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Dwellix

Restumping in Geelong

Restumping in Greater Geelong generally needs a building permit: the City says a permit must be issued before building work starts unless the work is exempt, and the exemptions don’t cover replacing footings. Your building surveyor confirms. The work must be done by a registered builder. Dwellix, a registered domestic builder (CDB-U 102264), coordinates and delivers restumping in the Geelong region with suitably qualified contractors, and external engineers where required.

Key facts

  • Building permit: the City of Greater Geelong says one must be issued before building work starts, unless the work is exempt under the Building Regulations 2018. (City of Greater Geelong)
  • Building surveyor: the City offers a building permit service, or you can appoint a private building surveyor. (City of Greater Geelong)
  • Registered builder: re-stumping and re-blocking need one, whatever the value of the work. (Consumer Affairs Victoria)
  • Flood-liable land: council’s report and consent can be needed before a building permit is issued, and your building surveyor decides whether it applies. (City of Greater Geelong; Building Regulations 2018)
  • Heritage: the City’s Heritage Design Guidelines (July 2026) apply to every planning permit application under the Heritage Overlay. (City of Greater Geelong)

Checked 8 October 2026.

Do I need a building permit to restump a house in Geelong?

Generally, yes, and your building surveyor confirms. The City of Greater Geelong says a building permit must be issued before any building work starts unless the work is exempt under Part 4 and Schedule 3 of the Building Regulations 2018, and that it’s your responsibility to get the permits you need before work starts. Those exemptions don’t cover underpinning or replacing footings, or removing or altering a part of the building that supports another part.

We handle the permit process for you. You formally appoint the building surveyor, and we can recommend one and manage everything with them. The City’s Building Services offers a building permit service, including for alterations to existing buildings, or you can choose a private building surveyor. A private surveyor issues the permit, carries out the mandatory inspections, issues the certificate of final inspection when the work is finished, and lodges these documents with the City for its records.

Where structural design is needed, we coordinate a suitably qualified external engineer. Engineering scope, costs and responsibilities are confirmed for each project.

Sources: City of Greater Geelong, “Building permits” (updated 1 October 2026); Building Regulations 2018, Schedule 3. Checked 8 October 2026.

Who can restump a house in Geelong?

A builder registered with the Building and Plumbing Commission (BPC). Consumer Affairs Victoria says re-stumping and re-blocking must be done by registered building practitioners, whatever the value of the work, and the BPC says owner-builders can’t do subfloor work. Check a builder’s registration, status and any conditions on the BPC’s public register before you sign. Dwellix Pty Ltd is registered as a Domestic Builder – Unlimited (CDB-U 102264). Under Schedule 12 of the Building Regulations 2018, this class covers all components of domestic building work, while plumbing, gas and electrical work is done by licensed tradespeople.

For contracts signed from 1 July 2026, Home Warranty, the BPC’s statutory insurance, applies to eligible domestic building work valued at more than $20,000, including repairs and alterations. It’s subject to eligibility, limits and exclusions, and it doesn’t cover work by unregistered builders.

Sources: Consumer Affairs Victoria; Building and Plumbing Commission; Building Regulations 2018, Schedule 12. Checked 8 October 2026.

What does your building information certificate show?

Whether your land is liable to flooding, whether it’s in an area designated as subject to termite attack, and whether it’s in a fire-prone area. Anyone can ask a Victorian council for details like these under regulation 51(2) of the Building Regulations 2018, and the City of Greater Geelong gives them on a building (or property) information certificate.

The City notes that a flooding designation isn’t recorded on your title, and that designated areas change, so it recommends getting a certificate within three months of a building permit application. In a designated termite area, the City says to make sure your building permit includes the required treatments.

Sources: City of Greater Geelong, “Building permits”, “Consent to build on land liable to flooding” (updated 6 July 2026) and “Land liable to flooding – frequently asked questions” (updated 5 April 2026); Building Regulations 2018, regulation 51. Checked 8 October 2026.

Is your property flood-liable or in a flood overlay?

There are two separate checks: one for the building permit, and one under the planning scheme.

