Wall to wall balls-up In January 2017 Mr Shuttleworth’s Carlisle property was nearing completion, the plaster had been applied and a painter was hired to finish the walls. After the first coat the painter noticed serious defects emerging in the white set plaster. He called Mr Shuttleworth who took the issue to the builder and, unhappy with the response, approached the Building Commission (now known as Building and Energy). Master Painters WA standards state painters accept responsibility for plastering work if they put a coat on it, except in white set plaster cases where faults often aren’t visible until a coat is applied.

Because there is no standardised test to determine the quality of white set plaster Mr Shuttleworth was forced to spend thousands on tests. Despite his tests clearly finding the plaster was too thin and more than half the weight below minimum standards Mr Shuttleworth said every step of the way he struggled to be heard. My time in SAT was painful and intimidating. Imagine the victim being treated like the perpetrator Daniel Shuttleworth “The builder was innocent until proven guilty. I had no knowledge of white set plaster, yet had to become an expert and spend thousands of dollars to prove the builder was at fault,” he said. “The commission did not acknowledge my professional building inspector's finding of defective plaster and I still to this day have not been reimbursed for the cost of this report.

“Why is this my responsibility? Why is this not the builder’s responsibility to ensure he is delivering a fit for purpose surface ready for painting? “The Building Commission kept dismissing my case as a painting issue; I never lodged my case as a painting issue." Mr Shuttleworth said he was encouraged to lodge a case against the painter. He said the commission closed and reopened his case several times and still sent him to the State Administrative Tribunal even after a meeting with industry representatives in January 2018 where everyone agreed the plaster was sub-standard. Sitting in SAT

His frustrations continued for more than eight months in the SAT and it was here he got a definitive answer from the former Building Minister Bill Johnston that the state had no standardised test for plaster quality. “My time in SAT was painful and intimidating. Imagine the victim being treated like the perpetrator,” he said. “Right throughout they kept telling me I should have rented it for lower rent or I should have painted it to rent it out, this is ridiculous because Australian standards say the walls cannot be painted. “They said I should have removed the plaster and got it re-plastered. This would have meant I was destroying my evidence, I was having a hard time proving my case let alone if I removed the plaster. “During my mediation SAT representatives railroaded me into accepting a low settlement, one which I would not accept.

Daniel Shuttleworth spent thousands on testing. Credit:Hamish Hastie “This was not a fact finding mission, I was going to be the first white set plaster case to have the evidence against the builder, thus I think they wanted to make me go away quietly so I did not set a precedent.” Mr Shuttleworth was a WA resident when he started the home but before the plaster saga he moved to Queensland for work. This ultimately proved to be his downfall. Loading After several months of back and forth the SAT cited a High Court case that determined the tribunal had no jurisdiction over claims from people living interstate. This incensed Mr Shuttleworth.

“Imagine if any interstate investor knew they had no rights with Building and Energy in Western Australia,” he said. After his claim Mr Shuttleworth entered arbitration with the builder and was awarded $49,000. He said this figure didn’t come close to the plaster replacement costs, loss of rent, time and money spent to prove it was faulty. Master Painters and Decorators WA and other industry experts joined Mr Shuttleworth's fight because of the wider ramifications it had for the industry. He said he was fortunate to have them on his side. “I had numerous other experts join me along the way, all determining soft and defective plaster,” he said.

He is a young man, invested some money he got as a result of a very serious accident, so he was planning his future, he has lost two years of his life and a lot of money and no one seems to care Amanda Dawes, Master Painters and Decorators “This issue could have been resolved back in 2017, instead my journey took two years and four months. “The government owes me a lot of money for failing to regulate the industry and having not been able to advise me what is acceptable, unquestionable tests for defective plaster. It is a system protecting a failing industry." Plaster problem The Building Commission has released two bulletins in three years alerting the industry of concerns about the state of white set plaster.

A Master Painters and Decorators 2016 white set plaster report suggested 10 per cent of all new WA homes could be impacted by dodgy plaster but executive officer Amanda Dawes said that number was probably worse as the slow sector squeezes contractors to get more metres out of their mix. She joined Mr Shuttleworth in his fight because she said increasingly painters were being stung for bad plaster. Master Painters and Decorators executive officer Amanda Dawes joined the fight because of the implications it had for the wider industry. Credit:Hamish Hastie “He is a young man, invested some money he got as a result of a very serious accident, so he was planning his future, he has lost two years of his life and a lot of money and no one seems to care,” Ms Dawes said. “This why I stuck with Daniel because as a person it is not right."

She said a lot of time and money could have been saved if inspectors had come out and made a determination at the time the issue first arose. She called for the registration of all trades, making them responsible for their own work. She is one of several building industry stalwarts who will be voicing their concerns about the current system at a town hall meeting convened by Shonky Builders Facebook group founder John Samuels to be held on July 28. The meeting will allow people adversely affected by the operation of the Building and Energy and the SAT to voice their concerns, with Minister John Quigley invited to attend. Solid system

A spokesman for the SAT said they did not accept Mr Shuttleworth’s concerns and defended the jurisdiction ruling. “The Tribunal can only determine matters within its jurisdiction. On 18 April 2018, the High Court made a determination, which affected the tribunal’s jurisdiction in certain cases where one of the parties resides in another state,” he said. Loading The spokesman did not directly answer questions about whether the SAT had evolved into an intimidating and complex process. He said the objectives of the tribunal were to act speedily with as little formality and technicality as practicable. Building and Energy acting executive director Saj Abdoolakhan said he was sympathetic to many of Mr Shuttleworth’s frustrations but would not comment specifically because the matter had gone through the SAT.

He said the SAT was an appropriate forum for building disputes involving contested evidence and the jurisdictional issue would have also applied with them had Mr Shuttleworth's dispute remained before the Building Commissioner. Mr Abdoolakhan said several plaster conditions such as moisture and alkalinity could be tested but confirmed there was no suitable on-site test to determine hardness or strength of white set plaster. He said they had reached out to industry for help to develop one. “In the absence of a specified site test for hardness, Building and Energy’s assessments of weak or soft plaster may involve verification of the mix ratios and air-entraining agents in the float or set plaster mixes,” he said. “Scanning electron microscopy can also quickly and accurately analyse the gypsum concentration and white set layer thickness.