Building surveyor’s mistakes highlight high cost of noncompliance
A Western Australian building surveyor has received a second set of fines and an order to complete further education after multiple breaches were found across several buildings.
Matthew James Deal, the sole director of building surveying contractor Inclusive Building Consultants Pty Ltd, has been compelled to complete further study and pay $15,000 in fines due to errors and substandard work while certifying five buildings.
The Noranda-based businessman admitted to the state administrative tribunal that his company engaged in negligent and misleading conduct while carrying out building surveying services.
Certificates of design compliance (CDCs) and a certificate of building compliance (CBC) were signed by Mr Deal and issued by Inclusive Building Consultants in relation to five buildings in Bennett Springs, Midland, Belmont and Cottesloe.
Through a CDC, a building surveyor declares a building will comply with applicable building standards if it is constructed in accordance with the plans and specifications. A CBC declares that the completed building does comply with applicable standards.
But the certificates provided by Mr Deal were found to contain multiple inaccuracies, inconsistencies and missing or insufficient information.
The CDC for a construction site in Maitland noted technical documents for a building of two storeys or more, while also referring to engineering information that clearly indicated a single-storey construction.
At another Midland location, noncompliance was discovered within structural matters, fire-rated construction, fire services, accessibility, stairs, fall protection, sound transmission and energy efficiency.
In Bennett Springs, a proposed door entry to a multi-unit dwelling’s swimming pool area was certified as compliant, even though special approval from the permit authority had not been sought, as required by building regulations.
And an initial CDC classified a Cottesloe apartment complex as a single dwelling. Even when the certificate was reissued with the correct building class, references to this error remained, while other documents referred to in the CDC lacked necessary detail.
Mr Deal was also discovered to have provided the CBC for a mezzanine floor at a Belmont warehouse without inspecting it. Further, the CBC and related documents lacked key information such as the mezzanine’s intended use and sufficiently detailed building plans.
Mr Deal was ordered to pay $13,000 and must complete two units of study by January 2025 through Central Queensland University’s Associate Degree of Building Surveying. His company, Inclusive Building Consultants, was fined $2,000.
This is the second penalty Mr Deal has accrued. In 2018, the company was fined $7,000 by the Building Services Board for negligent or incompetent conduct by providing a CDC for a Mandurah accommodation development that was found to have failures in access and safety.
Building and energy executive director Saj Abdoolakhan used this opportunity to remind building surveyors of the high cost of making mistakes.
“Any irregularities can affect the safety, health and amenity of the building occupants, so a thorough and diligent approach is essential when certifying that building plans and building work demonstrate compliance,” Mr Abdoolakhan said.
“In this case, the certifications fell far short of the expected standards and did not demonstrate that the proposed and existing building work would comply with the applicable building standards.”
Last year, Western Australia’s Building and Energy department published a code of conduct for building surveyors, with the intention of developing a code of practice for the industry.