Dunsborough plumber James Philbrick fined for shoddy work, poor records

A Prevelly couple say they were forced to demolish a large chunk of their new home build due to shoddy work from a local contractor.

South West plumber James Robert Philbrick was recently fined $7500 for multiple beaches of professional codes by the Plumbers Licensing Board relating to complaints about work undertaken in Cowaramup and Margaret River, as well as Prevelly, between late 2020 and early 2022.

A statement from the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety said Philbrick was penalised for non-compliant work and not providing mandatory documents as required by WA’s Plumbers Licensing and Plumbing Standards Regulations 2000.

The plumber was working as a subcontractor on new home builds, and despite no previous history of faulty work, inspections found “several instances of non-compliance” at each of the sites as well as “high-risk issues” at two of the homes.

The statement said one of those triggered a decision by a Prevelly couple to demolish two whole bathrooms in their new home and engage a different contractor rather than seek rectification work.

The board reported Philbrick had carried out rectification works on two sites after orders were issued.

Nevertheless, the board found breaches of the regulations occurred at each property, including negligence or incompetence in relation to carrying out plumbing work.

The plumber also failed to provide the board with compulsory compliance paperwork including notices of intention, certificates of compliance and drainage plumbing diagrams, the statement said.

The fines follow reports by the Times earlier this year of frustrations among homeowners relying on construction firms to build for them despite significant blowouts in project times, sheeted in part on a difficulty attracting qualified contractors for vital works.

A board spokesperson said the case should remind registered plumbing contractors of their legal obligations, community expectations for high-quality work, and official records to back up compliance and monitoring.