Gas cooktops end for new Victorian homes from 1 January 2027 and the permit date decides

A buyer who signs a house-and-land contract in Tarneit or Clyde North in October 2026 does not yet know whether the kitchen can have a gas cooktop. If the builder lodges the building permit application in 2027, the answer is no. The Building and Plumbing Amendment Regulations 2025, gazetted in December 2025 and starting on 1 January 2027, do not look at the contract date at all. They look at whether a building permit existed before 1 January 2027, or whether the building surveyor certifies in writing that substantial progress had been made on the design before that date. Nothing else counts.

That fact is not on the government’s consumer pages. It sits in section 10 of the Building Act 1993, which the new regulations borrow by reference.

What the regulation actually says

Statutory Rule 140 of 2025, the Building and Plumbing Amendment Regulations 2025, was made under the Building Act 1993 and takes effect on 1 January 2027.

“Reticulated gas” is defined in the Building Act as “natural gas that is connected to a building through a gas company’s meter assembly”, so bottled LPG is outside the rule; whether a volume builder will fit an LPG cooktop in a metropolitan estate is a question for the builder, not the regulation.

The permit date, not the contract date, decides

Section 10 of the Building Act 1993 says a new building regulation “does not apply to the carrying out of any building work in accordance with a building permit existing immediately before the building regulation or amendment commences” (subsection 1), and does not apply “if the relevant building surveyor is satisfied, and certifies in writing, that substantial progress was made on the design of the building before the building regulation or amendment commenced” (subsection 2). The Act does not define “substantial progress”. It is the surveyor’s call, and it must be in writing.

So there are exactly two doors. A house whose building permit was issued in 2026 can be plumbed for gas in 2027. A house whose permit is applied for in 2027 can only have gas if the surveyor certifies that the design had made substantial progress before 1 January 2027. A signed contract, a paid deposit, a titled lot and a colour selection appointment are not on the list. The government’s August 2025 fact sheet says the same in plain words. The certificate route is a possibility, not a promise. It depends on how far the drawings, energy report and engineering had gone by New Year’s Eve, and on a surveyor being prepared to sign.

The questions for the builder, in writing, are short. When will the permit application be lodged. Will the permit be issued before 1 January 2027. If not, will the surveyor certify substantial design progress under section 10(2). If the answers are no, the house will be all-electric, and the inclusions list should be read on that basis before the cooling-off period ends.

What happens to the gas already in an existing home

For an established house in Truganina or Cobblebank with a gas cooktop and gas ducted heating, the government’s standards page is unqualified: there is no mandatory upgrade for space heating or gas cooktop cooking, though the government “encourages existing homeowners to make this change to lower the cost of their energy bills”. The 24 June 2025 release that announced the package said “there are no changes to gas cooking in existing homes”. A broken gas cooktop or heater can be replaced with a new gas one.

Hot water is different. From 1 March 2027, the standards page says, a gas hot water unit in an existing home that “breaks and cannot be repaired” can no longer be replaced with another gas unit. Repair is still allowed.

The money for owners who move first is on the official pages. The Victorian Energy Upgrades hot water page lists “up to $560” for a heat pump replacing gas and “up to $1,560 off when you combine a Solar Homes hot water rebate with a Victorian Energy Upgrades discount”, with “a further $400 rebate” for a locally made product. Solar Victoria’s page puts its rebate at “up to $1,000”, or “up to $1,400” for a locally made unit, for an owner-occupier with combined household taxable income “less than $150,000 per year”, a property “under $3 million” and a system “at least 3 years old”. The standards page says a heat pump saves “around $400 a year” against gas.

What a renter can expect from 1 March 2027

Renters are covered by a separate instrument, the Residential Tenancies Amendment (Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards) Regulations 2025, with standards that start in phases from 1 March 2027. Gas cooktops are not among them. A renter’s gas stove is untouched.

From 1 March 2027, when a heater or hot water system in a rental fails and cannot be repaired, it must be replaced with an energy-efficient system. A working gas heater or gas hot water unit does not have to go.

