How to open a flooring store in Victoria: the setup checklist

Opening a flooring store in Victoria means more than finding a shop and ordering stock. There's a business to set up, a lease to sign, permits to check, insurance to arrange and, once you hire, employer obligations. None of it is hard on its own, but some steps have to happen before others.

This guide puts it all in one checklist, in roughly the order you'll need each item, with links to the official pages that explain the detail.

The short version. Choose a business structure, get an ABN and register your business name. Register for GST when you expect to pass the ATO's threshold. Check the zoning and sign rules with the council before you sign a lease, and have a lawyer read the lease. Arrange insurance, and WorkCover as soon as you'll pay wages. Learn the consumer guarantees that cover every floor you sell and install, and decide how your installers will be engaged.

This is general information, not legal or financial advice. An accountant and a lawyer can tell you what applies to your situation.

What do you need to open a flooring store in Victoria?

Here's the whole list at a glance. The sections below explain each one.

Step	What it involves	Where to start
Business structure	Sole trader, partnership, company or trust	business.gov.au, your accountant
ABN and business name	Register the name you'll trade under	ASIC, Business Registration Service
GST	Register once you expect to reach the threshold	business.gov.au, ATO
Location and permits	Zoning, change of use, signs and car parking	Your local council
Retail lease	Disclosure statement, term and options	Victorian Small Business Commission
Insurance	Public and product liability, contents, vehicles	business.gov.au, an insurance broker
WorkCover	Compulsory once you pay wages above a set level	WorkSafe Victoria
Staff	The right award, pay, super and records	Fair Work Ombudsman, business.gov.au
Installers	Employee or contractor, and building rules	ATO, Consumer Affairs Victoria
Consumer law	Consumer guarantees on products and installs	ACCC, Consumer Affairs Victoria

ABLIS, the government's licence finder, lists what applies to a business type and location, so it's a useful cross-check.

Which business structure should a flooring store use?

business.gov.au describes the main structures. A sole trader is one person legally responsible for every part of the business. A partnership is two or more people sharing the business. A company is a separate legal entity with its own tax and legal obligations. A trust holds business assets for beneficiaries.

The choice affects your tax and personal liability, and it's hard to change later, so talk it through with an accountant before you register anything.

How do you register an ABN and a business name?

You'll need an Australian Business Number (ABN) to trade, invoice and register for GST. According to ASIC, you must register a business name if you trade under anything other than your own name (or, for a company, its registered name). You can apply for the ABN and the business name together through the Business Registration Service.

ASIC points out that a registered business name doesn't give you ownership of the words. If brand protection matters, look at registering a trade mark, and search existing ones before you print signs.

When does a flooring store register for GST?

business.gov.au says you must register for GST once your business's annual sales reach the threshold set by the ATO, and within 21 days of knowing you'll pass it. A new business should register from the start if it expects to reach the threshold in its first year. A flooring showroom selling and installing whole-house jobs will usually be in that position, so most register before opening.

Once registered, you charge GST, claim credits on business purchases and lodge business activity statements. Your accountant will also handle income tax.

Do you need a council permit for a flooring showroom?

Possibly, and it's worth knowing before you sign a lease. Flooring showrooms often sit in homemaker or light-industrial areas, and moving a shop into a building last used as a warehouse can need a planning permit for the change of use. Councils also control signs: Mildura's council, for example, says approval may be needed for business signage on a building, A-frames and temporary signs. Building works and changes to car parking can trigger permits too.

Rules differ by council and by zone, so ask the council's planning team about your exact address. Our guide to choosing a location for a flooring showroom covers what else to look for in a site.

What should you know about a retail lease in Victoria?

Most shop leases in Victoria fall under the Retail Leases Act 2003. The Victorian Small Business Commission (VSBC) explains the main protections:

The documents come first. When negotiations start, the landlord must give you the proposed lease and the VSBC's information brochure for tenants.
A disclosure statement. It must reach you at least 14 days before you enter into the lease, and it sets out the rent, outgoings and term.
A minimum term. Including options, a retail lease must be at least five years, though a tenant can ask for a shorter one.

Ask about make-good obligations, who pays for the fit-out and whether your signs need the landlord's consent as well as the council's. Have a lawyer review the lease before you sign.

