Class 3 building manuals in Victoria: rooming houses, student accommodation and hostels

Which buildings are Class 3

NCC Part A6 lists boarding houses, guest houses, hostels, lodging houses, backpacker accommodation, the residential part of a hotel, motel or school, accommodation for the aged, children or people with disability, and residential care buildings.

Neither rooming house nor student accommodation appears in the Class 1b or Class 3 descriptions, so each is classed against them. A rooming house that would ordinarily house no more than 12 people in no more than 300 m² of floor area is Class 1b (see Class 1b building manuals). Student housing built as self-contained units, each a separate dwelling, fits the Class 2 description (see Class 2 building manuals). Halls with shared kitchens and bathrooms are assessed against the Class 3 list.

How a Class 3 manual differs

The 2025 Regulatory Impact Statement allowed 37.5 hours for a Class 3 manual, a day more than Class 2, because Class 3 runs from large hotels to small hostels and record-keeping during construction varies more. It expected about 40 Class 3 manuals a year, under a tenth of the Class 2 number.

Common areas count

In a Class 1b or Class 3 building, reg 205A defines a common area as any area with facilities for occupiers that are not provided inside a sole-occupancy unit, such as a shared kitchen or laundry. The asset list in reg 205C(l) takes in assets there as well as on common property, with the location, replacement cost, maintenance schedule and expected service life of each.

When there is no owners corporation

If the building is on land not affected by an owners corporation, s 44C puts the duty to keep and update the manual on the owner (up to 60 penalty units for a person, 300 for a body corporate). For a Class 3 building, reg 205H(4)(b) also lets the CEO of Homes Victoria inspect the manual at any reasonable time on written request.

From permit to occupancy, and each year after

The sequence is the same as for apartments. The draft goes in with Form 15 (s 41A). The surveyor approves it and returns it with the occupancy permit (s 41B). The permit is attached within 28 days (reg 205D). A Form 26 update follows by the 14th day after each approval anniversary (reg 205F). The occupancy permit briefing covers the timing.

Each update attaches any reg 223 AESM report from the year. Where rooms are rented, it also attaches the electrical and gas safety checks required under s 68B of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 for common property or a common area (reg 205F(3)(j)–(k)). Annual building manual updates sets out the full Form 26 cycle.

What we compile for a Class 3 building

We index the draft to reg 205C, build the common-area and common-property asset list in .xlsx and deliver in .pdf and .xlsx (reg 205G). Indicative prices, ex GST: $2,500 to $6,000 for smaller buildings and $6,000 to $15,000 for 20 or more units or mixed use. Owners can add the annual Form 26 update at $300 to $800 a building.

Questions

Sources: S.R. No. 87/2026 (regs 205A–205I); Building Act 1993 (Vic) ss 41A, 41B and 44C; NCC 2025 Part A6 (A6G2 to A6G4); 2025 Regulatory Impact Statement, section 2.5.4.