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Update your contact details

Do we have your current address and phone number? Here's how to update them.

Renew your registration

All building practitioners need to renew their registration at least every five years. This requirement applies to companies as well as individual practitioners.

Practitioners who were registered before 1 September 2016 will need to transition to the new time-limited registration period that started from 1 July 2017. Practitioners who were registered after 1 September 2016 will already be registered for a maximum of five years.

For more information about this transition, read the Fact sheet – Transition of building practitioners to time-limited registration (PDF, 134.27 KB).

The VBA will contact practitioners directly around five months before their registration is due to expire. We will advise you when you need to renew your registration and what the process will involve.

Applications for renewal of registration must be lodged with the VBA at least three months before the expiry date. If you apply on time you will remain registered until the VBA makes a decision to grant or refuse your application, even if the expiry date passes.

Applications submitted late but before the expiry date

Due to legislative changes, if we receive your application to renew in the three months prior to your expiry date, it is considered a late application. You will need to pay a late fee in addition to the application fee.

Furthermore, if we receive your application three months or less before your expiry date, and we do not make a decision on your application before your expiry date, then your registration will expire.

Applications submitted after the expiry date

If you submit your renewal application after your registration has expired, you must pay a late fee in addition to the application fee. The registration will remain expired until we decide whether to grant or refuse your application. The commencement date of registration will be the decision date (if the application is granted) and it will not be backdated to show a continuous registration.

The same renewal application process applies for companies registered as building practitioners that wish to apply to renew their registration.

If a company was automatically registered on 1 July 2018, the company's registration will expire on the same date as the nominee director's individual registration (or the nominee director's individual registration that expires first if there is more than one nominee director).

If you completed an application for company registration, you can find your company's expiry date in the Find a practitioner directory, or in your company’s building practitioner certificate.

If your registration is currently in suspension because you haven't paid your annual fee or provided proof of your required insurance and you wish to carry out work as a registered building practitioner, please fill out the Suspended registration revocation form (PDF, 596.92 KB).

This does not apply to practitioners currently in suspension due to disciplinary action. If you are suspended due to disciplinary action and wish to carry out work as a registered building practitioner, please call the VBA on 1300 815 127.

If you or your company have multiple registrations, you can align the expiry dates so that they all expire at the same time and can be renewed together. Please complete and submit the appropriate form below:

Eligibility

To be eligible to renew your registration as a building practitioner, your registration must be current.

Registered building practitioners must continue to pay an annual fee (except the year they are due for renewal) and provide proof of insurance (if required) every 12 months.

Start your application

If you are registered as an individual

To renew your registration, you must complete an application form and lodge it with the VBA no later than three months before your registration expiry date.

Save and complete the form to your computer (do not handwrite; it will take longer to process). The application form includes a checklist on the front page to assist you with the process.

As part of your application, we require you to undertake a national police check. A link to the police check can be found in the application form.

For individual renewal applications, the below form must be used.

If you are in a partnership

Each partner of the partnership applying for registration must complete a separate Partner’s Declaration (PDF, 707.93 KB).

If your company is registered as a building practitioner

For company renewal applications, the below form must be used.

Each director of your company must complete the Director's Declaration (PDF, 1483.88 KB), whether they are a registered building practitioner or not.

Each director of your company must also undertake a national police check, whether they are a registered building practitioner or not. Further details about the check are provided in the application form.

If you are a nominee director, you must maintain your individual registration for your company to remain registered. This means completing your individual registration renewal and individual annual fee and insurance check.

If your company was automatically registered on 1 July 2018, your company registration renewal is aligned to your individual registration renewal. If your company was not automatically registered, your renewal will be aligned to your company’s anniversary of registration.

Submit your application

Sign and submit a hard copy of your completed application form, plus any other required forms and documents. Every supporting document must be certified as a true and correct copy of an original. Find out who can certify documents.

By mail:

Victorian Building Authority
GPO Box 536
Melbourne VIC 3001

In person:

Victorian Building Authority
Goods Shed North
733 Bourke Street
Docklands 3008

You must not make any written or oral statement to the VBA in relation to an application for registration (or for the renewal of registration) that you know, or should reasonably know, is false.

What happens after you apply

Once you apply for registration renewal in a category or class of building practitioner, we will check you have completed the application form correctly and submitted the required documents.

We will conduct checks to assess whether you continue to be a fit and proper person to practise as a building practitioner, including that you are covered by the required insurance. The VBA will not reassess knowledge and experience as part of the registration renewal process.

If we grant your application for registration renewal, you will receive confirmation in the mail, along with a new certificate of registration. Individual practitioners will also receive a new identification card.

If your application is incomplete or we need more information, we will contact you in writing to explain what we need.

What happens if I don't renew my registration?

If you fail to complete the five-year renewal on time, your registration will expire and you and/or your company will no longer be a registered building practitioner.

If your registration expires, you cannot lawfully carry out work that can only be performed by a registered building practitioner, and you must not use the title of a registered building practitioner or hold yourself out to be registered. If your company's registration expires, you will not be able to enter into major domestic building contracts in your company's name or name the company as a builder on a building permit worth more than (in most cases) $10,000.