Paul Bongioletti Homes Pty Ltd faces court

A successful Bundaberg builder and former council candidate has been ordered to finish a home after a woman was left without plumbing, power and a long list of incomplete features.

A woman was left thousands of dollars out of pocket after her Gayndah home was left unfinished by a successful Bundaberg builder who also ran for his local council in 2016.

In a decision recently released by the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT), it was revealed Roslyn Ingles engaged Paul Bongioletti Homes (PBH) on December 20, 2014 to build a new, low set home situated on a vacant lot at 8 Petaluma Court, Gayndah.

According to court documents, the contract price inclusive of GST, was $220,000 with the amount to be partially satisfied by 44,000 trade dollars to a value of $44,000.

However, the contract was varied to Ms Ingle’s credit in an amount of $35,378 and she paid $187,000.00 to PBH for the work.

Construction started in June 2016 and remained incomplete for more than six years after the contract was entered.

Ms Ingles made 14 complaints of a contractual breach against Paul Bongioletti in September, 2021.

She claimed PBH did not have a current permit to build the house and an engineer could not inspect the works for certification of the home as it was incomplete and differed from the certified plans.

She alleged incomplete works included plumbing, electrical, flyscreens to windows and sliding doors, sarking in the roof, driveway, a retaining wall, turf and landscaping, clothes line, three bay garage, letter box, fencing, TV antenna, repairs to concrete defects and house cleaning.

The business owner and former Division Three candidate argued the reason the work had not been completed was because he had not received a deposit of $44,000 in money or trade dollars from Ms Ingles.

Paul Bongioletti ran for Bundaberg Regional Council in 2016.

He claimed that if trade dollars had value, he would have been able to complete the job.

When asked in cross examination why he started construction on the home and continued if he had an issue with trade dollars, Mr Bongioletti said he wanted to minimise the stress to Ms Ingles.

Mr Bongioletti stated he was prepared to do a variation at the end to mitigate cost and the time frame of the job.

However, Ms Ingles maintained PBH started the build after receiving her trade dollars.

There was also no evidence put to the Tribunal that Mr Bongioletti disputed trade dollars as part of the contract.

Ms Ingles said both parties had experience of using trade dollars and it was not credible for Mr Bongioletti to say he had little or no understanding of trade dollars.

Tribunal Member Fitzpatrick addressed both parties in delivering his outcome on January 25 2022, saying he found the “countervailing facts and evidence to be compelling”.

“In a commercial context it is improbable that a builder would start work without payment of a deposit and continue to perform work through the base stage and the frame stage without any funds either in Australian dollars or trade dollars, if he was not satisfied that funds in some form were available,” he said.

“The fact that there is no evidence of an invoice or a demand for payment is consistent with a finding that trade dollars were available to PBH.

“PBH has taken the sum of $44,000.00 into account when invoicing Ms Ingles.

“There is no reason to believe that he would do so unless he was satisfied that he had access to that amount.

“Based on my findings of fact and the evidence set out, I consider it is more probable than not that PBH agreed to provision of 44,000 trade dollars as part of the consideration for construction of a house for Ms Ingles.”

Mr Fitzpatrick ordered Roslyn Ann Ingles have electricity and telecommunications connected and electricity and airconditioning installed at her own cost to enable the completion of contract works and must advise PBH in writing when the works have been completed.

She must also pay the remaining progress payment of $9,372.

Mr Fitzpatrick ordered Paul Bongioletti Homes Pty Ltd must co-operate with Roslyn Ann Ingles to enable compliance, including by provision of keys and access to the property, and must complete the contract works in accordance with the original terms of the contract from December 2014.

PBH must complete the contract works within a reasonable time and with reasonable diligence.

Paul Bongioletti Homes Pty Ltd was also ordered to pay Ms Ingles $33,000 for liquidated damages.