Catastrophic roof collapse costs contractor $400,000 in fines

A façade contractor has gone into liquidation after being fined $400,000 by a Victorian Magistrate’s Court, following a catastrophic collapse of the roof of the Kew Recreational Centre during its redevelopment in 2022 (WorkSafe Victoria v Colab Building Tech Pty Ltd [2026]).

In 2021, Colab Building Tech Pty Ltd (Colab) was engaged by the principal contractor, ADCO Group (ADCO), on the Kew project and directed to engage a foreign-based third party to prepare shop drawings, fabricate, apply surface treatment and transport 440 tonnes of structural steel to Australia.

Colab and ADCO visually inspected the first few shipping containers of steel before Colab engaged another contractor to erect and install the steel.

During a paint work inspection, defective welding was detected in a large structural steel truss spanning the pool hall of the centre. Remedial welding work was undertaken but the truss collapsed overnight, when no workers or members of the public were present.

The Court found that Colab had failed to ensure that:

a suitably competent person reviewed the Quality Assurance documents provided by the foreign-based third party for the fabrication of the collapsed truss to verify the welds were appropriate category welds;
the remedial welding works were carried out by suitably qualified welders; and
the collapsed truss was subject to the necessary testing and inspection reports.

The Court imposed a substantial fine noting that, while Colab had no prior convictions, the failure was a significant departure from its duty of care owed under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic). Further, the foreseeable potential consequences were catastrophic, as had the collapse occurred during the day it could have resulted in the serious injury or death of many workers at the site. The Court was also concerned that had the redevelopment been completed, it could have resulted in the public being exposed to risks of serious injury or death.

WorkSafe Victoria also investigated the principal contractor, with ADCO Group entering into an enforceable undertaking with the regulator in March 2026, to the value of approximately $850,000.

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