Domestic Building Insurance (DBI) is required for all domestic building projects, where the contract price is over $16,000.
DBI protects homeowners in the event that their building project cannot be completed or has defective works which cannot be rectified as their builder has:
- died, disappeared or become insolvent; or
- or failed to comply with a Tribunal or Court Order where DBI was issued by VMIA on or after 1 July 2015.
In Victoria it is the builder's responsibility to purchase DBI for the building project on behalf of the homeowner.
Before a builder can purchase DBI for any particular building project they must first be given approval by VMIA. We refer to this as the builder's ‘eligibility’ to purchase domestic building insurance.
You can find out if your builder is eligible to purchase DBI from us by completing a builder search.
- The builder must have DBI cover for the contracted building project before they request any money from the homeowner.