The Building and Energy body is the state regulator for Western Australia’s electrical, gas, painting, plumbing, and building services industries.
While it is not the right body for every building, housing, energy or consumer issue, it does handle complaints about faulty building work, home building contract disputes, plumbing work, unsafe or non-compliant work, and electrical or gas safety incidents.
Who can you make a complaint against?
Building and Energy handles the following:
Building Service Complaints
- Faulty or unsatisfactory building work: Incomplete or defective work including leaks, cracks, defects, poor workmanship, or unfinished projects.
- Home building contract disputes: Disagreements about contracts valued between $7,500 and $500,000. Examples include changes to the agreed work, non-payment, termination, breaches, or other issues affecting the rights and responsibilities of the parties involved.
Plumbing Work Complaints
- Defective plumbing work: Defects that have been rectified including ongoing leaks, recurring drainage overflows, or incorrect installations.
- Missing Documents: missing or incorrect plumbing compliance certificates.
- Unlicensed or unregistered plumbing work: plumbing done by someone without the proper license and registration.
Unsafe or Non-Compliant Work
- Completed work left unsafe, including exposed live parts or gas leaks.
- Work completed by someone without the required license and registration.
- Practitioner misconduct: misleading financial statements, pressure to sign contracts, unsupervised apprentices, or falsifying documents.
Electrical and Gas Safety Incidents
- Electrical and Gas Safety Incidents must be reported in Western Australia. This includes electric shocks, electrical fire or property damage, fuel gas accidents, injuries and property damage involving fuel gas.
Building and Energy cannot handle complaints about:
- Ordinary electricity, gas or water billing disputes - these usually belong with the Energy and Water Ombudsman WA.
- Plumbing billing and contractual issues - these matters are usually handled by Consumer Protection.
Jurisdiction: Building and Energy has authority to hear complaints under the law of Western Australia.
Scope: For building service complaints, all complaining parties must reside and continue to reside in Western Australia for the duration of the complaint process.
Time limits:
- Building service complaints:
- A building service complaint must be made within six years after the work was completed.
- A building service complaint about Typlex/polybutylene pipe failure must be made within 15-years.
- Home building contract disputes must be made within three years of the contract date, the breach of contract, or the cause of action arising.
- Plumbing work complaints: Must be lodged within six years of the work being completed.
Discretion: Building and Energy has the discretion to decide whether to accept your complaint and will consider factors such as seriousness, safety risk, evidence, public interest, and time passed.
Who can you make a complaint against?
You can make a complaint against:
- Registered or licensed:
- Builders
- Painters
- Building Surveyors
- Plumbers and plumbing contractors
- Electrical contractors and workers
- Gasfitters – licensed to carry out gasfitting work
- Unlicensed or unregistered individuals or businesses: Someone who appears to be carrying out work without the required license and registration.
- Owner-builders: Someone approved to carry out building work on their own property.
- Parties to a home-building work contract.
- Network operators, gas suppliers, and electrical or gas appliance retailers for compliance and safety issues.
Are you eligible to make a complaint?
You can make a complaint if:
- You are directly affected by the issue.
- You are within the time limits.
- The complaint has not been previously dealt with by another agency or department.
- You have information about possible misconduct or unsafe work.
Additional eligibility:
- Home building contract disputes: You must be a party to a home building work contract valued between $7,500 and $500,000.
- Plumbing Work Complaints: The issue should only relate to plumbing work that a plumber has failed to rectify. If fixing the plumbing may require consequential damage to a building, or if the dispute involves other building services, you will need to lodge a building service complaint instead.
For plumbing workmanship complaints, the person is encouraged to discuss the problem with the responsible contractor first.
Prerequisite Steps:
- Building Services Complaints: You are required to give written notice to the party against whom the complaint is being made at least fourteen (14) days before submitting your formal complaint. You must include: your intention to make a complaint, the remedy you are seeking, and the evidence you intend to rely on.
- Plumbing Work Complaints: You should seek to resolve the issue directly with the contractor before lodging a complaint.
Making a complaint on behalf of someone else: You can make a Building Services Complaint on behalf of someone else with their permission by completing an Authority to Act form.
What can this body do to help?
Possible outcomes will depend on the type of complaint made, but Building and Energy can provide or facilitate:
Inspection or Investigation: Building and Energy may choose to investigate a complaint. Investigations are discretionary and not guaranteed.
Conciliation: A conciliator may help bring parties together and help to identify the issues and explore a possible agreement.
Remedy Orders for Building Disputes: The Building Commissioner may issue a remedy order to resolve an issue. Orders may require work to fix an issue, payments, or reasonable compensation.
Plumbing Rectification Notice: An order requiring non-compliant plumbing work to be fixed.
Other possible outcomes include education, a formal warning, or an infringement notice. Serious conduct or breaches may result in disciplinary action, prosecution or other regulatory action.
How to prepare your complaint:
When making a complaint, include as much clear information as possible.
Personal details: Include your name, address, phone number and email address.
Details about the person or business you are complaining about: Name, address, contact details, registration or license number if known, any other details to help identify them.
Relevant Facts: What happened, where it occurred; who was involved; when the work started and finished; explain, in detail, what went wrong; what you have already done to resolve the issue; and your desired outcome.
Evidence: include any key documents including contracts, invoices, quotes, photographs, permits, certificates, emails, correspondence between the parties.
What NOT to include: Do not include false or misleading information.
Lodging your complaint and next steps:
Building service complaints:
- Online: Complaint Form
- The standard complaint fee is $122 and the concession fee is $61, current from 1 October 2026.
- Email: be.info@lgirs.wa.gov.au
- Phone: 1300 489 099
- In Person: Building and Energy, Level 1, 303 Sevenoaks Street, Cannington WA 6107
Building Disciplinary Complaint (for disciplinary complaints about a registered builder, painter, building surveyor, or an approved owner-builder):
- Email: enforcement@demirs.wa.gov.au
- Post: Building and Energy, Locked Bag 100, East Perth WA 6892
- In person: Level 1, 303 Sevenoaks Street, Cannington WA 6107
- Fax: 08 6251 1333
Plumbing Work Complaints
- Online: Plumbing work complaints
- Download Complaint Form and submit via:
- Post: Plumbers Licensing Board, c/o the Plumbing Inspectorate, Locked Bag 100
- In person: Building and Energy, Level 1, 303 Sevenoaks Street, Cannington WA 6107
- Fax: (08) 6251 2833
Electrical and Gas Safety Incidents must first be reported to the network operator or relevant gas supplier, and with Building and Energy via phone.
- Phone: 1800 678 198
What happens next: Building and Energy will assess your complaint and decide whether the complaint can be accepted and if there is an investigation. If investigated, you will be informed of the outcome when the investigation is complete.
More information:
Refer to the factsheet provided below for more information.
