Building and Energy
Western Australian building services, electrical, gasfitting and plumbing industries.
- Overview
  Find out about the functions and jurisdiction of Building and Energy.
- Licensing and registration and owner-builder approval
  Application and renewal for builders, building surveyors, electricians, gas fitters, painters and plumbers.
- Building approvals
  The process for getting building work approved.
- Building and energy consumer information
  Building or renovating your home and consumer safety.
- Industry information
  Codes, standards and reports for building services providers, electricians, plumbers and gas fitters.
- Dispute resolution
  Plumbing, building service, and home building work contract complaints.
- eNotice
  How to register and lodge electrical, gasfitting, plumbing and contractor payment dispute (Security of Payment Act) eNotices.
- Stay informed
  Bulletins, newsletters, subscriptions, events and seminars, videos, and public consultations.
- Contractor Payment Disputes (Construction Contracts Act)
  If your construction contract was entered into BEFORE 1 August 2022.
- Contractor Payment Disputes (Security of Payment Act)
  If your construction contract was entered into ON or AFTER 1 August 2022.
- Swimming pools, dividing fences, RCDs and smoke alarms
  Information on private swimming pool safety barriers, dividing fences, RCDs and smoke alarms for existing residential buildings.
- Report an accident
  How to report an accident or incident to Building and Energy.
Consumer Protection
Develops, enforces and promotes legislation that protects consumers.
- About Consumer Protection
  What Consumer Protection does, contacts and events.
- Housing and accommodation
  Information on renting, buying or selling a home, including accommodation for seniors.
- Consumer rights
  Information and advice for consumers including people with a disability, Aboriginal consumers, and multilingual consumers.
- Consumer concerns
  Advice on handling issues including a complaint checklist, sample letters and how to lodge a formal complaint.
- Business
  Information for businesses about their rights and responsibilities under consumer laws in Western Australia.
- Licences and registrations
  Information on applications, requirements, training and registrations for regulated industries.
- Charities and associations
  Information for charities and associations operating in Western Australia.
- Consultations, compliance and reports
  Compliance actions, public consultations and reports.
Labour Relations
State system employment laws and public sector labour relations.
- DMIRS COVID-19 coronavirus
  Information for employers and employees
- Private sector employers and employees
  Wageline information on WA awards, minimum pay rates, long service leave, annual and personal leave, underpayment issues, COVID-19, and how to contact Wageline and stay informed.
- Government sector labour relations
  Information and resources for agencies on government sector employment and labour relations.
- Public holidays
  Public holiday dates for Western Australia.
- Western Australia's industrial relations system
  Who is in the WA state system, key features of the state system, recent inquiries, reviews, and committees.
- Changes to state employment laws
  Information on 2022 changes to state employment laws in Western Australia.
WorkSafe
Regulation and promotion of workplace health and safety including in general industry and the mining and petroleum industries.
- Report an incident
  Notify the regulator of a death, serious injury/illness or dangerous incident.
- Notify, submit or contact us
  Notify or submit items to WorkSafe.
- Apply for a licence or register plant
  Apply for licence, register an item of plant or learn about construction induction training.
- Mining statutory positions and certificates
  Information about statutory position appointments at mining operations.
- Work health and safety legislation
  Information about WA's work health and safety (WHS) laws.
- Health and safety representatives
  Information about HSRs.
- Health and safety topics
  How do I make my workplace safer?
- Tool box
  Events, statistics and educational resources.
- Consulting with our stakeholders
  Information about consulting with stakeholders.
- Agricultural health and safety
  Provide work health and safety information about the agricultural sector including guidance, checklists, and latest news.
- What does WorkSafe do?
  Find out about the functions and jurisdiction of WorkSafe.
- Small business safety
  Your guide to safety and health in small business.
- Historical occupational safety and health law
  Safety and health legislation prior to 2022.
- Historical mines and petroleum guidance
  Safety and health guidance under the legislation prior to 2022.
Corporate
Freedom of information guidelines, reports, policies, plans, and contact information.
- About the department
  Our legislation, contacting us and freedom of information.
- About the website
  Information about our website and how to use it.
- Policies and plans
  Policies and strategic plans from the department.

