Thousands of buildings constructed by more than 170 Victorian builders who had potentially fraudulent licences are being checked for faults and safety concerns as authorities and courts continue to unravel the impact of widespread registration fraud scandals.
Work to inspect the homes and other buildings continues as those responsible for running registration scams are progressively banned by the construction industry’s revamped watchdog.
The actions come amid wider efforts to clean up the state’s construction oversight. The troubled Victorian Building Authority disbanded in June 2025 and was replaced by the new Building and Plumbing Commission (BPC), which is charged with implementing reforms.
The suspect builders were allegedly registered through two separate corrupt schemes: the first a three-year bribes-for-registration scam that is the subject of the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission’s Operation Perseus; the second, a scheme relying on using fraudulent paperwork and a loophole in Australia’s mutual recognition agreements to register migrant workers for Victorian building sites.
This masthead can reveal that a BPC audit of the bribes-for-registration scheme launched last March has identified more than 170 builders who were allegedly corruptly registered.
The registered builders include tradies who were potentially registered through the scheme but who were not charged by IBAC. The BPC said it had no evidence of any wrongdoing by the individual builders, but was doing due diligence to ensure their work was safe and consumers were protected.
The watchdog is inspecting up to three sites for each of those builders to ensure they are safe, and that the builders are competent and able to comply with the skills and requirements needed to maintain their registration.
About 300 of the 400 buildings targeted for physical inspection have so far been signed off. While the BPC said no major risks had yet been identified, it has so far issued 10 direction-to-fix orders. It has also examined the paperwork and cleared another 2000 buildings that had already been completed and had received occupancy permits from building surveyors.
IBAC charged 38 people – including three Victorian Building Authority employees – in connection with a three-year bribes-for-registration scheme after the authority, the state’s former construction watchdog, referred “suspicious activity” in 2023.
Seven builders have so far been convicted in the Magistrates’ Court, while VBA employee Benedetto Sano was terminated following a conviction and colleague Phillip Caccamo was sacked following a guilty plea. The third VBA employee is yet to enter a plea.
The BPC confirmed it has suspended the registration of five of the convicted builders – Yasar Jnev, David Janev, Bhairava Prasad Nanganoori, Benedetto Sano and Omer Muhammed Yuksel – while Tajit Singh and Andy Yousif Iso are facing disciplinary action from the watchdog following their convictions.
Two other builders facing charges failed to renew their registration and can no longer work in the industry.
Checks by this masthead reveal at least 17 others charged by IBAC continue to be registered as builders and can work on construction jobs in Victoria; however, BPC Commissioner and CEO Anna Cronin said the watchdog would continue to issue bans as criminal proceedings were resolved.
“The BPC will suspend any practitioner found guilty of dishonesty or bribery offences as a result of IBAC’s Operation Perseus. A number of these individuals are still before the courts,” Cronin said.
In one case, false references and work histories were used to secure licences for builders through the Queensland Building and Construction Commission which were then transferred to Victoria using mutual recognition agreements.
Victorian “promoters” charged a fee to help with the process, which was uncovered when authorities noticed a 115 per cent increase in mutual recognition applications in 2014-15.
Cronin said the BPC was implementing a new licensing and registration model to strengthen integrity, as well as speeding decision-making for the majority of applicants.
“Registration is fundamental to the regulatory system and our new model is modernised and efficient while strengthening integrity,” she said.
Overhauls to the former VBA’s licensing and registration system include the scrapping of face-to-face interviews and exams to limit human bias and protect against corruption.
The changes will also reduce the amount of documentation needed for applications, include provisions to grant registration categories deemed as “low risk” based on paperwork only, and introduce assessments to detect risk much earlier in the process and provide an “early no”, where appropriate.
Cronin said the new registration model was being introduced in stages as assessment tools were modernised, and would be fully operational later this year.
The VBA came under scrutiny following the 2022 suicide of building inspector Rob Karkut, whose death led to two independent inquiries into the regulator’s toxic workplace.
This masthead revealed the authority was warned it might have broken the law by using unqualified staff as part of an investigation into Karkut’s death.
A lengthy investigation by this masthead and 60 Minutes about inspectors completing visual audits rather than physically attending construction sites led to the resignation of former chief Sue Eddy.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