At the start of a new lease, or when a fixed term rolls over to month-to-month, from 1 March 2027 the rental provider must have installed fixed energy-efficient cooling in the main living area, 4-star WELS shower heads in every shower, and R5.0 ceiling insulation where none is installed. From 1 July 2030 all rental properties must have cooling installed, whatever the lease status.

Induction and the Indian kitchen

The regulation says nothing about how people cook, and this article reports the rule rather than a view on it. Cooking on a flame carries weight in many Indian households, and the practical questions deserve answers from the one official source that addresses them, the Victorian Energy Upgrades induction cooktop buyer’s guide, updated 30 June 2026.

Does the pressure cooker work on induction. The guide does not mention pressure cookers, but its test for pans applies: “place a fridge magnet onto the base of the pan. If it does not stick, then it may not work with induction.” Cookware needs a ferrous metal base, which the guide lists as iron, cast iron, enamelled iron and some stainless steel alloys, and some makers sell aluminium or copper pans with a magnetised base. A plain aluminium cooker without a magnetised base will not heat.

Does a tawa work. A flat iron tawa is ferrous and passes the magnet test. A round-bottomed kadai is the harder case. The guide says “curved woks designed for gas cooktops may not work very well with an induction cooktop”, notes that some models have “a sunken wok zone”, and recommends “purchasing a flat bottom wok suitable for induction cooking”.

Is there enough heat for a tadka. Zones “typically reach between 1600W and 3000W”, and a boost function “increases the power output of one cooking zone by diverting power from an adjacent zone” to “create a hotter surface for faster searing”, which can exceed 4000W. Most induction cooktops “require more than 15 amps of current, which is above that commonly found in standard residential circuits”, so an existing home may need “a new dedicated circuit” or a switchboard upgrade. A new all-electric house is wired for it from the start.

What does switching an existing kitchen cost. The guide gives cooktops “from around $600 to over $6000”, installation of “$600 and $1200” for hardwiring, and “$250 and $500” for a licensed gasfitter to cap the gas line. The Victorian Energy Upgrades cooktop discount, is up to $140 per product, for a household with “a current gas cooktop to replace” in a home “built at least 2 years ago”. Private rentals are eligible; portable plug-in units are not. For a new-build buyer, the questions are which induction model is in the standard inclusions, whether a model with a wok zone is offered as an upgrade and at what price, and whether the rangehood is ducted outside.

Where the politics sits before 28 November

The package was announced on 24 June 2025 by then Premier Jacinta Allan, who said “families will pay less on their energy bills, industry will get the gas it needs”. Then Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D’Ambrosio said “we’re taking action now to secure Victoria’s gas supply”. Harriet Shing, then Minister for Housing and Building, said “new building regulations and standards will provide certainty for households and businesses, improve energy efficiency, and help to keep bills low”, and Nick Staikos, then Minister for Consumer Affairs and now Minister for Housing, Building and Precincts, said the rental standards make “rental properties safer, more comfortable and more energy efficient”.

No statement on the regulations by the Victorian Liberal Party or Opposition Leader Jess Wilson was found on the party’s website as at 17 September 2026, and this article does not speculate on what a change of government on 28 November 2026 would mean for a rule that starts five weeks later. The Carroll government has published nothing to suggest a delay.

For a buyer, the position on 17 September 2026 is this. The contract date is irrelevant and the building permit is everything. If the permit will not be issued this year, ask the builder now whether the surveyor will certify substantial design progress under section 10(2), and get the answer in writing before the cooling-off period closes. If the house will be all-electric, read the inclusions list for the cooktop and the rangehood, and test every pressure cooker and tawa with a fridge magnet. If the house is already built, nothing forces the gas cooktop or the ducted heater out, and the hot water rule only bites on a unit that fails after 1 March 2027 and cannot be repaired, with up to $1,560 in rebates for those who move first. Renters should watch the 1 March 2027 lease date and know that their gas stove is not on the list.