Bairnsdale Builder Fined Over $32,000 After Defective Unregistered Renovation

A Bairnsdale tradesman aged 60 has been convicted and fined more than $32,000 after the Building and Plumbing Commission successfully prosecuted him for carrying out domestic building work without the required registration and without the required domestic building insurance. Dean Luke Johnstone, of Bairnsdale, who traded as East Gippsland Home Projects, appeared in the Bairnsdale Magistrates Court and pleaded guilty to three charges brought by the BPC. The conviction follows an investigation into renovation work performed on a single mother’s home in Bairnsdale that left the property unliveable.

How Johnstone Was Engaged

The court heard that Johnstone quoted more than $84,000 to carry out water damage repairs at the homeowner’s Bairnsdale property, which included replacing windows. Before any work began, Johnstone asked the homeowner for a 50 per cent deposit. Under the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995, the maximum deposit a builder is permitted to demand before commencing domestic building work is 5 per cent of the contract price. Asking for ten times that amount placed Johnstone in breach of a fundamental consumer protection from the outset.

Defective Work That Made the Home Unliveable

Johnstone’s work left the property in a dangerous and uninhabitable condition. Unsealed windows and walls exposed the home to the elements. The damage was so severe that the homeowner was forced to separate from her children and her dog to reduce relocation costs while she paid another builder $11,000 to attend to the remediation Johnstone had failed to complete properly. The homeowner engaged Johnstone for the work and was asked for a large upfront deposit before any work began, without the benefit of the registration and insurance protections the law is designed to provide.

Personal and Financial Devastation

The homeowner provided a victim impact statement to the court. She described suffering significant emotional distress, anxiety, and panic attacks as a direct result of the ordeal. She was also forced to take out a second mortgage to manage the financial consequences of Johnstone’s conduct.

The Sentencing Magistrate’s Assessment

The sentencing magistrate described the offending as very serious and called for a substantial penalty by way of both punishment and general deterrence. The court focused particular attention on the insurance failures. According to the BPC media release published on 6 May 2026, the magistrate said the offences, in particular the lack of insurance, “cannot be understated and must be met with consequences and deterrence.”

The BPC Commissioner’s Statement

BPC Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer Anna Cronin said the outcome highlighted the ongoing risk posed to consumers by unregistered practitioners operating in the domestic building sector. She said the case illustrated why verifying a builder’s registration before engaging them was essential.

“Unregistered practitioners are a threat to safety and can leave consumers with no course of action when their work is seriously defective.”
Anna Cronin, BPC Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, BPC media release, 6 May 2026

What Consumers Need to Know

Under Victorian law, all domestic building work valued at more than $10,000 must be carried out by a registered builder. Domestic building insurance is compulsory for work exceeding $16,000 in value. The insurance protects homeowners against financial loss if a registered builder is unable to complete a project or rectify defective work due to insolvency, death, or disappearance. Where a builder takes on work without that insurance in place, the homeowner is left without that protection. The BPC advises consumers to verify a practitioner’s registration and insurance status before entering into any building contract, using the Find a Practitioner tool at bpc.vic.gov.au.