Queensland’s building industry watchdog has issued a public warning about Brisbane man Miroslav Bolfan in relation to building-related offences that include unlicensed and noncompliant electrical and plumbing work.

The Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) has issued the warning against Mr Bolfan and related business names that include MBN Australia, MBN, MBN Australia Bathroom Renovations and Tiling and MBN Cars.

Mr Bolfan has illegally used several different QBCC licence numbers, an expired licence number, and posed as two current QBCC licence holders by using their licence numbers.

The QBCC urges consumers, contractors and suppliers to be cautious in their dealings with Mr Bolfan and his businesses, and to exercise extreme caution and seek legal advice before making any payments, to protect their interests.

QBCC Commissioner, Brett Bassett, said that Mr Bolfan’s work was unlicensed and noncompliant, and posed a threat to public safety. “To help safeguard home owners, electrical and plumbing work must only ever be carried out by licensed individuals, which Mr Bolfan is not,” Mr Bassett said.

The QBCC is aware of several complaints about unlawful conduct by Mr Bolfan, and is concerned that he continues to carry out or undertake to carry out unlawful building work.

“We are also concerned that he continues to unlawfully advertise, pretends to be a licensee, fails to provide a compliant contract and takes excess deposits,” Mr Bassett said.

Mr Bolfan is believed to have performed work in Brisbane suburbs that include Bardon and Riverhills.

The QBCC strongly encourages consumers to only ever use appropriately licensed individuals, regardless of the size of a project,

The free licence check on the QBCC website will confirm if a person is licensed appropriately, and if necessary, consumers should ask for proof of a person’s identity.

The QBCC website also offers a free Find a Local Contractor search that allows consumers to find licensed, skilled tradespersons in their local area.

BACKGROUND

This warning is issued by the QBCC Commissioner to the public under section 20J(1)(i) of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991.

Queensland’s building watchdog has issued a Public Warning about Jacob Moratti, an unlicensed concreter operating in Brisbane, Ipswich and the Gold Coast.

The QBCC is urging consumers, contractors and suppliers to be cautious in their dealings with Mr Moratti and his businesses, which include Italia Concrete Services QLD, Jake Moratti Concreting, Jake Moratti and Romacrete.

Mr Moratti does not hold a QBCC licence and is not able to carry out, advertise for, or enter into contracts to carry out, building work in Queensland valued at more than $3,300.

He is also alleged to have taken deposits that exceed the maximum allowed under the QBCC Act and has either failed to complete work, or failed to commence work.

The QBCC believes Mr Moratti has either undertaken to perform work, or has performed work in Mt Gravatt, Tingalpa, Goodna, Spring Mountain and Oxenford.

The QBCC is aware that complaints have also been made about Mr Moratti to the Office of Fair Trading.

The QBCC warns anyone dealing with Mr Moratti and his businesses to exercise extreme caution and to seek legal advice before making any payments, to protect their interests. The QBCC strongly encourages consumers to always use the free licence check on the QBCC website to confirm that the person they are dealing with is appropriately licensed.

The QBCC website also offers a free Find a Local Contractor search, that allows consumers to find licensed, skilled, local tradespersons.

BACKGROUND

This Public Warning is issued by the Commissioner of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) under section 20J(1)(i) of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991.

Queensland’s building watchdog has issued a Public Warning about a Brisbane man for performing work outside his licence class, taking excessive deposits from home owners and failing to rectify defective work.

The Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) is urging consumers, contractors and suppliers to be cautious in their dealings with Matthew Todd Cooley and his businesses Renovations Brisbane Pty Ltd and Cooley M Services Pty Ltd, trading as Hire a Hubby Ascot (Qld).

The QBCC is aware of several complaints relating to Mr Cooley and his associated businesses, and warns anyone dealing with him and his businesses to exercise extreme caution, and to seek legal advice before making any payments, to protect their interests.

QBCC Commissioner, Brett Bassett, said the alleged offending had occurred in suburbs that included Balmoral, Norman Park, Hawthorne, Bulimba, Clayfield and Nundah.

He said complaints about building work by Mr Cooley and his businesses can be made by phoning the QBCC on 139 333.

“The QBCC strongly encourages consumers to always use the free licence check on the QBCC website to confirm that the person they are dealing with is appropriately licensed,” Mr Bassett said.

The QBCC website also offers a free Find a Local Contractor search, that allows consumers to find licensed, skilled, local tradespersons.

Mr Cooley is alleged to have undertaken building work outside of his QBCC licence class, taken deposits in excess of the maximum allowed under the QBCC Act and failed to comply with a QBCC-issued direction to rectify defective building work.

BACKGROUND

This Public Warning is issued by the Commissioner of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) under section 20J(1)(i) of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991.

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.

The Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) warning about Paul Lawrence Coplick has been swiftly followed by his conviction in Brisbane Magistrates Court for building-related offences.

On 9 February, Mr Coplick was convicted and fined a total penalty of $7,051.80 for offences against the QBCC Act, including one count of unlicensed contracting and one count of demanding a deposit of more than the regulated amount.

His penalty included $1,700 in restitution to the Moggill home owners affected by his offending.

QBCC Commissioner, Brett Bassett, said the outcome in this matter should act as a warning to any other individuals considering performing unlicensed or illegal building-related work.

