Building contractors have been reminded that they must only do the type of work that their licence permits, after thousands of dollars in fines were recently issued to two licensees.
The Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) has taken the action to ensure that the appropriate licence is used for the type of building work.
In one instance, an individual with a termite-management licence performed repairs and renovation work in excess of $40,000 at an Ingham property. Some of the work was found to be defective.
A court fined the man $6,500 and ordered him to pay $11,000 in restitution to the owners of the property.
The man was charged with two counts of carrying out, or undertaking to carry out, unlicensed contracting (he did not have an appropriate licence).
Meanwhile, a Brisbane-based building company has been penalised more than $13,000 for constructing patios in southeast Queensland and northern NSW without the appropriate licence.
The company performed the work despite a warning from the QBCC that it did not have the required class of licence for that type of work.
QBCC Commissioner, Brett Bassett, said building work must only ever be performed with the appropriate licence, to ensure that a licensee was sufficiently qualified and experienced to do the work required.
“This way, home owners are protected from potentially defective work and a level playing field is maintained for contractors who hold the appropriate licence for the work,” Mr Bassett said.