VBA hands Geelong tradies fines, disciplinary action for building inspection failures

Over the past 18 months, eight Geelong builders and one plumber have been hit with fines and disciplinary action from the Victorian Building Authority.

The VBA has fined and reprimanded almost a dozen building practitioners in the Geelong region in the past 18 months. Picture: AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts

Eight Geelong builders and one plumber have been hit with fines and disciplinary action from the Victorian Building Authority over the past 18 months.

The fines cover a range of issues - including in one case, a celebrity builder from the Block “demanding payment before being entitled to it” - however the majority of cases relate to building surveying failures.

Building surveyors are required to conduct inspections at specific times throughout a construction project.

In December, just months after being crowned South West Regional Builder of the Year, Hamlan Homes was fined $2000 for failing to notify a building surveyor when required to do so.

A month earlier, Borik Investments received the same penalty for a similar breach.

In September 2022, the VBA reprimanded and fined Richard Lewis $3000 for failing in his obligation to carry out work “in a competent manner” when he did not ensure safety precautions were inspected by a building surveyor during the demolition of an Ocean Grove property.

Hamlan Homes won Best Custom Home valued $800,000-$1m for this Torquay house at the 2022 MBAV South West Region Building Awards. In December, the company was fined $2,000.

Geelong builder David Silver was fined $2000 after a surveyor was not able to inspect the foundations of a project in Corio before construction continued.

Melbourne builders Gallery Homes was fined $4000 in October after continuing a build in Curlewis without approval or “rectifying” previously identified issues.

It was the latest in a series of disciplinary actions against the company since May 2021 for projects spanning Victoria, with fines adding up to $9500.

Even surveyors themselves can come under scrutiny by the VBA.

In December 2021, surveyor Benjamin Smith was fined $6000 for “numerous failures” at a site where he was the relevant building surveyor.

Dean Bertuch, managing director of Geelong-based building surveying firm BSA, said the vast majority of builders followed the rules.

“Our experience is that most builders are doing the right thing and calling inspections at the right time,” Mr Bertuch said.

“There’s the consumer protection issue; the consumer expectation is that they’re going to get a building that is code compliant.

“Building permit must be approved, and the builder needs to build to those documents.

“There’s a risk there that if we haven’t seen what’s been constructed, then it may not be complaint.”

Commercial builder Daniel Muir was told to pay $6000 in August 2021, directed to undertake training and suspended for three months after adding a parapet to a building’s facade that did not comply with the building permit.

Muir had also failed to ensure the City of Greater Geelong had ticked off footpath closures around the site.

Calling for mandatory inspections was an important way to maintain building standards, Mr Bertuch said.

“We’re not supervisors for projects… we’re not there 24/7, we can’t see everything,” he said.

“That’s why we have mandatory inspection phases to allow us to monitor a project’s progress along the way.”

David Brockman, the VBA’s executive director of regulatory operations, said the authority had strict guidelines that needed to be followed to ensure safety.

“We expect practitioners in the City of Greater Geelong to comply with rules which are in place to ensure that the buildings we live and work in are safe and of good quality,” Mr Brockman said.

“Our role is to ensure practitioners understand how to do things correctly, and discourage risky, harmful or illegal behaviour in the building and plumbing industries.”

Recently, the VBA has implemented a “targeted inspection approach” as part of its Proactive Inspection Program.

Originally published as VBA hands Geelong tradies fines, disciplinary action for building inspection failures