tradespeople and other building practitioners BPC: arrange Home Warranty for a project

What the regulator will ask for

What will BPC look for in a domestic registration application?

BPC assesses the class, your qualifications and what you personally did on relevant projects. Registered builders may also need to verify work they saw you perform.

  1. 01

    DB-U, DB-L or conditioned DB-U?

    DB-U covers broad domestic building responsibility. DB-L covers a defined type of domestic work. BPC can also register DB-U with conditions that restrict the practical scope.

  2. 02

    What did you actually do on each project?

    BPC needs more than a trade title or years on site. Project examples should explain what you personally managed, supervised and decided, including the stages, other trades, compliance work and your level of responsibility.

  3. 03

    Do you already have the required qualification?

    Each class has its own qualification and knowledge requirements. If your experience is strong but a qualification is missing, an RTO may assess RPL or further training. BPC separately decides the registration application.

  4. 04

    Who can verify your work?

    For applications requiring a technical referee report, BPC requires the referee to be registered in the same domestic builder class or a higher class. The referee must have directly observed the relevant work, be able to verify your responsibilities and use the correct class-specific report. Use BPC’s current online technical referee report process. Check the instructions for your registration class and confirm that your referees can verify the work and responsibilities in your application.

  5. 05

    Registering through a company or partnership?

    If you want to sign major domestic building contracts, or be named as builder on a building permit, in your company's name, the company has to be registered as well as you. A company can only hold a class that at least one of its directors holds, and you must keep your own registration current for the company to stay registered. Every director completes a declaration and a national criminal history check. Partnerships can't be registered. The registration belongs to the individual (or company) carrying on business as a partner, and BPC checks that every partner, registered or not, is a fit and proper person.

  6. 06

    What happens during BPC assessment?

    The assessment method depends on the class and BPC’s current process. Follow the exam or further information instructions in your own BPC notification rather than preparing from an old interview checklist.

Preparing your records

Two people identifying details on a building floor plan.

Preparing your records

Bring the projectinto focus.

Your project details and responsibilities help explain the experience behind your registration application.

The project
What was built, where and when.
Your responsibility
The work and decisions you were responsible for.
Supporting records
Relevant documents and people who can verify your experience.

What BLS does for you

Turn years on site into a registration application BPC can assess.

BLS helps identify the likely class, choose useful project examples and prepare your qualifications and technical referees before you apply.

Help with the application

You know the work. We help get the application sorted.

  • Check whether DB-U, DB-L or a conditioned DB-U is the likely application.
  • Choose projects that show your supervision, coordination and decisions.
  • Check your qualifications before recommending RPL or further training.
  • Help registered technical referees describe work they directly observed.
  • Prepare the application and current BPC assessment requirements in the right order.

Who this is for

  • Victorian domestic builders preparing a first BPC registration.
  • Carpenters or site supervisors moving toward domestic builder registration.
  • Applicants deciding between unlimited, limited or conditional scope.

When another service may fit better

  • Applications that need legal, financial or disciplinary advice outside BLS’s service.
  • Situations where the required work history, qualifications or records cannot be provided.
Illustrative scene: an applicant selects a few project-stage photos and orders them beside a notebook in a small office.

Application guides

Read the guides for this application.

These guides explain the regulator requirements, application steps and documents you may need.

Application guide

DB-U or DB-L: which Victorian registration fits your work?

Compare broad domestic responsibility under DB-U with the defined work covered by DB-L.

Read the application guide

Application guide

Can your Victorian building experience support registration?

See what useful project examples and technical referees need to show in a BPC application.

Read the application guide

Application guide

BPC builder exam books: what can you use?

Find the current permitted references for the class shown in your BPC exam invitation.

Read the application guide

Service and cost

Know what is included before you proceed.

Licence and registration applications vary by state, class and how much preparation is needed. The free check gives BLS enough information to explain the service and provide a quote.

What affects the quote

The quote depends on where you are applying, the type of application, what records you already have and how much preparation is still needed.

Included work
BLS confirms the included application and evidence work before you proceed.
Other fees
Regulator, RTO, insurance, police check and other third-party fees are separate unless a proposal expressly includes them.
Qualification gaps
RPL or training is recommended only where a genuine qualification gap is identified.
Assessment
The regulator or RTO assesses the application or qualification and makes the final decision.

Your next step

Start with where
you are.

Get clear on your likely licence, gaps and next step before you pay for training or start pulling the paperwork together.

Find your next step