In October 2015 Mr Chameoeun (“Jimmy”) Soun was hired to undertake $7,000.00 worth of work at a property in Cranbourne, Victoria. He did not provide the property owner with a formal contract and took a deposit of greater than 10%. Later that year he was also hired to build a laundry (which he did without obtaining a building permit) and a carport valued at $6,000.00 for which he again did not enter a contract. He was not a registered builder.

Mr Soun was charged with a number of breaches of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 and the Building Act 1993, including §29 of the former, which at the time provided that

A builder must not enter into a major domestic building contract unless … the builder is registered as a builder under the Building Act 1993, in the case of a natural person … Penalty:100 penalty units.

A ‘major domestic building contract’ was defined as one where the contract price exceeded $5,000.00 (subsequently raised to $10,000.00).

Mr Nuon opted neither to appear nor be represented at the hearing of the charges. In his absence the Dandenong Magistrates Court convicted him and imposed a fine of $5,000.00 plus costs.

Victorian Building Authority v Nuon (2019) Cranbourne Star-News, 7 February 2019, p.3