A Melbourne builder who took hundreds of thousands of dollars from clients before his companies collapsed has been banned from the industry and ordered to pay an $80,000 penalty — one of the largest fines ever issued by Victoria’s building watchdog.
Essendon-based builder Brett William Watkins, formerly the director of Watkins Building Group and Watkins Building and Carpentry, was disqualified for three years and fined by the Building and Plumbing Commission (BPC) after a series of financial and regulatory breaches.
Regulators found that Watkins accepted large payments from homeowners without taking out mandatory Domestic Building Insurance (DBI), which protects consumers if a builder dies, disappears, or becomes insolvent. His failure to obtain cover has left several homeowners with no avenue to recover their money.
One client in Kilmore reportedly paid more than $400,000 for a single-storey home and garage that was never completed.
BPC chief executive Anna Cronin said the commission had “zero tolerance for rogue practitioners”.
“We’re doing everything we can to remove them from the industry,” she said.
“Consumers should always check their builder is registered and has proof of a valid domestic building insurance policy before handing over money.”
Watkins’s companies have since gone into administration amid unpaid debts and incomplete projects. Investigators found he failed to maintain proper financial records and had allowed both entities to trade while insolvent. He also began excavation work on the Kilmore site without a required planning permit from Mitchell Shire Council, rendering the work illegal.
The BPC said the $80,000 fine reflected the seriousness of the offences, while Watkins’s three-year disqualification represented the maximum period allowed under Victorian law. Ms Cronin said the regulator was “working hard every single day to help restore confidence, protect consumers and educate and support practitioners.”
Watkins could not be reached for comment, and his current whereabouts are unknown.
The case comes as Victoria’s Domestic Building Insurance (DBI) framework undergoes a major structural shift. The scheme — compulsory for building projects over $16,000 — has historically been underwritten by the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority (VMIA). However, as of 1 July 2025, administration of the scheme transferred to the Building and Plumbing Commission.
According to VMIA’s most recent financials, gross written premiums reached $108.3 million in FY2024–25, up from $89.9 million the previous year, providing a benchmark for the size of Victoria’s DBI market. Industry data suggests more than 70,000 policies are issued annually across the state.
Builders can only access DBI through one of four authorised distributors:
The model aims to centralise oversight while maintaining broker-driven access for registered builders.
Watkins’s disqualification highlights ongoing tension between regulators and builders operating under financial strain amid rising construction costs and tight liquidity. For insurers and brokers, the case underscores the critical role DBI plays in protecting both consumers and the wider industry’s reputation.
As Ms Cronin noted, enforcement against unregistered or uninsured operators is essential to “restore confidence” in Victoria’s residential construction sector — a market that now generates more than $100 million in annual premiums and remains a key barometer of the state’s housing and insurance health.
