Planning · DIY guide
What you can and can't legally DIY in Victoria
Victoria has some of the tightest DIY restrictions in Australia, and most people find out about them after the fact — usually when an insurer asks who did the work. Here is where the lines actually sit.
This is the guide the rest of them refer back to
Step by step
Plumbing: maintenance yes, installation no
You may replace a worn tap washer, swap a showerhead for a like-for-like screw-on, connect washing machine hoses, plunge and clear traps and grates, and turn the water on and off. You may not install or replace taps or mixers, move any fixture, cut into any pipe, install a toilet suite, or touch anything pressure-sealed. Note that Victoria — unlike Western Australia, which published a homeowner exemption list in 2024 — has no official DIY plumbing list at all. The regulator's position is simply that plumbing work needs a licensed practitioner; minor like-for-like maintenance is what is accepted in practice, not by written exemption.
Electrical: essentially nothing
Victoria does not allow homeowners to do their own electrical work. That includes exhaust fans, downlights, power points, hardwired heated towel rails and moving a switch. Replacing a light globe is about the limit. This is enforced and it will void insurance.
Waterproofing: legal here, but it has to comply
Unlike New South Wales and Queensland, Victoria does allow a homeowner to waterproof their own bathroom. It still has to comply with Australian Standard AS 3740. Be realistic about this one: waterproofing failure is the most expensive thing that goes wrong in a bathroom, it is invisible until it isn't, and a certificate from a licensed applicator is what a future buyer's building inspector will ask for.
Tiling, painting, joinery: yours to do
Tiling, grouting, siliconing, painting, patching, fitting doors and handles, and installing flat-pack cabinetry are all unlicensed work. This is where DIY genuinely saves money.
Building permits and the $10,000 line
Domestic building work over $10,000 must be carried out by a registered building practitioner. A like-for-like bathroom refresh usually needs no building permit, but moving structural walls, altering windows or changing drainage often does. Check with your council before, not after.
What it means for insurance
This is the part people underestimate. If unlicensed plumbing or electrical work causes damage, insurers can and do decline the claim — and uncertified alterations surface again when you sell.
Common mistakes
- Assuming the rules are the same as NSW or Queensland — they are not
- Treating a tap swap as maintenance when it is an installation
- Doing your own waterproofing without reading AS 3740
- Not keeping certificates for work that was done properly
When to stop and call someone
If you are not sure which side of the line a job sits on, the Building and Plumbing Commission (the renamed Victorian Building Authority) publishes the classes of licensed plumbing work. When in doubt, a quick phone call to a licensed trade costs nothing.