An unsigned contract and an excessive deposit have cost a landscaper almost $2,800 in fines and costs, following a prosecution by the Building Commissioner. At Midland Magistrates Court last month, the man from Ocean Reef pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Home Building Contracts Act 1991 . He was granted a spent conviction and ordered to pay fines totalling $2,200 and costs of $593.80. The...

A Cowaramup-based builder has been fined $1,500 by the Building Services Board for not complying with an order to rectify issues at a property near Mandurah. The recent penalty against Mark Anthony Wells (BC12740), trading as Mark Wells Designs, follows a separate payment of more than $23,000 last year in relation to the same property. During 2016, the owner of the Madora Bay home identified...

Local governments are working to clear a backlog of inspections of private pool safety barriers in the wake of an Ombudsman Western Australia report on children drowning. The law requires that WA local councils inspect private pools in their jurisdiction at least once every four years to ensure they have complying fences or other safety barriers. In last year’s investigation report on ways to...

In the wake of a sudden ceiling collapse at a Thornlie property last week, home owners are reminded to act promptly on warning signs of ceiling stress. The Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety has published a handy guide for home owners about signs of instability in interior gypsum plasterboard ceilings and what action can be taken. “A collapsed ceiling can cause serious injury, as...