Compliance reports

This page is for:

Builder Building surveyor Licence holders Painter Permit authority Plumber

Building disputes

Disputes (building service or home building work contract complaints)

Any person adversely affected by the carrying out of a regulated building service may lodge a complaint alleging that a building service has not been carried out in a proper and proficient manner or is faulty or unsatisfactory. This type of complaint can only be made within six years of the building service being completed.

A person under a home building work contract (HBWC) may also lodge a complaint regarding a breach of the contract or a breach of the Home Building Contracts Act 1991. This type of complaint must be lodged within three years of the cause of the breach arising.

Building service complaints may be lodged against both registered and unregistered building service providers. Home building work contract complaints may be lodged by either party under the contract, including by the builder against the owner should a breach of the contract be alleged.

The purpose of dispute resolution is to provide a remedy or a determination to the issues in dispute. This is done without regard to who is at fault or apportioning blame to a particular party. If concerns with regard to conduct, or a breach of statutory law is identified during the course of dealing with a building service or home building work complaint, these concerns are referred to the Enforcement Branch for consideration outside the dispute resolution process.

If warranted, the Enforcement Branch will commence an investigation into the matter if it is considered that a statutory offence or disciplinary complaint may be substantiated.

Dispute resolution process

In 2020/21 there were 771 complaints lodged comprising 608 building service complaints, 113 home building work contract (HBWC) complaints and 50 complaints relating to both building service and HBWC complaints.

Table 1: Disputes lodged

	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21
Building service	707	579	547	494	608
HBWC	118	102	82	63	113
Building service and HBWC	79	53	40	42	50
Total	904	734	669	599	771

In 2020/21 complaints against registered/licensed service providers made up 514 of the 771 disputes received, while complaints against unregistered/unlicensed services providers comprised 253. In addition, there were 4 complaints where building service providers had contractual disputes with an owner.

Table 2: Disputes lodged – service provider type

	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21
Registered/licensed	536	412	390	321	514
Builder	506	376	363	300	487
Plumber	6	9	6	3	3
Painter	24	27	21	17	22
Builder Surveyor	Nil	Nil	Nil	1	2
Unregistered/unlicensed	325	296	247	253	253
Builder	317	291	238	247	246
Plumber	1	1	1	2	2
Painter	7	4	8	4	5
Complaint against owner – HBWC	43	26	32	25	4
Total	904	734	669	599	771

There were 643 disputes finalised in 2020/21 with 647 outcomes recorded. During that year there were 261 orders issued by the Building Commissioner, 152 complaints referred to the State Administrative Tribunal and 70 complaints withdrawn due to intervention by Building and Energy Staff.

Outcome and finalisation numbers may vary due to some complaints resulting in multiple outcomes, for example an order may have been issued for part of a complaint by the Building Commissioner with the remainder of the complaint being referred to the State Administrative Tribunal. Disputes may be refused for a variety of reasons, including those that have not been lodged in accordance with the relevant legislation or that are lodged outside of the statutory time limit.

Table 3: Finalised disputes – outcomes


	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21
Complaint refused by Building Commissioner	66	64	46	34	32
Order made by Building Commissioner	330	303	229	217	242
Conciliation Order issued	68	49	43	25	19
Referred to State Administrative Tribunal	178	156	141	139	152
Complaint withdrawn	146	163	136	96	110
Complaint withdrawn due to intervention	54	41	36	60	70
Complaint dismissed by the Building Commissioner	54	58	33	31	22
Total	896	834	664	602	647

It took on average 163 calendar days to close a dispute in 2020/21. This includes matters that have been refused or referred to the State Administrative Tribunal. Of these, 45% were finalised within three months, 71% were finalised within six months, 94% were finalised within 12 months and 97% were finalised within 18 months.

Table 4: Finalised disputes – timeliness


	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21
Average calendar days to close dispute	164	162	175	171	163
Disputes finalised within 3 months (%)	33	34	32	33	45
Disputes finalised within 6 months (%)	67	67	65	65	71
Disputes finalised within 12 months (%)	94	83	92	92	94
Disputes finalised within 18 months (%)	98	98	97	99	97

Enforcement

Enforcement (investigations into statutory offences and disciplinary complaints)

A disciplinary complaint can be lodged in connection with the conduct of a registered building service provider and a statutory offence complaint can be lodged about both registered and non-registered building service providers. Registered building service providers include builders, painters, building surveyors and approved owner-builders.

