Building in Victoria in 2026: VBA registration, NCC 2022 and the 7-star NatHERS shift

Why 2026 looks different to 2019

The Victorian residential building landscape has shifted more in the last three years than in the decade before it. The combination of the National Construction Code (NCC) 2022, the move to a 7-star minimum NatHERS rating for new homes, and tighter Victorian Building Authority (VBA) registration enforcement means the floor for what counts as an acceptable new build is materially higher than it used to be.

This is good news for owners — homes are warmer, cheaper to run, and safer — but it does change how a project should be costed and scoped from day one.

VBA registration: who can actually build your home

Any builder carrying out domestic building work in Victoria valued over $10,000 must be registered with the VBA in the correct class (DB-U for unlimited domestic building work is the most common for a custom home). Before signing a contract:

• Search the builder's name on the VBA public register.
• Confirm the registration class covers your scope (a DB-L low-rise registration cannot supervise a three-storey build, for example).
• Ask for the Domestic Building Insurance certificate for your specific project — it is per-project, not per-builder.

A builder who asks you to sign a contract before DBI is issued is asking you to carry risk that the legislation deliberately placed on them.

NCC 2022 in plain English

NCC 2022 is the version of the building code that Victoria adopted. The changes most likely to affect a custom home or small development are:

• Energy efficiency (Section J / Part 13) — the headline 7-star NatHERS lift, plus a new whole-of-home energy budget covering hot water, heating, cooling and any pool/spa equipment.
• Liveable housing (Part H8) — step-free entry, wider internal doors and corridors, a ground-floor accessible toilet, and reinforced bathroom walls for future grab rails. These are now baseline, not upgrades.
• Condensation management — pliable membranes with the right vapour permeance for the climate zone, and mechanical exhaust ducted to outside air.
• Waterproofing — Class III membranes in wet areas with a minimum 10-year warranty from the applicator.

The 7-star NatHERS shift

Going from 6 to 7 stars sounds incremental; in practice it changes the brief. You will typically need:

• More considered glazing-to-floor ratios, with double glazing as a near-default on south and west elevations.
• Continuous insulation at slab edges and around timber framing to address thermal bridging.
• Air-tightness detailing at junctions — tapes, membranes and a sealed service penetration strategy.
• A whole-of-home equipment selection (heat pump hot water, reverse-cycle heating/cooling, induction cooking) that the energy assessor can model.

A home designed for 6 stars and then "lifted" to 7 at the assessment stage almost always costs more than a home that was designed for 7 from the first concept sketch.

What this means for your budget

Expect the regulated baseline alone to add somewhere in the order of $15,000 – $40,000 to a typical single-storey custom home compared to a pre-2023 equivalent, depending on glazing area and orientation. The right response is not to fight the code — it is to make sure the design uses passive performance (orientation, eaves, thermal mass) to do as much of the work as possible before you spend money on mechanical systems.

A short pre-contract checklist

1. VBA registration class confirmed against scope.
2. Domestic Building Insurance certificate sighted for your project.
3. NatHERS certificate showing 7 stars or above for the as-designed plans.
4. Whole-of-home energy report attached to the building permit application.
5. Liveable housing (H8) features shown on the plans, not just listed in the specification.

Get those five items right and the rest of the build sits on solid ground.