Our ongoing experience with New Choice Homes in Perth has raised an important question about the regulatory obligations of registered building contractors in Western Australia.
On 4 September 2026, our independent building inspector requested an engineer’s assessment of roof-framing work.
New Choice Homes initially sought advice from the roof carpenter rather than obtaining the requested engineering assessment.
Following repeated enquiries, the matter was referred for engineering assessment.
Almost six weeks later, we have now been advised by New Choice Homes that the assessment has been outsourced to an external provider and that the company cannot control the provider’s workload or determine its turnaround time.
Meanwhile, the matter remains unresolved, with construction progress on our home affected.
This raises concerns that go beyond our individual build.
Under section 18(1)(e) of the Building Services (Registration) Act 2011 (WA), registered building contractors must have arrangements in place to ensure building services are managed and supervised proficiently.
Building and Energy reinforced these expectations in Industry Bulletin 153, including the importance of procedures for checking construction quality and compliance, identifying defects and confirming remediation.
We recognise that outsourcing engineering work is a normal industry practice and does not, in itself, indicate non-compliance.
However, our experience raises several questions:
• Are the arrangements New Choice Homes has in place sufficient to ensure timely access to engineering expertise when construction issues arise?
• Why was the engineering assessment specifically requested by our independent inspector not obtained earlier?
• When external engineering providers cannot give a reliable turnaround time, what arrangements exist to prevent prolonged delays to homeowners?
These are questions about the adequacy of management, supervision and quality assurance arrangements — not simply customer service.
We are not suggesting that a regulatory breach has been established. However, we believe the circumstances warrant scrutiny against the standards expected of registered building contractors in Western Australia.
For homeowners, the consequences of inadequate arrangements can be substantial. Delays, unresolved construction issues and uncertainty can affect families financially and personally.
Consumer protection should not begin only after something has gone seriously wrong.