The Building Act 1993 imposes a building permit levy. The levy amount is based on the cost of the building work and must be paid by the applicant before a permit can be issued.

The building permit levy is not payable if the cost of building work is $10,000 or less.

Where the cost of the building work is greater than $10,000, the Building Act 1993 requires a building permit levy of 0.128 cents in every dollar of the cost of building work, comprising of:

> 0.064 cents to fund the building control system in Victoria.

> 0.064 cents to fund the dispute resolution service, Building Advice & Conciliation Victoria.

The cost of the building work is the contract price for the building work. If a contract for the work does not exist, the cost of building work is labour plus materials (this also applies to owner-builders when estimating the cost of works).

In determining the cost of building work for the purposes of calculating the building permit levy, the amount of GST must be included in the cost of building materials and the cost of labour.

Building surveyors are required to pay the VBA all amounts of building permit levy received for building permits issued during a given month. A building surveyor must refuse an application for a building permit if the applicant does not pay the building permit levy.

Providing incorrect information is an offence under the Building Act 1993.

Source : vba.vic.gov.au