A CANBERRA builder has lost his builder’s licence following an investigation of serious breaches of building laws, including  residential homes built without building approval.

Builder Brendan Eames, agreed to an order by the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal in late January to cancel his licence for five years.

The investigation followed a number of complaints by homeowners to the ACT Government’s Construction Occupations Registrar, David Middlemiss.

“Investigations revealed a series of residential homes were built without building approval and the five year licence cancellation reflects the seriousness of these breaches,” Mr Middlemiss said.

“It is essential to have a building approval in place for building work covered by the Building Act 2004.

“Approval is a means to provide a safe, healthy building for owners and tenants. Without properly certified building approval, there’s a high risk the fundamentals of a building are incorrectly constructed.

“I thank the people who reported these matters and provided evidence, which is very difficult to do when there is so much at stake, both personally and financially.”

The Construction Occupations Registrar applied to ACAT to have Mr Eames’ licence cancelled in September after a show cause notice was issued to Mr Eames to respond to 12 serious breaches of building laws involving two properties.

Since then, further allegations were put to Mr Eames of breaches of the building laws.

Following an ACAT conference with the builder, Mr Eames consented to have his licence cancelled for five years. A consent order is not a ruling on any of the facts or breaches before the Tribunal.

Mr Eames may only apply for a building licence in the future if he completes the training set out in the ACAT orders.