Fed up with b uilding site theft and damage are (from left) Matt Macintyre (Celebration Homes), Nicola Weaver (Meridian Services) and Mal Eppen (Home Buyers Centre).
Camera IconFed up with b uilding site theft and damage are (from left) Matt Macintyre (Celebration Homes), Nicola Weaver (Meridian Services) and Mal Eppen (Home Buyers Centre). Credit: Supplied/Elle Borgward

Building a reputation

Laura Tomlinson, Weekend CourierWeekend Kwinana Courier

Wellard has also emerged as a local trouble spot, regularly rating among the metro’s top 10 suburbs for construction site theft.

Items worth $32,000 have been stolen from HIA member building sites in Baldivis in the past six months.

Top items stolen from Baldivis during the past 12 months include windows (27), water meters (17), doors (8), door frames (7), hot plates (5), ovens (5), timber (4), brickies’ hardware (3), insulation cloth (3) and window frames (3).

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Windows ($6047), water meters ($4321) and ovens ($4282) have been the most expensive thefts.

In February, March, April and May, three to four incidents a month were reported in Baldivis, but that leapt to between 14 and 20 incidents a month in June, July, August and September.

One recent theft from a Baldivis home set construction back months and cost $20,000 in repairs after a plumbed-in dishwasher was ripped from the wall and flooded the property.

Baldivis builders have found drug labs in under-construction homes, had port-a-loos set alight, dealt with graffiti and vandalism, including paint thrown on windows, and often deal with illegal dumping.

Meridian Services manage the HIA’s Name and Shame and Dob in a Dumper programs. Marketing manager Nicola Weaver said residents had an ‘it’s not my problem’ attitude to building theft and dumping, even though it pushed up housing costs and contributed to criminal behaviour.

‘We want builders to join forces with us because it’s an industry problem,’ she said.

‘But we also need the community to be our eyes and ears. We want them to stay alert and report anything that may be suspicious.

‘When you want to build a house, these things drive the cost up for everyone.’

Rewards of up to $3000 are offered for information that leads to a theft conviction.

Call the Name and Shame Hotline on 1300 273 9 273.