Builder deposits: Victoria
The limit here is 5% if the contract price is $20,000 or more; 10% if it is under $20,000. What is true everywhere — and why the cap is not the protection — is on the main page.
Victoria's limits are among the tightest in the country, and they are also the ones most likely to move while you are reading this.
Five per cent, not ten
On a contract of $20,000 or more the deposit cannot exceed 5%. Under $20,000 it is 10%. A builder asking for more than that is not driving a hard bargain, they are breaking the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995, and that is a useful thing to be able to say plainly at the table.
The number is about to become a moving target
The Domestic Building Contracts Amendment Act 2025 passed in September 2025 and takes effect by 1 December 2026. It moves deposit limits, progress payment stages and progress payment caps into regulations — meaning they can be changed by regulation rather than by amending the Act.
The practical consequence for anyone signing around now is that the figure above is correct today and may not be correct for a contract signed in a few months. Check the current limit with Consumer Affairs Victoria on the day you sign rather than relying on anything written earlier, this page included.
Victoria: the numbers
- Contract price $20,000 or more
- 5% maximum deposit
- Contract price under $20,000
- 10% maximum deposit
- Legal basis
- Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995
- Insurance before deposit
- For work over $16,000, you must get the policy and certificate of currency first
Read from Consumer Affairs Victoria, Deposits and payments for building work on 13 October 2026. We publish the date we read it so you can see how old this is — these limits change, and Consumer Affairs Victoria is the authority on what applies to your contract.
Questions about Victoria deposits
How much deposit can a Victorian builder ask for?
5% where the contract price is $20,000 or more, and 10% where it is under $20,000, under the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995. More than that is unlawful, not merely unusual.
Are these limits changing?
They may. The Domestic Building Contracts Amendment Act 2025 takes effect by 1 December 2026 and moves deposit limits and progress payment stages into regulations, so they can be changed by regulation. Check the figure on the day you sign.
Does insurance have to be in place first?
For work over $16,000 you must be given the domestic building insurance policy and a certificate of currency before any deposit or other money is taken.