If your project has stalled or is running late, you may be able to get a building permit extension of time from your building surveyor. The catch is timing: you must apply before the relevant commencement or completion date on your permit. Once that date passes with the work not started or not finished, the permit lapses and can’t be extended.
Our building surveyors help owners, builders and vendors with permits close to lapsing, permits that already have, and permits left behind when the original surveyor is no longer available.
Building permit expiry is tied to two dates your building surveyor records on the permit: when work must start and when it must be finished. The default limits in regulations 53 and 54 of the Building Regulations 2018 are:
Shorter limits apply to re-erected buildings. If work hasn’t started by the commencement date, or isn’t finished by the completion date, the permit lapses under regulation 55 and is no longer in force. Any building work carried out after that is illegal.
The person who applied for the building permit applies in writing to the relevant building surveyor before the commencement or completion date passes. Apply early, because the surveyor can only extend the date while the permit is current. We suggest including:
The surveyor decides whether the extent of the building work warrants an extension and must notify the applicant of any new date without delay. A refusal can be appealed to the Building Appeals Board.
An expired building permit (the legal term is lapsed) can’t be extended, but there’s usually a way forward:
The surveyor may refuse approval or ask for work to be exposed, and extra fees may apply. If work continued after the lapse, see our page on illegal building works.
Whether your permit is weeks from its completion date or already past it, the first steps are the same. The sooner we see your paperwork, the more options you’re likely to have.
Send us the building permit, stamped plans, inspection records and recent site photos. We’ll check the dates on the permit, which mandatory inspections are done, and who the relevant building surveyor is.
We’ll explain your options: an extension of time, a new permit for the remaining work, or going straight to final inspection. If another surveyor issued the permit, we’ll explain how to change surveyors.
If we’re your surveyor, we assess the extension application against the work left to do. If the permit is moving to us, we’ll confirm in writing that we accept the appointment.
We carry out any outstanding mandatory inspections and the final inspection, check the compliance certificates, then issue the certificate of final inspection or occupancy permit so the job is formally closed.
Yes, but not simply by hiring someone new. An owner can’t end a private building surveyor’s appointment without consent from the Building and Plumbing Commission (BPC), which replaced the Victorian Building Authority on 1 July 2025. This affects a lapsed building permit too, as a new permit application goes to the original surveyor unless their appointment has ended. The main routes are:
Disagreeing with a decision isn’t a ground; appeal to the Building Appeals Board instead. The BPC explains the process.
Surveyors retire, fall ill, die, or have their registration suspended or cancelled. The BPC calls the permits they leave behind detached permits: incomplete, with no certificate of final inspection or occupancy permit, which can create legal, financial and safety risks.
If the surveyor has died or their registration has been suspended or cancelled, the owner can notify the BPC of their intention to appoint a new surveyor, with a letter from that surveyor accepting the appointment. The BPC also keeps a register of surveyors willing to take on detached permits, and council keeps a register of permits lodged with it.
If there’s a home on the land, the vendor statement (section 32) must include particulars of any building permit issued in the preceding seven years, under the Sale of Land Act 1962. If the statement contains incorrect or insufficient information, a buyer may be able to withdraw from the sale.
A disclosed permit with no certificate of final inspection or occupancy permit invites questions: was the work finished and signed off? Consumer Affairs Victoria’s due diligence checklist points buyers to council for information about permits for recent work. If you’re selling, close out any open permit before listing so it doesn’t stall negotiations.
JLN Building Consultants is a building surveying consultancy based in Niddrie, in Melbourne’s north-west, working across Melbourne and regional Victoria. Our directors bring over 20 years of combined experience across construction and building surveying, so we understand why projects stall and what it takes to finish them.
If your completion date is close, contact us before it passes.
Common questions from owners, builders and vendors about extending, expired and lapsed building permits.
No. The application must be made before the relevant commencement or completion date, and the surveyor can only extend the date before the permit lapses. After that, incomplete work needs a new building permit. If the work was finished before the lapse and only compliance certificates are outstanding, you may be able to go straight to final sign-off.
Often, yes. If the surveyor hasn’t inspected the first mandatory stage 30 days before the commencement date, or the final stage 30 days before the completion date, they must send the applicant a notice of imminent lapse, copied to the owner and builder. Don’t rely on it: diarise your dates and apply early.
Yes, once the permit has been transferred to them or the original appointment has ended with BPC consent. A separate notice process applies if your surveyor has died or had their registration suspended or cancelled. The new surveyor will want the permit, plans and inspection records, and may need parts of the work exposed before signing off.
Tell your surveyor straight away. Where it’s reasonably required for an inspection, the surveyor can have building work opened up, cut into or tested, for example to check framing that has already been lined. Our guide to mandatory building inspections explains each stage.
Send us your permit, plans and a few site photos, and we’ll tell you whether to extend, apply for a new permit or close it out. Request a free quote, call 0422 234 951 or email info@jlnconsultants.com.au.
