Michaela Meade
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) has upheld a decision by the Victorian Building Authority (VBA) to penalise and partially suspend a building surveyor.
The VBA said building surveyor Peter Rontogiannis, who has six sites – including in Thomastown, Campbellfield and Craigieburn – was found to have committed several contraventions of the Building Act 1993 and regulations.
According to the VBA, Mr Rontogiannis was suspended from taking on new appointments and issuing building permits for 180 days, penalised a total of $6500, reprimanded and directed to issue documents he was disciplined for not issuing, and provide to council.
The VBA’s regulatory operations executive director, David Brockman, said VCAT had affirmed the disciplinary action proposed by the VBA regarding Mr Rontogiannis’s “substandard conduct”.
“Consumers look to building surveyors to protect their best interests when a property is constructed by following proper processes and only issuing building permits when all steps have been appropriately followed,” he said.
“It is evident from the long list of failures Rontogiannis has been found to have been responsible for, that he caused undue stress and problems for all involved by not fulfilling his role as surveyor.”
According to the VBA, Mr Rontogiannis’s contraventions included issuing a building permit when the planning permit and consent had not been obtained, failing to submit drawings and documents to councils, failing to take enforcement action when he should have, and failing to notify the relevant council of his appointment.
The VBA said he was also found to have issued staged building permits which listed a substantially lower combined cost of works as specified in the application form than those works would have cost and to have issued building permits when he could not have been satisfied the building work would comply with the building act and regulations.
He also failed to set conditions to ensure proper operation of essential safety measures and to do what had to be done to issue a certificate of final inspection, the VBA said.
“This behaviour damages the reputation of all building surveyors, the vast majority of whom do the right thing, and puts a dent in the confidence the wider Victorian community has in the building industry,” Mr Brockman said.
