Department of Justice inspectors have rights to enter your premises to ensure compliance with consumer law. Domestic builders should take note as an inspection can take place without warning.

The Australian Consumer Law and Fair Trading Act 2012 (the Act) confers powers of inspection on Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV)  to perform random checks on businesses or investigate a business where there is reason to suspect non-compliance, including non-compliance with the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 (DBCA).

Inspectors appointed under the Act have powers to enter any premises used for business purposes during business hours (or a premise’s regular opening hours) to conduct an inspection to ensure a business’ compliance with its obligations under the Act.

Inspectors’ powers of inspection are broad and include (amongst other thing) the ability to:

• enter a premises without prior notification;
• enter a premises without the owner or occupier being present;
• search and examine anything found on the premises;
• require any document to be produced; and
• remove, make copies or take extracts of documents.

There are penalties for not complying with the above requirements or providing false and/or misleading information to an inspector.

Members should be vigilant in maintaining their records and checking their compliance with domestic building legislation, particularly in relation to deposits received, invoicing and Domestic Building Insurance requirements.

If members find themselves in this situation, they should contact the Legal Department on (03) 9411 4548.