The BPC has suspended a Sale builder for 11 months over 4 backyard pools in Gippsland that were filled with water without any suitable safety barriers in place.
Rodney Centra has also been ordered to pay a $55,000 fine following his conduct at the sites in Stratford, Lindenow South, Fernbank and Nambrok between 2021 and 2024.
The BPC’s Notice of Decision said Centra had demonstrated a pattern of incompetence through failings in his fundamental statutory and professional obligations across multiple sites.
The 48-year-old was negligent in that he failed to prevent the Lindenow South pool being installed and filled with water when there was no pool barrier in place.
Centra also failed to prevent the Fernbank pool being installed and filled with water when the pool barrier was incomplete and non-compliant.
Other grounds for the BPC’s disciplinary action include Centra’s failure to ensure the Relevant Building Surveyor (RBS) was notified at the required mandatory notification stages during the builds.
Mandatory notification stages are a legal requirement under the Building Act to ensure construction work is signed off as safe and compliant.
Centra’s failure to notify of these stages meant the RBS was unable to perform one of his primary statutory functions - to inspect the site and ensure compliance.
Landowners are reminded it is a legal requirement to register any pool or spa on their property with the relevant council. A compliant safety barrier must also be in place regardless of whether children live at the property.
Centra’s 11-month suspension applies to his domestic building registration, not his commercial or low-rise demolisher registrations. The suspension comes into effect later this month.
Centra has the right to appeal the BPC’s decision.
Quote attributable to State Building Surveyor Steven Baxas
“Mandatory notification stages are mandatory for a reason. Builders must notify the relevant building surveyor at each required stage so inspections can occur and compliance can be verified.”