The Building Services Board has imposed fines totalling $12,000 in relation to a Mandurah short-stay accommodation development where substantial construction took place without a building permit.

The builder, Kerry George Parsons (BP/BC4277) of Jandakot, submitted a building permit application to the City of Mandurah in March 2016 for the five-unit waterfront development valued at $400,000.

The application included a certificate of design compliance (CDC) signed by building surveyor Matthew James Deal (BSP370) and issued by his Noranda-based company, Inclusive Building Consultants Pty Ltd (BSC385).

The Board was told the City identified safety and access issues in the plans and found the CDC lacked sufficient detail to show compliance with building codes and standards. As a result, a building permit was not issued at that time.

In May 2016, while still liaising with Mr Deal and Mr Parsons to address the concerns, the City discovered that substantial building work had been carried out at the site, including foundations, roof components and floor and wall frames.

Mr Parsons stopped construction on the project until a building permit for the remaining work was issued in November 2016, which followed retrospective approval in July 2016 for the unauthorised work.

At its November 2018 meeting, the Board fined Mr Parsons $5,000 under the Building Services (Registration) Act 2011 for negligence by carrying out a building service in the absence of a building permit.

Mr Deal was also found to have engaged in negligent or incompetent conduct for authorising the CDC when a number of access and safety elements did not comply with applicable building standards. Mr Deal and his company were each fined $3,500 for respectively signing and issuing the document.

Building Commissioner Saj Khan welcomed the Board’s findings.

“The penalties in this case reflect the seriousness of the conduct,” he said.

“Builders must obtain the permit holder’s legal authority before commencing work. Without it, they cannot be certain about conditions that apply to the project and they risk embedding errors even in the earliest stages.

“Similarly, a building surveyor must only sign a certificate of design compliance when all applicable building standards will be met in the proposed work.

“We will continue to hold to account and name those who put the public interest and integrity of the building industry at risk.”

See the Building and Energy website or contact 1300 489 099 for more information on the building approvals process and other resources.

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Note: BP, BC, BSP and BSC numbers refer to registration as a building practitioner, building contractor, building surveying practitioner or building surveying contractor. The registers of building service providers are available online (dmirs.wa.gov.au).

Media contact: 0466 409 828 or bemedia@demirs.wa.gov.au