Builders' Registration Board of WA v Keller Constructions (WA) Pty Ltd

The Builders' Registration Board of Western Australia prosecuted Keller Constructions (WA) Pty Ltd for engaging in building work without a registration certificate, contrary to s 4(1)(A) of the Builders Registration Act 1982 (WA). Keller Constructions entered into a contract to construct 67 residential buildings, with a total fee of $198,200, which exceeded the $20,000 threshold that would exempt the contract from requiring a registration certificate. The magistrate acquitted the respondent, finding that the fee for individual buildings did not exceed $20,000. The Board appealed this decision to the court.

The legal issues before the court were whether the threshold of $20,000 applied to the total fee for all buildings under a single contract or to the fee for each individual building, and whether the contract constituted "constructing any building" under the Act. The court examined the relevant statutory provisions and interpreted the exception in subpars (i) and (ii) as applying to all subparagraphs (a) to (d), rather than just subparagraph (d). The court found that the purpose of the Act was to target substantial projects and to require registration for unregistered builders, thus the $20,000 threshold should apply to the total value of the contract rather than to each individual building.

The court held that the contract in question involved the construction of multiple buildings and the total fee exceeded $20,000, which meant that Keller Constructions should have been registered. The court disagreed with the magistrate's finding that the fee for individual buildings did not exceed $20,000. The court concluded that the elements of the offence were established beyond reasonable doubt and the respondent should have been convicted. The court allowed the appeal, set aside the magistrate's decision, and entered a judgment of conviction.

The final orders of the court were to allow the appeal, set aside the decision of the magistrate, and enter a judgment of conviction against Keller Constructions (WA) Pty Ltd for engaging in building work without a registration certificate.