Authorities revoke luxury builder’s rego, leaving 230 customers with unfinished homes

About 230 customers have been left with unfinished homes after authorities revoked a luxury builder’s registration.

Authorities have revoked the registration of a luxury builder, leaving more than 230 customers with unfinished homes, some waiting more than four years for their builds to be completed.

The Building Services Board has refused to renew the building contractor registration of Projex Management and Construction, which trades as Nicheliving in Perth.

The board issued a statement saying it was not satisfied the company met the financial requirements for registration and has been banned from carrying out any building or contract work valued at $20,000 or more.

Homeowners who have waited years for their houses to be completed can now make a claim of up to $200,000 on the builder’s home indemnity insurance (HII) and consider other options to complete their build.

More than 230 customers have been affected.

Just weeks ago, Nicheliving director Ronnie Michel-Elhaj issued a statement saying the company had decided not to take on any new construction work so they could meet their current obligations.

“We have recently completed 26 homes in the last few weeks alone, with many more completions to follow,” he said.

But building commissioner Saj Abdoolakhan said building contractors needed the capacity to meet debts when they fell due and show they had financial means to complete building contracts.

“Applications are thoroughly assessed to ensure registration is granted only to building service providers who meet a range of requirements set out in legislation,” he said.

An artist’s impression of Nicheliving apartments. Picture: Supplied

“The registration and renewal rules provide important consumer protections and bolster the confidence of all participants in WA’s building and construction industry.

“The board’s decision will no doubt be welcomed by many homeowners who have faced significant stress and delays to their projects with this company.”

Opposition Leader Shane Love said the builder’s deregistration would cost West Australian taxpayers more than $40m.

Opposition Leader Shane Love said the builder’s deregistration was expected to cost the West Australian government more than $40m in HII payments.

“Some of which may have been avoided had the government listened to the concerns of customers and other builders and taken action,” he said.

“It’s clear the writing has been on the wall for Nicheliving for many months, yet the state government has sat on their hands and ignored the concerns raised by WA families and tradespeople for too long.

“While I welcome the decision of the Building Services Board, it is concerning that it only came as part of an ordinary review process and that the state government did not direct the building commissioner to look at this matter sooner.”

Premier Roger Cook told reporters people should contact their insurers to arrange alternative builders as soon as possible. Picture: NewsWire / Kelly Barnes

Premier Roger Cook told reporters that he felt for the families and people who were waiting for their homes to be built and wanted to get their homes completed as soon as possible.

“Now we need those people to be able to reach out to our insurers under the home insurance indemnity arrangements so that we can get alternative builders in there as soon as possible,” he said.

“We want to get those people’s homes built. We want to get them in their homes as soon as possible.

“It’s unacceptable that people who enter into a contract with this company, under the expectation that they’ll have a home built, have been waiting so long.”