00:00This abandoned building site represents tens of thousands of dollars quite literally down
00:08the drain. $45,000. In 2021, Maria Coulter hired Craig Francis to build a granny flat
00:15under her Sunshine Coast home. Instead, the unlicensed builder left her with an unfinished
00:20mess. Craig admitted that he was out of his depth, basically, and that he would come see me
00:28and try and make restitution. Mr Francis told the ABC he shouldn't have done
00:32the job without a licence, but that hasn't helped the grandmother who has been rejected
00:37for compensation twice by Queensland's building regulator. She spent $30,000 on legal fees to
00:43secure a win at the state's civil tribunal, but still hasn't got her money back.
00:48It's really distressing. When I won at QCAT, I cried. I thought, oh gosh, this nightmare is over.
00:54The matter has been referred back to us and we are reassessing it. QBCC won't make any
01:01further comment, but the regulator says it responded to 700 complaints about unlicensed
01:06contractors last year, taking action against half of those. In the same period, it paid out
01:12home warranty claims to the tune of $60 million. Last year, we went out to over 1,100 construction
01:18sites where we were checking QBCC licences, and we got over 98% compliance. But even one
01:25unlicensed contractor is one too many. Only six claims against unlicensed builders have gone
01:31through the regulator's home warranty scheme. But experts warn Maria's situation isn't isolated.
01:37We're seeing matters taking 12 to 18, even 24 months from application stage to a hearing.
01:43When a consumer has a legal fight with a builder, the costs can really stack up, and any compensation,
01:50if any, that a consumer may be entitled to, may be diluted.
01:55A Wait That Continues
01:57A Wait That Continues
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