My client, a bricklayer, carried out work for owner builder at the sub  floor stage of the house. After work started on the house, owner went on overseas holiday and surprise surprise, no money to pay. After many months of waiting and broken promises to pay, VCAT claim was lodged to claim the payment.

It is then that the owner produced a report from pretend expert claiming defective brickwork as reason not to pay. The report was a disgrace. It was not signed, had no writer’s qualifications, did not comply with VCAT format and was factually wrong to the point of becoming fraudulent.

The pretend expert was known to me mainly from complaints from several of my customers who found out he had undisclosed dealings with their builder and have lost trust in him.

I had inspected the brickwork and found no defects that could be substantiated and certainly no defects that would justify failing to pay almost 10K.

Accordingly I prepared my expert report severely criticising pretend expert and I was looking forward to having VCAT expert witness exchange where I could cut him to shreds.

Guess what? Owner and his pretender NO SHOW!  My client had won order for payment in full (uncontested).

My client is a very honest man and a very good bricklayer (he was declared to be a very honest man by VCAT member in a prior large dispute which he also won) who has in good faith carried out work for a rogue owner.

I was pleased to be a part of his relief