Website to reveal 'shonky' builders

VYBerlinaV8_is_back said :

If we list all the dodgy builders in Canberra, who will be left to build anything?

Sad but close to true. The trouble is the “shonky builders” won’t even appear on the list. We are dealing with a true pig of a builder at the moment – shoddy work, bullying, getting out of doing parts of the work, just flat-out lying etc – but he is licensed & (apparently) busy. Canberra is small though & word of mouth is important. Just be very very careful who you get to work on your home.

Ghettosmurf87 said :

dungfungus said :

This could potentially alienate a lot of builders who give election donations to the Labor Party.

And which builders are those? I’m sure you could list them off for us?

Or you could look here:

http://elections.act.gov.au/funding_and_disclosure/financial_disclosure_returns

where all gifts over $1000 have to be disclosed and where the various parties annual returns are located? I’m sure there is clear evidence there that more builders/cuilding companies give to Labor as opposed to the Liberals?

You have never run a business in the ACT have you?

dungfungus said :

This could potentially alienate a lot of builders who give election donations to the Labor Party.

And which builders are those? I’m sure you could list them off for us?

Or you could look here:

http://elections.act.gov.au/funding_and_disclosure/financial_disclosure_returns

where all gifts over $1000 have to be disclosed and where the various parties annual returns are located? I’m sure there is clear evidence there that more builders/cuilding companies give to Labor as opposed to the Liberals?

This could potentially alienate a lot of builders who give election donations to the Labor Party.

Great news and it’s about time. Dealing with dodgy builders can lead to huge financial losses and can destroy families. Even better would be to ensure ACTPLA ensures buildings aren’t passed by their own inspectors and then do nothing when there are issues after completion.

It won’t solve all of Canberra’s building problems, but it is a small step in the right direction. So much more is needed. I don’t think it’s a name and shame; it’s making public those builders who have had disciplinary action taken against them. If I were looking for a builder, the first thing I would do is check out the government register to avoid any builder on that list. I wish we COULD name and shame. This is an anti-recommendation for any bulding company with the initials ABG.

Far less likely to cause defamation proceedings would be to list the 4 or 5 good builders in Canberra.:-)

If we list all the dodgy builders in Canberra, who will be left to build anything?

Great, Katy and Simon are publishing yet another name and shame list to help the public. Instead of banning builders, helping consumers who’ve been ripped by bad certifiers (certified by the ACT in the first place) and refusing to allow consumers to claim from government liability insurance, she sets up this token gesture of a name and shame list, just to make us feel better, a useless initiative. Actions speak louder than words here. Katy and co have basically ignored consumers who’ve been out of pocket from government certified shonky builders, certifiers who aren’t doing their jobs and developers who close one failing company and start another. Lets get some action, rather than these wishy washy shame lists Katy, don’t absolve your responsibility and put it onto consumers. This is a furphy of a policy, from a hopeless government trying to look tough. Same thing happened to restaurants and that was a shambles in it’s implementation from our town hall.

Given all the gripes we hear about builders around here, this sounds like a good thing … seriously overdue.