Is my pool a major domestic building contract in Victoria?

What makes a pool contract a major domestic building contract?

The Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 defines a major domestic building contract as a domestic building contract under which the amount of money that a builder will receive for the carrying out of domestic building work is more than the amount fixed by the regulations. That wording was substituted by Act No. 4/2024. The Act no longer states a dollar figure itself.

The figure is in regulation 6 of the Domestic Building Contracts Regulations 2017: ‘an amount of $10 000 is fixed’. We checked the authorised version in force, version 004, which is the latest listed and has applied since 1 July 2021. The threshold has not been indexed or raised in the 2024–2026 reforms. Consumer Affairs Victoria's page for builders gives the same figure: ‘The threshold amount for a major domestic building contract is $10,000’.

The quotable version: in Victoria, any pool contract where the builder receives more than $10,000 for the building work is a major domestic building contract.

Pools don't need to be read in by analogy. Section 5 of the Act lists swimming pools or spas as associated work covered when built with a home and when carried out in conjunction with a renovation. It can also cover work on residentially zoned land that needs a building permit, and in Victoria a pool that can hold more than 300mm of water needs one (see pool building permits in Victoria).

What is not a major domestic building contract

The definition has limits, and they matter for smaller pool jobs:

• $10,000 or less. A small barrier repair or an equipment swap at or under the threshold is still a domestic building contract. The deposit cap in section 11 applies to every domestic building contract. But the major-contract rules in Part 3, including the cooling-off right, do not apply.
• Single-trade contracts. Regulation 7 says certain work is not building work to which the Act applies if the work is to be carried out under a contract for only that type of work. The list includes tiling, plumbing work, electrical work, glazing and painting. A contract that only re-tiles a pool interior, or only replaces the plumbing, can fall outside the Act entirely.
• Estimated at $1 million or more. This is still a major contract, but regulation 10 then permits cost plus.

The quotable version: a pool re-tile under its own tiling-only contract can sit outside the Domestic Building Contracts Act, while the same tiling inside a renovation contract sits inside it.

The insurance threshold is a separate number, and the two get mixed up. Home Warranty applies to contracts over $20,000 from 1 July 2026. That leaves a band between $10,000 and $20,000 that is a major contract but is not insured. What changed with Victorian home warranty in July 2026 covers who is affected, and whether a pool fence needs domestic building insurance covers the barrier-only case.

The four rules that decide whether a pool contract is legal

Once a pool contract is major, four statutory rules are the ones most often broken. Each one is checked below against the authorised Act as at 1 July 2026.

1. Deposit. Section 11: a builder must not demand or receive more than 5% of any contract price that is $20 000 or more, or 10% of any contract price that is less than $20 000, before starting work. The penalty is 100 penalty units. If the builder does not comply, the building owner may avoid the contract at any time before it is completed, unless VCAT thinks that would be unfair. Pool deposit limits and progress payments compares Victoria with the other states, and what to do when a builder wants a bigger deposit covers the conversation.

2. Cost plus. Section 13 bans cost plus contracts unless they are of a class allowed by regulation, or they are renovation work that cannot be priced without first doing some of it. Regulation 10 allows contracts entered on or after 1 August 2017 that it is reasonably estimated will cost $1 000 000 or more. A builder who breaches section 13 cannot enforce the contract, although VCAT may award cost plus a reasonable profit. See whether to sign a cost plus pool contract.

3. Rise and fall. Section 15 allows a cost escalation clause only where the price is more than $500 000, or where the clause is in a form approved by the Director. Consumer Affairs Victoria states that ‘the director has not yet approved any cost escalation clauses’. Changes in government taxes, prime cost items and provisional sums are not escalation; see provisional sums in a pool quote.

4. Arbitration. Under section 14, any term requiring a dispute to go to arbitration is void.

The quotable version: on a Victorian pool contract between $20,000 and $500,000, a deposit above 5%, a cost-plus price or a rise-and-fall clause is a defect in the contract, not a matter for negotiation.

How the 5-day cooling-off period works on a pool contract

Section 34 lets a building owner withdraw from a major domestic building contract at any time before the expiration of 5 clear business days after the building owner receives a copy of the signed contract. You withdraw by written notice, signed by you, given to the builder or left at the builder's address in the contract.

• What it costs you: the builder may keep $100 plus any other out-of-pocket expenses incurred with your approval before the withdrawal. Everything else must be refunded.
• When you lose the right: if you received independent advice from an Australian legal practitioner about the contract before entering it, or if you had already signed a substantially identical major contract for the same work.
• If the contract has no cooling-off notice: section 35 gives you 7 days from becoming aware that the notice should have been there.

The quotable version: the Victorian cooling-off clock starts when you receive your copy of the signed pool contract, not when you sign it.

Consumer Affairs Victoria's builder page is a secondary source here, and parts of it are out of date. It was last updated 8 July 2025 and still refers to domestic building insurance on contracts over $16,000. That was the old scheme; Home Warranty now applies over $20,000. On the contract threshold and the illegal items, the page agrees with the Act.

What changes by 1 December 2026, and what does not change yet

The Domestic Building Contracts Amendment Act 2025 passed the Victorian Parliament on 11 September 2025. Consumer Affairs Victoria says ‘the new laws will take effect by 1 December 2026’, and that until then ‘the current laws remain the same’. According to CAV, the Act will:

• allow deposit limits, progress payment stages and progress payment limits to be set in regulations;
• allow cost escalation clauses on contracts worth $1 million or more, adding no more than 5% to the price;
• apply basic document requirements to all domestic building contracts, not only major ones;
• create a single variation process for major contracts and stronger rights for owners to end them.

The quotable version: until the 2025 amendments commence, a Victorian pool contract is tested against the Act as at 1 July 2026. That means a 5% deposit cap, no cost plus under $1 million, and 5 clear business days to withdraw.

We found no published replacement for the $10,000 threshold or the 5% and 10% deposit caps. When the new regulations are made, the table on this page will change. Until then, the authorised version as at 1 July 2026 is the law. If your contract is signed near the changeover, ask the builder in writing which contract rules it has been drafted under. When you compare pool quotes or look through pool builders in Melbourne, the deposit figure and the price type on page one of each contract are the fastest legality check.

Common questions

Sources

• Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 (Vic), authorised version 094 as at 1 July 2026: ss 3, 5, 11, 13, 14, 15, 31, 34, 35
• Domestic Building Contracts Regulations 2017 (Vic), authorised version 004 as at 1 July 2021: regs 6, 7 and 10
• Consumer Affairs Victoria: preparing a major domestic building contract (last updated 8 July 2025)
• Consumer Affairs Victoria: new domestic building contract laws passed in Victoria (15 September 2025)
• Victorian Government: better domestic building insurance (Home Warranty, contracts over $20,000)

General information only, current at 2026-09-24. Pool rules differ by state and by council, and penalty amounts are updated regularly. Confirm your own obligations with your council or a registered inspector before acting.