A Bunbury tradesman has been convicted of eight building offences related to a renovation project that was still incomplete when the elderly client passed away.
Gregory Noel John Hall, trading as Longhorn Building Company and Down South Bathroom Renovations, did not attend Bunbury Magistrates Court on 15 July 2024 when he was ordered to pay $6,100 in fines and costs.
According to information presented in court by Building and Energy, the client's daughter engaged Mr Hall to carry out renovations at her father's Bunbury home.
The work included renovating the kitchen, bathroom and laundry, structural alterations to the roof frame, replacing the roof sheeting and ceilings, installing new doorways and window frames, and removing walls and asbestos sheeting.
Mr Hall was paid a total of $37,635 for the work, which was never finished.
The court was told only a registered building service contractor could legally carry out the project because it was valued at more than $20,000 and required a building permit.
Mr Hall has never been a registered builder.
The homeowner was also not provided with a home indemnity insurance certificate, a compulsory requirement to protect homeowners facing defective or incomplete building work in certain circumstances.
The court heard Mr Hall further breached WA's building contract laws by accepting a 69.4 per cent deposit when a maximum of 6.5 per cent is allowed before commencing residential building work valued at $7,500 or more.
In addition, four contracts provided to the owner by Mr Hall were not signed or dated and were missing the full terms and conditions. A contract variation was also non-compliant.
Magistrate Joanne Andretich noted the elderly man had died before seeing the works on his house completed, adding that Mr Hall had a "very laissez faire" approach to contracting and consumers should expect "those performing building works are correctly registered as builders".
Building Commissioner Saj Abdoolakhan said Mr Hall's conduct was unacceptable.
"Building laws in Western Australia are ultimately about ensuring we have safe and compliant buildings," he said.
"Disregard for the rules puts homeowners 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. 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."
