I’ve been going back and forth about starting an owner-builder project in Victoria, but honestly the rules and compliance stuff feel overwhelming. It’s not just the building permit itself, but the whole maze of paperwork, insurance, and making sure you don’t miss some fine print that could come back to bite you later. For those of you who’ve done this before, how difficult was it to keep everything in line with regulations, and are there any traps you wish you had known about before diving in?
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Great question, and I can relate because I went through this a couple of years ago when we extended our place near Geelong. The biggest challenge for me was realizing that being an owner-builder isn’t just about rolling up your sleeves and saving money—it’s about taking legal responsibility for the whole build. That means the compliance side has to be watertight. For example, I had to apply for an Owner-Builder Certificate of Consent through the VBA before I could even get the building permit. At first it felt like overkill, but once you’re into the project you understand why—council inspections, mandatory insurance, and warranty obligations if you ever sell. One thing I would suggest is keeping a running folder (digital or paper) of every approval, permit, and certificate, because chasing documents mid-project is a nightmare. I actually found some really practical guidance on this site: https://obavic.com.au/. They break down different permit and compliance issues for things like additions, pools, or sheds, and it really helped me figure out which rules applied in my situation. It’s not the fun part of building, but sorting compliance properly at the start will save you headaches and money down the track.