Officers from the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) have visited properties in Brisbane, Logan, the Lockyer Valley and Gympie that were damaged in February’s freak storms and flooding.
The QBCC officers interviewed 89 people at 25 building sites on nine days during August and September but found no unlicensed contractors or other building-related concerns.
QBCC Commissioner, Anissa Levy, says the result was a positive outcome but she reminds any home owners dealing with flood damage to only ever use licensed contractors.
“This has been a positive outcome, in that local families who have had the stress of dealing with damage to their homes are not being subjected to shoddy or illegal repair work by unlicensed contractors,” Ms Levy says.
“Our officers are reporting back to us that the message about only using licensed contractors appears to be getting through and locals can feel confident that their homes are being repaired by licensees with the appropriate skills and qualifications.”
Ms Levy says QBCC boots on the ground in areas affected by natural disasters helps to deter unlicensed ‘storm chasers’ seeking to cash in on unsuspecting and vulnerable home owners.
Unlicensed contractors can be fined up to $2,875 and repeat offenders can face prosecution in court, where magistrates have the ability to fine them up to $35,937.
For unlicensed companies the maximum fine is $179,687.
During the compliance operations, QBCC officers have also been providing information to contractors and home owners on what they need to be aware of when repairing waterdamaged properties.
Despite the positive outcome with these audits, the QBCC urges anyone seeking to have building work done to only ever use licensed contractors by using the Find a Local Contractor search function on the QBCC website.