Australia, June 9 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on May 9:

1. This is an application by Mr Muhammad Iyaz ("the Applicant") for review of a decision by the Building Commission NSW, Department of Customer Services ("the Building Commission"). The Building Commission's decision was to refuse to grant the Applicant's application for a contractor licence for the category of General Building Work under the Home Building Act 1989 (NSW) ("the HBA"). The application was refused in accordance with sections 20(1)(a), 20(1A), 33C(1)(b)(i) and 33D(1)(b) of the HBA. The Building Commission has advised that the correct respondent for the purposes of these proceedings is "Secretary, Department of Customer Service" ("the Respondent"). The file is amended accordingly.

2. The original decision found that the information that the Applicant had provided did not demonstrate that he had attained two years' acceptable relevant industry experience in a wide range of building construction work for the issue of a contractor licence in the category of general building work. The decision also asserted that the Applicant had provided false and misleading information in support of the application, by claiming onsite residential building construction experience knowing the details were false.

3. An internal review of the original decision was undertaken in accordance with section 53 of the Administrative Decisions Review Act 1997 ("the ADR Act"). The internal review affirmed the decision to refuse to grant the application. The internal reviewer stated:

"Having regard to the information provided in the original decision and internal review submission, I have determined that refusal of the application in accordance with:

* section 20(1A) of the HBA is incorrect as there is no specific ground for refusal under this section

* section 20(1)(a) of the HBA is correct as Mr Iyaz has not assuredly demonstrated that he is a fit and proper person to hold a contractor licence under the HBA at this time

* sections 33C(1)(b)(i) and 33D(1)(b) of the HBA is also correct as Mr Iyaz has not assuredly demonstrated that he has attained two years' acceptable relevant industry experience in a wide range of building construction work for the issue of a contractor licence in the category of general building work to meet the requirements of the Instrument at this time.

Therefore, I conclude the current application by Muhammad Rohail Iyaz for a contractor licence must be refused in accordance with sections 20(1)(a), 33C(1)(b)(i) and 33D(1)(b) of the HBA."

4. The Applicant has applied to the Tribunal for external review of the decision to refuse to grant the application.

Issues for determination

5. The issues for determination are whether the correct and preferable decision is to grant the application. This requires consideration of two central issues:

1) whether the Applicant has sufficient acceptable relevant industry experience in a wide range of building construction work; and

2) whether the Applicant relied upon a fraudulent reference.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/196892add6ea5d81b576fe7d)

Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.