What insurance does a flooring store need?

business.gov.au says workers compensation is compulsory if you have employees, and third-party personal injury cover is needed for vehicles, usually through registration. Beyond that, the common covers for a flooring store are:

Public liability, for injury or property damage caused by your negligence, such as a customer tripping over a stack of boxes.
Product liability, for injury or damage caused by goods or services you supply.
Building and contents, for your fit-out, displays and stock, against fire, storms and break-ins.
Goods in transit, for stock on its way to a customer's home.

Your lease will usually require public liability cover. A broker can match policies to your setup.

When do you need WorkCover in Victoria?

According to WorkSafe Victoria's registration listing, an employer must register for WorkCover insurance if it expects to pay more than a set amount in wages in the financial year, or employs apprentices or trainees. The form must be received within 60 days of first meeting those requirements. Company directors who are paid wages count as workers. A sole trader with no employees doesn't need to register, but should look at personal accident cover.

What are your obligations when you hire showroom staff?

A showroom needs a team: people to greet customers, measure, quote and keep the paperwork moving. The Fair Work Ombudsman says the General Retail Industry Award covers the retail sale of goods for household use, including furniture and household goods, so check whether it covers your sales roles.

business.gov.au's guide to hiring employees lists the basics: give each new employee the Fair Work Information Statement, pay super, set up pay-as-you-go withholding, report pay through Single Touch Payroll and keep employment records. For more on the people side, see a week in a flooring showroom.

Do flooring installers need to be registered in Victoria?

Not for floor coverings alone. Consumer Affairs Victoria says domestic building work above a set contract value needs a practitioner registered with the Building and Plumbing Commission, but jobs that involve only one listed type of work, including installing floor coverings, are exempt. The exemption stops applying when a job combines skills. If an install grows to include other trades, like carpentry or wall tiling, check with the Commission.

The bigger question is how you engage installers. The ATO says employees work in and are part of your business, while independent contractors provide services to it, and getting it wrong affects tax, super and other obligations. The ATO's employee or contractor decision tool helps, and super can be payable even to some contractors with an ABN. Ask your accountant before you sign your first installer.

What consumer law applies to selling and installing floors?

Under the Australian Consumer Law, the ACCC explains, products come with consumer guarantees: they must be of acceptable quality, match their description and samples, and be fit for any purpose the customer told you about. Services, including installation, must be provided with due care and skill and within a reasonable time.

These consumer guarantees apply on top of any manufacturer warranty, and a business can't contract out of them. For a flooring store, that means the customer will usually come back to you, not the factory, if a floor fails. Good records help: batch numbers, site conditions, moisture readings and photos of the finished job.

Which of these does a franchise help set up?

A franchise doesn't take away your legal obligations: you still own the business, sign the lease, employ the team and need your own accountant and lawyer. What changes is how much you work out alone.

At National Floors, we find and assess the site with you and fit it out to a tested design. Your showroom runs on the same point of sale, CRM and dashboards our own showrooms use, set up before you open, and you buy at national pricing across 20+ suppliers. Three months of in-store training, 10+ hours of video training and 100+ pages of written procedures cover how the showroom runs, from measures and quotes to installs.

The investment starts from $395,000 + GST, covering the fit-out, opening stock, three months' training and launch marketing. What a flooring franchise costs explains the fees, and how long it takes to open a flooring showroom sets out the timeline. The Franchising Code adds its own steps, including a 14-day cooling-off period, covered in the Franchising Code explained.

Ready to look at a town? Browse the open territories, from Geelong to Mildura.

Questions

Do you need a licence to open a flooring store in Victoria?

There's no single flooring retail licence. You'll need an ABN, a registered business name if you trade under one, GST registration once you expect to reach the threshold, any council permits for the site and signs, and WorkCover once you pay wages. ABLIS lists what applies in your area.

Do flooring installers need to be registered with the Building and Plumbing Commission?

Not for jobs that involve only installing floor coverings, according to Consumer Affairs Victoria. A job that combines several skills above the set contract value needs a registered practitioner, so check with the Commission when a job grows.

Is a customer's flooring warranty the manufacturer's problem or the store's?

Both can apply. Consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law sit on top of any manufacturer warranty and can't be excluded, so the customer can usually come to the store that sold or installed the floor.

Do I need flooring experience to open a store?

No. 70% of our successful managers came from other industries. A National Floors franchise includes three months of training in our trading showrooms. Check whether your area is open.