Unregistered builder in hot water over charging 10x legal deposit

Hall did not attend the Bunbury Magistrates Court, where he was ordered to pay $6,100 in fines and costs.

The charges related to a renovation project that he had been contracted to complete by an elderly client, who passed away before the work was finished.

The client’s daughter engaged Hall to carry out renovations to the kitchen, bathrooms, laundry, roof, walls and doorways of her father’s house, including removing asbestos sheeting.

Hall was paid a 69.4 per cent deposit – or $37,635 – for the work, despite Western Australia’s building contract laws specifying that builders can charge a maximum deposit of 6.5 per cent for residential building work valued at $7,500 or more.

In addition, Hall has never been a registered builder, even though only registered building service contractors are legally permitted to carry out work valued at $20,00 that requires a building permit.

The four contracts provided by Hall were not signed or dated and were missing the full terms and conditions. The home owner was also not provided with a home indemnity insurance certificate, which would protect him in the case of defective or incomplete building work.

Magistrate Joanne Andretich told the court that Hall had a “very laissez-faire approach” to contracting.

Western Australia’s building commissioner, Saj Abdoolakhan, stated that Hall’s conduct was unacceptable, noting that “disregard for the rules puts home owners at risk and undermines building industry participants who follow the registration, insurance, contract and deposit requirements”.

“The home building works in this case were far beyond the limit allowed by an unregistered person,” said Abdoolakhan.

“Consumers are encouraged to seek evidence of a builder’s contractor registration before entering into a building contract valued at more than $20,000 and requiring a building permit.”

The building commissioner added: “Building laws in Western Australia are ultimately about ensuring we have safe and compliant buildings.”