What this site is
This site connects West Gippsland home owners, landlords and buyers with local restumping and underpinning contractors. When an enquiry comes in, it goes to a builder who works in the area and holds the registration the job needs.
All work is carried out by appropriately licensed contractors.
Why the guides are here
A restump is a week under a house surrounded by rules most people meet once: the Building Act and the permit that comes from a private surveyor rather than the council, the registration that applies at any job value, the contract at $10,000 and the insurance at $20,000, the council's asset protection permit, and the overlays that may or may not touch the street. Add the ground, which in this district varies from red volcanic loam to drained swamp within one town, and the question of what stump to put back in is not a small one.
The pages here put the permits, the thresholds and the ground in one place, in plain words, with links to the sources on each page.
How the rule pages are written
- Everything is dated. Each page describing a rule says when it was written.
- The source is linked. The Building and Plumbing Commission for permits, registration and insurance. Consumer Affairs Victoria for contracts. Baw Baw Shire Council for its permits, consents and heritage precincts. VICSES and the Bureau of Meteorology for flood and climate. Victorian Resources Online for the soils. The legislation itself for the Acts and Regulations.
- Where this site and the source differ, the source is right. Stated in the dated box on each rule page.
- Figures are quoted, not promised. Thresholds, fees and dates change. The pages say what the published figure was and point you at the body that sets it.
- Unverified things are said to be unverified. This site has not found a published site classification for any estate here, the flood maps are known to be older than the subdivisions, and it says so rather than guessing.
- You are pointed at the right person. A restumper is not the person to design underpinning, classify your soil or decide a heritage application.
- Nothing here is legal advice.
What you will not find here
- No testimonials or star ratings.
- No gallery of past jobs. Photographs are illustrative only and do not depict specific jobs.
- No promise about the ground. The site class of a block is set by a geotechnical test, not a web page.
- No prices. Two houses the same size can be priced a long way apart. The cost guide explains what moves the number.
What to expect when you make contact
- You give the town, what the house sits on if you know, what you have noticed inside, and a few photos.
- The overlays on the property are checked from the address.
- A builder comes back to you with questions about the subfloor and the access, then a price range or a time to look.
- A subfloor inspection, a written quote, the contract, the building permit and the council permit, in that order.
- If a sale, a building report or a builder's start date is driving it, say so up front.
Towns covered
Warragul, Drouin, Trafalgar, Yarragon, Darnum, Nilma, Neerim South, Rokeby, Willow Grove, Thorpdale, Trafalgar South, Buln Buln, Ellinbank, Lardner, Drouin West, Drouin South, Longwarry, Bunyip, Garfield, Jindivick, Tynong, Hallora, Labertouche and Tanjil South, along with the farms and districts between them across Baw Baw Shire and into Cardinia.
What this site cannot do
It cannot issue a building permit, design underpinning, classify soil or treat termites. Those sit with a registered building surveyor, a structural engineer, a geotechnical laboratory and a licensed pest controller. The site exists to explain the rules and the ground, and to put you in touch with someone who can do the restump.
Check the current rules before you rely on this
The rule pages on this site summarise how restumping is regulated in Victoria for Baw Baw Shire property owners. It describes the rules in general terms as they stood in October 2026. Standards, forms, thresholds and fines change.
The authoritative sources are Building and Plumbing Commission practice note BP-01, when is a building permit required, Building and Plumbing Commission (as the VBA) on registration being required for restumping and reblocking at any value, Consumer Affairs Victoria, preparing a major domestic building contract, Baw Baw Shire Council on building permits and Baw Baw Shire Council on asset protection, nature strips and road reserves. Where anything here differs from those sources, they are right and we are not.
We are not building surveyors, engineers, planners or lawyers. For what applies to your house, ask a registered building surveyor or ring Baw Baw Shire Council on 03 5624 2411.
Accurate at the time of writing, October 2026. Always check the source before relying on it.