Mr Bassett said limits on deposits also helped the QBCC take action to protect home owners from being overcharged on a building project. 

He said consumers should be reassured by the Magistrate’s comments about the legislation that guides the QBCC’s work.

“The Magistrate remarked that our legislation is there to stop dodgy people doing dodgy work, and that our licensing system provides recourse for consumers when work is improperly done,” Mr Bassett said. 

From the Electrical Safety Office

A refrigeration mechanic can only perform electrical work with an electrical worker licence or a restricted electrical work licence (refrigeration and air conditioning).

A restricted electrical work licence limits the holder to specific electrical work associated with refrigeration and air conditioning equipment such as testing, repairing or maintaining the equipment. It does not permit electrical installation work.

An example of electrical installation work—which is not permitted by a restricted electrical work licence holder—is installing air conditioner interconnect cables.

Always work within the scope of your electrical work licence and ensure you abide by any restrictions or conditions on the licence. Working unlicensed or outside the scope of your licence could lead to significant fines and penalties.

Remember, never work on live electrical equipment.

For more information on restricted electrical work licences refer to the Electrical licensing eligibility guide or contact us on 1300 362 128.

Queensland’s building industry watchdog has issued a Public Warning about unlicensed fencer Graham James McKenzie, for alleged offences including taking excessive deposits and failing to perform any work.

Mr McKenzie’s trading names include Phoenix Fencing Constructions, Top Gun Fencing and McKenzie Fencing.

The Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) has launched legal proceedings against Mr McKenzie and urged property owners to avoid using him or any companies associated with him.

The QBCC is investigating an owner’s allegation that they paid a $10,000 deposit to Mr McKenzie in May for a retaining-wall project quoted at about $30,000 but work is yet to start.

QBCC Commissioner, Brett Bassett, said enquiries have also commenced into allegations that Mr McKenzie took four deposits in 2019 totalling almost $17,000 but did little, or no work.

Mr Bassett urged owners to only ever use QBCC-licensed contractors for building or renovation work, including fencing work, regardless of the size of the project.

This is the second recent QBCC Public Warning about a fencer, following the QBCC’s warning in November about Matthew Geoffrey Rixon.

In related news, a Gold Coast home owner who recently hired a fencer via an online service was left with a repair bill bigger than the cost of the original job, after the fencer botched and then abandoned the job, and also flooded the owner’s backyard.

The QBCC strongly encourages consumers to always use the free licence check on the QBCC website to confirm if a person is appropriately licensed.

The QBCC website also offers a free Find a Local Contractor search to help consumers locate a local, licensed and skilled tradesperson.

BACKGROUND

Deposits

Generally, if the cost of building work is $20,000 or more, the maximum deposit allowed is 5 per cent of the total contract price (including labour, materials and GST).

If the contract price is between $3,300 and $19,999, the maximum deposit is 10 per cent. An exception applies where more than 50 per cent of the value of the work is to be performed offsite (e.g. for kitchen renovations where the modules are custom-made in a factory), in which case the contractor is permitted to take up to 20 per cent deposit.

For jobs priced at $3,300 or less, the QBCC generally recommends no more than 20 per cent. For all contracts priced at more than $3,300, the number and timing of progress payments is a matter of negotiation between the owner and the contractor.

However, all progress payments must be related to the amount of work performed on site. For example, the contractor can't claim more than 50 per cent of the contract price, including the deposit, until at least 50 per cent of the work has been completed on site.

This warning is issued by the Commissioner of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) to the public under section 20J(1)(i) of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991.

The QBCC is urging consumers, contractors and suppliers to be cautious in their dealings with unlicensed tradesperson Matthew Geoffrey Rixon and his fencing businesses.

Mr Rixon is associated with a number of business names including but not limited to:

• Coral Fencing ACN 35 628 833 741
• Wide Bay Fencing ACN 0 061 285 434
• All About Fences ACN 21 106 417 654
• East Coast Fencing Solutions ACN 35 628 833 741

Mr Rixon has also been known to operate under other aliases, including Matthew Douglas and Matt Douglas, and has at times been known to use similar names to legitimate and reputable companies in an attempt to lure unsuspecting consumers.

Mr Rixon is believed to be currently operating in the Wide Bay–Burnett area, particularly Maryborough, but has also recently been active in Bundaberg and Hervey Bay, the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane.  Mr Rixon does not currently hold a QBCC licence and is therefore not able to carry out, advertise for, or enter into contracts to carry out, building work in Queensland at a value of more than $3,300. Mr Rixon has also been alleged to have taken deposits in excess of the maximum allowed under the QBCC Act.

The QBCC is aware of several complaints of unlawful conduct by Mr Rixon, and is aware that complaints have also been made to the Office of Fair Trading and the Queensland Police. The QBCC warns all persons dealing with Mr Rixon and his businesses to exercise extreme caution and seek legal advice before making any payments, to protect their interests.

The QBCC strongly encourages consumers to always use the free licence check on the QBCC website to confirm that the person they are dealing with is licensed appropriately.

The QBCC website also offers a free “Find a Local Contractor” search, that allows you to find licensed and skilled tradespersons in your local area.

Further information on licensing requirements can be found at QBCC's website or contact the QBCC on 139 333.