In regional Victoria, a modular home needs far fewer trades on site than a kit home. A kit is a frame and materials that are assembled on your block by you or a builder, so plumbers, electricians, plasterers and tilers all still have to come out. A modular home arrives finished from the factory, and the site crew mainly does footings, the lift and the connections.
This page is about Victorian permits and towns where trades are short. For the general national comparison, read our page on the difference between a kit home and a modular home in Australia.
Trades on site: the real difference
With a kit, every stage after the frame is a trade booking: roof, windows, rough-in, insulation, lining, wet areas, joinery, painting. In a town where one plasterer serves several districts, each booking can mean a wait. With a modular home, most of those stages happen in the factory before the truck leaves. What is left on your block is the footing system, the crane lift, the joins between modules, the final service connections and any deck or carport.
The shortage is well documented. At a Parliament of Victoria Environment and Planning Committee hearing on 6 May 2025, the HIA reported shortages of trades, builders, building surveyors and engineers, and witnesses urged offsite construction. The same hearing heard that 90% of regional dwellings are detached houses, which is the house type a kit or a module most often replaces.
Permits in Victoria: the same for both
A kit does not avoid the permit process, and nor does a module. Both are typically Class 1a, confirmed by your building surveyor. Both need:
- A building permit from a registered building surveyor.
- Structural design signed by a PERA-registered structural engineer.
- An energy rating by an accredited NatHERS assessor.
- A planning permit where the zone or an overlay requires one.
A small second dwelling up to 80 m2 usually needs no planning permit under VC253 as updated by VC306 (October 2026). A building permit is always needed. Our page on small second dwelling rules in Victoria covers the conditions.
Building work on a home, including its design, above the value set in Victorian law must be contracted by a registered builder. If you plan to assemble a kit yourself as an owner builder, check the Victorian owner builder rules before you buy. With us, design, permit documentation and construction are contracted by our sister company DST Project Management and Construction Pty Ltd, registered domestic builder CDB-U 72187, and EcoPrestige supplies the modules. See our Domestic Program.
Which towns suit which
A kit can suit someone with building skills, time and a reliable local crew, perhaps on a farm where the owner can manage trades over a long period. A modular home suits owners in towns where builders are short, prices are high or the owner simply cannot run trades for months. HIA figures quoted by the Nationals on 26 October 2026 show trade prices rose 18.1% in regional Victoria over the past year, while they fell 3.1% in Melbourne, so each extra trade visit costs more in the regions.
Remote towns in the Wimmera and East Gippsland show the pattern. See our pages on modular construction in Horsham and the Wimmera and modular construction in Bairnsdale and East Gippsland.
Where a modular home does not fit
A kit can be carried in pieces down a track no truck could manage, so a very remote or steep site may suit a kit better. A modular home needs a truck route and room for a crane. The structural steel frame is fabricated in an offsite factory and inspected there by the project engineer. The supply price is quoted for your site.
What to send us
- 1. Your address and nearest town.
- 2. The kit plan you were looking at, if any.
- 3. Bedrooms, bathrooms and floor area.
- 4. Photos of the access road and the block.
- 5. Any survey, soil test or bushfire rating.
- 6. Your move-in date.
Related: kit homes Traralgon | kit homes Warrnambool | modular homes Albury-Wodonga | granny flats Bendigo | custom modular buildings
FAQ: kit homes and modular homes in Victoria
Does a kit home or a modular home need fewer trades in regional Victoria?
A modular home. A kit is assembled on site, so most trades still come to your block. A modular home arrives finished from the factory.
Does a kit home avoid a building permit in Victoria?
No. A kit home and a modular home both need a building permit from a registered building surveyor.
Is a kit home better for a very remote site?
Sometimes. A kit can travel in pieces where no truck carrying a module can go, and a module needs room for a crane.
Who contracts a modular home in Victoria with EcoPrestige?
Our sister company DST Project Management and Construction Pty Ltd, registered domestic builder CDB-U 72187, contracts the design, permit documentation and construction. EcoPrestige supplies the modules.
Can a small second dwelling skip the planning permit?
A small second dwelling up to 80 m2 usually needs no planning permit under VC253 as updated by VC306 (October 2026). A building permit is always needed.
Weighing a kit home against a modular home?
Send the site, the use and any drawings to prebuilt@ecoprestige.com.au or download our technical brochures.