Home owners warned to check registrations before paying for home improvement

Perth’s home owners have been reminded by the Building Commissioner to check the registration of painters, in particular, before paying them to carry out work priced over $1,000. If property owners do not undertake this due diligence, they may face being ripped off.

According to Building Commissioner Peter Gow, they are continuing to receive details of unregistered painters obtaining business by distributing flyers and going door-to-door offering services. Just recently, home owners in Willetton and Sorrento have provided reports of this activity.

Sub-standard and overpriced work could be the result of getting involved with an unregistered painter.

“In most parts of Western Australia, carrying out painting work valued over $1,000 requires a registration and any advertisements offering major painting work should contain the painter’s registration number,” Gow said.

“The Building Commission and our colleagues at Consumer Protection receive frequent complaints from consumers who have handed over money to an unregistered painter only to be left with overpriced and substandard work – or in some cases, no work at all,” he said.

“The best way for consumers to protect themselves from dodgy painters is to ask to see their accreditation and independently verify it before agreeing to any major work on their property.”

For those concerned, a quick check on the Building Commissions registration portal will be able to find registered painters.

Other signs to watch for are headings such as “full roof painted” for a value in excess of $1,000, and sometimes a 1800 phone number and no trading name could be warnings home owners could check out for to determine whether they are operating illegally.

Always check for credentials before agreeing to any work.

“These unregistered traders are difficult to track down for a refund or to make a warranty claim if you’re not satisfied with the work and are breaking consumer law by not observing a 10-day cooling off period for unsolicited sales,” Gow said.

“Most building work valued over $20,000 also requires the builder to be registered in WA and all plumbing work must be carried out by a licensed plumbing contractor,” he said.

You can report anyone you know to be offering unauthorised work via the Building Commission:1300 48 90 99 or bcinfo@commerce.wa.gov.au.