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Statutory scheme · Victoria · VIC

Domestic Building Insurance (Victoria)

Victorian statutory cover for domestic building work, provided through the state insurer, protecting owners where a builder dies, disappears or becomes insolvent.

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What the scheme requires

  • Work value threshold: The builder must take out domestic building insurance when the work is worth more than $16,000 (GST treatment not stated). DBI applies to earlier work: from 1 July 2026, new domestic building work is covered by the Building and Plumbing Commission's first-resort Home Warranty insurance instead. VIC · effective 2026-08-13 Consumer Affairs Victoria · 2026-08-13
  • Who pays premium: The builder takes out the insurance for the client and must provide a copy of the policy and a certificate of currency covering the property before taking a deposit or any other money. Certificates issued on or after 1 July 2015 must show the premium cost. VIC · effective 2026-08-13 Consumer Affairs Victoria · 2026-08-13
  • Premium basis: For new eligible domestic building work under contracts signed on or after 1 July 2026, Home Warranty (administered by the Building and Plumbing Commission) replaces DBI. The builder pays the Home Warranty premium per eligible project through an approved distributor, due before the earlier of 10 business days after the contract is signed or the work starting; the premium is based on the assessed insurable value of the work, which is recorded on the homeowner's Notice of Cover. BPC's own guidance pages do not publish a public premium rate table (unlike the rate chart the former VMIA-administered DBI scheme published). VIC · effective 2026-07-01 Building and Plumbing Commission · 2026-08-17
  • Certificate issued to: The homeowner must receive the policy and the certificate of insurance applying to their property before paying a deposit. Cover is verified by contacting the insurer to check the policy number applies to the home; for policies from 31 May 2010 the insurer may be the Building and Plumbing Commission. VIC · effective 2026-08-13 Consumer Affairs Victoria · 2026-08-13
  • Cover scope: Covers costs up to $300,000 to fix structural defects for six years and non-structural defects for two years, where the builder has died, become insolvent or disappeared; policies issued on or after 1 July 2015 also cover failure to comply with a final VCAT or court order. Unfinished-work claims may be limited to 20% of the contract price. VIC · effective 2026-08-13 Consumer Affairs Victoria · 2026-08-13
  • Variation treatment: Under Home Warranty (administered by BPC, which replaced DBI for contracts signed on or after 1 July 2026): if the contract price, scope or value of an eligible project changes, the applicable premium must be reviewed and the Notice of Cover amended through the approved distributor. Work varied by more than $5,000 requires payment of an additional applicable premium to cover the extra work; if work is instead reduced, a partial refund of the premium for the work no longer proceeding is available. VIC · effective 2026-07-01 Building and Plumbing Commission · 2026-08-17

Who administers it

  • Victorian Managed Insurance Authority — The Victorian government insurer, which provides domestic building insurance for the state.

What this scheme does not do

Scheme cover and a business’s own insurance answer different questions. A residential building scheme protects the homeowner when work is defective or unfinished; it does not cover the contractor’s liability to third parties or the contractor’s own losses.

Sources