Brendan Roberts appeared in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court online on Friday over renovations at a house in Bond St, Kyabram, in late 2017 and early 2018.
The court heard he renovated the kitchen, bathroom and laundry from November, 2017 before installing a spa and aviary in the backyard. He finished removing the verandah and building another room at the back of the house in February, 2018.
He also did plumbing work on the roof.
Victorian Building Authority prosecutor Nadine Ruddock said Mr Roberts was registered as a builder, but not as a plumber and therefore was not permitted to do plumbing work on the house.
She said after the build finished, the homeowner noticed water coming down the interior wall after the first heavy rain since completion, and saw water falling from a downlight during subsequent rainfall.
Mr Roberts’ solicitor Polly Symons said his client had “naively tried to help them (the home owners) save some money by not getting (a permit)”.
Ms Symons said Mr Roberts had employed a plumber to do the guttering and other parts of the build, but when he couldn’t be contacted towards the end of the build, he installed the roofing and guttering himself.
Only registered plumbers can do that work.
It later transpired that the plumber Mr Roberts had employed was also not registered, but Mr Roberts had believed he was, Ms Symons said.
Mr Roberts was called after the first water leaking incident.
Ms Symons said Mr Roberts "incurred the costs personally" to rectify the situation and ensure it wasn't unsafe.
“It's changed my client's way of doing business and will ensure nothing like this ever happens again.”
Ms Symons also said while it didn’t negate what he’d done, Mr Roberts employing a plumber showed “he doesn’t have a blatant disregard for regulations”.
However, magistrate Mary-Anne MacCallum said “the charge is that he did the works unlicensed, not that it was defective”.
“The accused admitted to doing the plumbing work,” she said.
"Consumers are often in a position of vulnerability because they are dealing with large sums of money as was the case in this prosecution and that means their significant assets such as their homes are potentially exposed to loses."
Ms Ruddock said the offences were “not on the lower end of the scale”.
She said regulations were designed to “protect the health and safety of the community” and ensure confidence in the building industry, and it was integral to keep standards high.
“,” she said.
“(Mr Roberts) would not have been able to do this work even if (the plumber) was supervising.”
Mr Roberts will be sentenced on November 11.
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