Two Perth businesses and their director must pay almost $90,000 in fines and costs following a Building and Energy prosecution for falsely claiming to be authorised to do work that only a registered building contractor can carry out.
After a five-day trial in the Perth Magistrates Court, Frayson Pty Ltd and an associated company, Instyle Residence Australia Pty Ltd, were found guilty of separate charges under WA’s building registration laws, along with Dianella man Armand Noor, who is the sole director of both firms.
In WA, anyone who is contracted to provide prescribed building work – which is valued at more than $20,000 and requires a building permit – must be a registered building service contractor.
Frayson’s building contractor (BC) registration was suspended in February 2015 and later cancelled due to extensive disciplinary proceedings commenced by the Building Commissioner, resulting in fines and costs totalling $35,000 for Frayson, Mr Noor and a business associate in the State Administrative Tribunal in 2016.
During the recent trial, the court was told that between June and October 2015 advertisements for Frayson were published in an online business directory and included a BC number, meaning the company misleadingly presented itself as a registered building contractor.
On 1 August 2019, Magistrate Joe Randazzo fined Frayson $25,000 and Mr Noor $10,000 for this offence.
The Magistrate also fined Instyle Residence $25,000 and Mr Noor an additional $10,000 for a separate charge of implying they were entitled to carry out prescribed building work after providing a quote for a structural project in July 2015 valued at more than $20,000. This work would require registration as a building contractor, which Instyle Residence has never held.
Costs of $18,000 were awarded for both offences, comprising $6,000 each from Mr Noor, Frayson and Instyle Residence.
Building and Energy A/Executive Director Saj Abdoolakhan welcomed the significant penalty.
“Mr Noor and his businesses have a history of flouting building rules and regulations, including 26 disciplinary allegations that led to Frayson’s deregistration in the first place,” he said.
“The charges heard during this recent trial show a clear disregard for legislation designed to protect consumers and the integrity of the building industry.
“For safety and quality reasons, registration is compulsory to carry out prescribed building work as it ensures a builder has appropriate qualifications and experience.”
Visit the Building and Energy website (via dmirs.wa.gov.au) to check if a builder’s registration is current and to access useful resources, including a fact sheet on Helpful checks when choosing a building service provider.
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Note: Building and Energy (a division within the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety) was formed in January 2018 by the amalgamation of the Building Commission and EnergySafety.
Past related media statements:
- August 2015 – Public warned to avoid dealing with unregistered builder (Frayson and Mr Noor): /announcements/public-warned-avoid-dealing-unregistered-builder
- April 2016 – Building Commissioner condemns company’s conduct (Frayson and
Mr Noor): /announcements/building-commissioner-condemns-companys-conduct - October 2016 – Supervisor fined $15,000 for building offences (Frayson and former nominated supervisor Francesco Di Labio): /announcements/supervisor-fined-15000-building-offences
Media contact: Sarah Roberts – 0466 409 828 or CPmedia@demirs.wa.gov.au