Building permit: council’s report and consent. On land the City designates as liable to flooding, a building permit can need council’s report and consent. The City says your appointed building surveyor decides whether consent is needed, and that a flooding designation doesn’t mean building permits won’t be approved.

Planning scheme: flood overlays. The Greater Geelong Planning Scheme applies a Floodway Overlay and a Land Subject to Inundation Overlay for riverine flooding (FO1 and LSIO1), a coastal inundation overlay (LSIO2) and two Special Building Overlay schedules. LSIO2, applied by Amendment C394 in 2020, covers coastal properties in suburbs including Avalon, Lara, Corio, Portarlington, Ocean Grove, Barwon Heads and Breamlea. If your home is in one of these overlays, ask the City whether your restumping needs a planning permit. The Corangamite CMA gives free floodplain development advice.

Our Geelong page lists the suburbs the City names for LSIO2.

Sources: Building Regulations 2018, regulation 153; City of Greater Geelong, “Council Consents” (updated 20 August 2026), “Consent to build on land liable to flooding”, “Land liable to flooding – frequently asked questions” and “Amendment C394”; Greater Geelong Planning Scheme, clauses 44.03 to 44.05 and their schedules; Corangamite CMA, “Floodplain Management”. Checked 8 October 2026.

Does a Heritage Overlay affect restumping in Geelong?

It can. The City says a planning permit isn’t required under the Heritage Overlay for routine maintenance and repairs that don’t change the appearance of a heritage place, and replacing like with like may not need one. Altering the exterior of a building, or carrying out works, generally does, and even a non-significant property inside a heritage precinct needs a permit for external works. The City suggests clarifying your intentions with council before you commit to repairs.

Any planning permit must be issued before the building permit. To check whether your property is in the Heritage Overlay, the City’s guidelines point to the Victorian Heritage Database.

The City’s Heritage Design Guidelines. The Greater Geelong Heritage Design Guidelines (July 2026) apply to every planning permit application under the Heritage Overlay. They describe local house styles from Early Victorian houses, as in Geelong West, to Interwar Bungalows, which in regional towns were often built in timber weatherboard. Their conservation section follows the Burra Charter’s approach of “changing as much as necessary but as little as possible”, and asks owners to:

  • preserve original materials, features and finishes wherever possible;
  • carry out only the work needed to stabilise, repair or conserve the building;
  • use materials and techniques compatible with the building’s period and style;
  • deal promptly with water ingress, structural instability and pests.

The guidelines also note that heritage buildings move, deflect and weather, and that this doesn’t by itself mean they’re inadequate or need replacing. The City’s heritage advisor is a qualified conservation practitioner, and the City recommends a pre-application meeting with the advisor and a town planner before you lodge.

Sources: City of Greater Geelong, “Heritage – common questions” (updated 29 March 2026), “Heritage places”, “Heritage advisory service” and “Heritage Design Guidelines” (July 2026); Victoria Planning Provisions, clause 43.01. Checked 8 October 2026.

Is your property in a Bushfire Prone Area?

It may be. Some land in Greater Geelong is in a Bushfire Prone Area, some is in a Bushfire Management Overlay, and some is in both. In a Bushfire Prone Area, the City says alterations and additions must be built to AS 3959, with a bushfire attack level assessed at the building permit stage. Ask your building surveyor whether this applies to your restumping.

Sources: City of Greater Geelong, “Bushfire Management Overlay” (updated 11 September 2026); Planning Victoria, “Building in designated bushfire prone areas”. Checked 8 October 2026.

What does the City say about ground movement and seepage?

The City of Greater Geelong lists these causes of soil subsidence:

  • soil type (clay or sand), moisture levels, and natural shrinking and swelling;
  • settlement over time, particularly where land has been redeveloped;
  • poorly compacted service trenches;
  • groundwater movement and changes in the water table;
  • old mining works;
  • tree roots.

The City says seepage on private property is the owner’s responsibility, and that it isn’t responsible for soil subsidence on private property. It is responsible for seepage caused by its own damaged stormwater assets, and Barwon Water for broken water or sewer infrastructure.

The City’s page is about ground movement generally, not restumping. For what the BPC says about cracks and foundation movement, see structural rectification.

