A Lurnea man has been ordered to pay $50,740 fines and costs, after being found guilty of carrying out unlicensed electrical work.
Cristian Roberto Martinez, aka Cristian Roberto Villazon, Christian Alfonso Martinez and Christian Martinez, was convicted in his absence of offences under the Home Building Act 1989in Downing Centre Local Court on 20 September 2013.
The court heard Mr Martinez, as the former sole director of Newstyle Electrical Pty Ltd, had never held a licence or certificate qualifying him to undertake specialist electrical work.
Yet on 7 December 2010 he entered into a sub-contract agreement with a Sydney building company for the supply and installation of electrical wiring at a Rose Bay home.
The contractual work was valued at $185,000 with Mr Martinez supervising, co-ordinating and carrying out electrical wiring at the house until 11 September 2011.
Mr Martinez’s company was placed into liquidation the following month.
Downing Centre Local Court also heard Mr Martinez falsely represented himself as the holder of a contractor licence on 20 May last year, by providing a bogus contractor licence number to the company that had sub-contracted him.
Five days after using the false licence number, Mr Martinez was in Parramatta Local Court pleading guilty to earlier charges dating back as far as October 2009. On that occasion he received a nine month suspended sentence under the Crimes Act for using a false document. He was also ordered to pay $15,786 fines and costs for carrying out unlicensed electrical work at two homes in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
Mr Martinez has not paid these fines.
NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe said consumers had the right to be protected from unscrupulous tradespeople like Mr Martinez.
“Under tougher new penalties for unlicensed traders, planned to come into effect through theHome Building Act next year, serial offenders like Mr Martinez may find themselves behind bars,” Mr Stowe said.
“The residential building industry is regulated in the interests of consumer protection and builders and tradespeople are expected to strictly adhere to all relevant laws regulating this industry.”