FINES ARE TELEPHONE NUMBERS

SPHERES OF INFLUENCE

Hats off to the Herald Sun journalist for the recent article by Suzan Delibasic about the ~200 shoddy building practitioners. It was informative and provided a table of some of the practitioners who had been either disciplined or prosecuted by the Victorian Building

Authority between 2020-22.

The article raises the following questions:

1. Of the $1.013 million fines issued for financial years 2020-2022, as of 30.8.2022, how

much of those fines have been paid by the practitioners to the VBA?

2. States there were 6,810 complaints about builders & plumbers. How many

complaints were there about building surveyors and other practitioners registered

with the VBA?

3. Why did it take five years to discipline the building surveyor who approved the

combustible cladding?

4. As of 30.08.2022, has the above surveyor paid the $50k fine?

5. Does the VBA check the insurance credentials of the builders, surveyors, and other practitioners annually?

The number of offences is alarming, and the apparent time delays appear extreme given the serious nature of flammable and combustible cladding.

We will follow up and write to the Chair of the VBA, Ms Michelle McLean and the Minister

for (Building) & Planning, Ms Lizzie Blandthorn MP, for an update on the questions raised.

Below is a copy of our draft letter.

BCA LETTER TO EDDY & BLANDTHORN 29.09.2022.pdf

Download PDF • 157KB

Years of neglect and an ongoing inability to clean up the recalcitrant practitioners in the

building industry?

Fiona O’Hehir, the Team & our Community

Having encountered many of these issues, we want to share experiences to assist others in avoiding what we did not. We are not lawyers, nor do we give advice.