Source: City of Greater Geelong, “Seepage, groundwater and soil subsidence” (updated 30 March 2026). Checked 8 October 2026.

What standard should restumped floors meet?

The BPC’s Guide to Standards and Tolerances 2026 applies to contracts entered into, or work started, from 1 August 2026. It treats re-levelled floors as outside tolerance if, within 24 months of completion, they differ in level by more than 15 mm in any room or area, or by more than 8 mm in any 2 m length, and it says the acceptable extent of damage from restumping should be agreed before work starts. The guide is advisory. See floor levelling for what limits how far an older floor can be re-levelled.

Source: Building and Plumbing Commission, Guide to Standards and Tolerances 2026. Checked 8 October 2026.

What we look for on a Geelong restumping inspection

We inspect before we scope or quote. A restumping inspection is a visual check of what can be seen and safely accessed. We look for:

  • the stumps, bearers and joists, and how the floor has moved;
  • moisture under and around the house, including seepage, drainage and leaking pipes or downpipes;
  • subfloor ventilation, and whether vents or the ground under the house are blocked;
  • signs of termite activity or damage;
  • on a heritage home, original features to keep, such as subfloor vents;
  • access under the floor, and the plumbing and electrical services there.

Some problems can’t be seen until work starts, and these are dealt with as they’re found.

If the land is flood-liable or in a coastal overlay, we discuss the stump and subfloor details with the engineer before the design is finalised.

How a Dwellix renovation runs

We take on projects across the Geelong region. Send us your address and we’ll confirm whether we can take on your project. This page uses City of Greater Geelong sources; in the other G21 councils we work in (Surf Coast, Golden Plains and Queenscliffe), check that council’s own information. We don’t take over or finish another builder’s incomplete project.

  1. Initial enquiry and consultation.
  2. Site inspection and assessment. For restumping, this includes the subfloor where it can be safely accessed, plus the signs you’ve noticed.
  3. Detailed scope preparation.
  4. Quotation and client approval.
  5. Contracts, approvals and permits where required. We handle the permit process for you. You formally appoint the building surveyor, and we can recommend one and manage everything with them. We coordinate any engineering design required.
  6. Trade scheduling and procurement. We schedule the suitably qualified contractors who carry out the subfloor work.
  7. Construction and project supervision.
  8. Relevant inspections and quality checks.
  9. Practical completion and handover. You receive the compliance certificates for any plumbing and electrical work, the certificate of final inspection where the work has a building permit, and the manufacturer warranties and manuals for what we install.

We quote after a site inspection and a detailed scope, so the price reflects your home.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a building permit to restump a house in Geelong?

Generally, yes. The City of Greater Geelong says a building permit must be issued before building work starts unless the work is exempt, and the exemptions in the Building Regulations 2018 don’t cover replacing footings. Your building surveyor confirms. Restumping must also be done by a registered builder, whatever its value.

Can the City of Greater Geelong be my building surveyor?

Yes. The City’s Building Services offers a building permit service, including for alterations to existing buildings, or you can appoint a private building surveyor. If you use a private surveyor, they issue the permit, carry out the mandatory inspections and lodge the permit documents with the City for its records.

Does a flood designation stop me restumping my Geelong home?

Not of itself. The City says a designation of land as liable to flooding doesn’t mean building permits won’t be approved. Council’s report and consent may be needed before the building permit. Your building surveyor decides whether it applies.

How much does restumping cost in Geelong?

We don’t publish a set price. The scope depends on the size of the home, how many stumps need replacing, access under the floor, the condition of the existing structure, the permit and any structural design required, and any heritage or flood approvals. We quote after a site inspection and a detailed scope, so the price reflects your home.

Does the Heritage Overlay affect restumping in Geelong?

It can. The City says routine repairs that don’t change a heritage place’s appearance don’t need a planning permit under the Heritage Overlay, and like-for-like replacement may not need one. Altering the exterior or carrying out works generally does. The City recommends a pre-application meeting with its heritage advisor and a town planner.

Enquire about restumping in Geelong

Enquire and tell us about your home and what you’ve noticed. Prefer email? Write to sales@dwellix.com.au.

General information only, checked 8 October 2026. Rules change; confirm requirements for your property with your building surveyor or council.