An Avondale Heights man who worked as a builder while unregistered - among other breaches of Victorian building contract and consumer laws - has been ordered to refund three of his customers a total of more than $26,700.
Consumer Affairs Victoria took action against Mr Tim Phan, 53, of Avondale Heights, after we were contacted by four consumers. The consumers complained that they had paid for goods and services that Mr Phan did not supply; these included kitchen and bathroom items, and domestic building services. The court found that Mr Phan, who traded as K2M Homes Group, contravened the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 (DBCA) by:
- charging excessive deposits
- entering into major domestic building contracts:
- without being registered
- that did not contain required information.
The court also found that Mr Phan took payments for goods and services he did not deliver within the specified time or at all, in contravention of the Australian Consumer Law (Victoria).
Among the court’s other orders, Mr Phan cannot:
- enter into major domestic building contracts while he is unregistered
- charge deposits in any domestic building contract he enters into that exceed the amounts allowed under the DBCA
- take payment for supply of any goods except upon delivery.
Mr Phan must also:
- display a notice detailing his contraventions at all domestic building goods and services business premises he operates, and
- publish it on all websites associated with his domestic building business.
The notice must also be the cover page of all domestic building contracts he enters into for the next two years.
Under Victorian building laws, a builder must be registered and use a major domestic building contract for works costing more than $10,000.
Mr Phan was also ordered to pay costs of $2,342.
You can search for a registered builder on the Victorian Building Authority website.