A statutory breach relates to allegations that a building service provider has breached statutory obligations or where an unregistered person performs work which requires registration.

The aim of an investigation is to establish the facts and, where applicable, attribute fault to a party.

There were 101 statutory offence and disciplinary complaints received in 2020/21. Of these, 56 related to disciplinary matters and 45 to statutory offences.

Table 1: Investigations received – complaint type


	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21
Disciplinary matter – registered/licensed	67	88	54	72	56
Statutory offence – unregistered/unlicensed	144	166	58	60	45
Total	211	254	112	132	101

Of the 101 statutory offence and disciplinary complaints received in 2020/21, 76 related to a building service, 19 to a painting service and 6 to building surveying.

Table 2: Investigations received – building service


	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21
Building service	130	113	88	95	76
Painting service	39	89	15	22	19
Plumbing service	34	31	-	-	-
Building surveying	6	21	9	14	6
Adjudicating	2	0	-	1	0
Total	211	254	112	132	101

There were 60 disciplinary matters and 35 statutory offenses finalised in 2020/21.

Of the disciplinary matters finalised, 37 were refused by the Building Commissioner, 20 were referred to the Building services Board and 12 were dismissed by the Building Commissioner.

Table 3: Disciplinary matters finalised – outcomes


	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21
Complaint refused by Building Commissioner	34	45	36	28	37
Complaint dismissed by Building Commissioner	2	11	13	19	16
Referred to Building Services Board	5	14	14	21	20
No action/no breach	1	2	5	7	1
Caution/reprimand	0	0	2	1	4
Fine/penalty	4	9	7	11	10
Referred to other	3	6	-	1	-
Referred to State Administrative Tribunal	10	2	2	4	2
Total	59	89	79	92	90

*A finalised disciplinary matter may result in multiple respondents being sanctioned.

Of the 35 statutory offence complaints finalised in 2020/21, 19 resulted in an administrative warning, 10 in no action/no breach and 4 in prosecution.

Table 4: Statutory offence complaints finalised – outcomes


	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21
Referred to prosecution	11	5	4	4	4
Infringement notice	0	1	0	0	0
Administrative warning	70	67	29	46	19
No action/no breach	11	10	19	17	10
Education/advice	17	9	0	17	2
Total	109	92	52	84	35

It took on average 428 calendar days to close statutory offence and disciplinary complaints in 2020/21. Of these 51 per cent were finalised within three months, 66 per cent within six months, 74 per cent within twelve months, and 76 per cent within eighteen months.

Table 5: Investigations finalised


	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21
Average days to close dispute	122	150	266	252	428
Investigations finalised within 3 months (%)	62	65	44	56	51
Investigations finalised within 6 months (%)	72	72	54	63	66
Investigations finalised within 12 months (%)	88	83	64	74	74
Investigations finalised within 18 months (%)	100	91	84	82	76

Downloads (reports)

Share this page:

Last modified: Tuesday, May 3, 2022 - 12:18

Public, consumers and employees

Business, corporate and industry

Online Services

Apply

Renew

Notify

Complaints

Pay

Licence search

Search:

Compliance reports

Building disputes

Disputes (building service or home building work contract complaints)

Dispute resolution process

Table 1: Disputes lodged

Table 2: Disputes lodged – service provider type

Table 3: Finalised disputes – outcomes

Table 4: Finalised disputes – timeliness

Enforcement

Enforcement (investigations into statutory offences and disciplinary complaints)

Table 1: Investigations received – complaint type

Table 2: Investigations received – building service

Table 3: Disciplinary matters finalised – outcomes

Table 4: Statutory offence complaints finalised – outcomes

Table 5: Investigations finalised

Downloads (reports)

General inspection and audits reports

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2014

Share this page:

Contact Building and Energy

Visit us

Stay informed

Need assistance?

Website feedback

Australian Business Number