{"id":826004,"date":"2026-07-27T01:41:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T01:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/826004\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T01:41:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T01:41:13","slug":"buyer-struggles-to-get-diy-flat-pack-home-to-meet-australian-building-standards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/826004\/","title":{"rendered":"Buyer struggles to get ‘DIY’ flat-pack home to meet Australian building standards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steve Harris purchased a prefabricated tiny home for $26,000 in April, believing it was the cheap way to build a small hair salon for his wife’s home business in Bunbury, 150km south of Perth.<\/p>\n

It was promised to him as a “build-in-a-weekend” job, but it is still sitting deconstructed in his driveway.<\/p>\n

“Our engineer rang us yesterday and said the glass on the doors is only four millimetres when it has to be five [millimetres thick],” he said.<\/p>\n

“It has been pretty tough going.”<\/p>\n

The flat-packed home could end up costing him double what he paid, as the Bunbury local battles to get the structure approved under council and Australian building standards.<\/p>\n

“I would suggest to anyone doing these prefab builds that they get all their ducks in a row.”<\/p>\n

\"Artistic<\/p>\n

An outdoor DIY garden shed for sale online. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

The company Mr Harris purchased from appears to be Australian but uses kits made in Europe.<\/p>\n

The company, which the ABC has chosen not to name, said DIY assembly varied according to the customer’s experience, site conditions and preparation.<\/p>\n

“We therefore would not suggest that every customer’s installation experience will be identical,” a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

Potential consumer law breach<\/p>\n

Australia’s tiny home industry has seen a 120 per cent increase in sales since 2021, as the housing crisis forces people to look to alternative housing solutions.<\/p>\n

Consumer Protection is warning that companies marketing prefabricated flat-pack homes as being “assembled in a weekend” could be in breach of consumer law.<\/p>\n

WA’s Commissioner for Consumer Protection Trish Blake has cautioned people to be wary of “DIY” or “permit-free homes” claims.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Trish Blake says promises of “permit-free” flat-packed homes should be scrutinised. (ABC News: Mya Kordic)<\/p>\n

“People are looking at quick and easy ways to get accommodation options constructed, and we know that constructing a full home can take a minimum of a year, so these prefab pods and buildings are a great option, ” Ms Blake said.<\/p>\n

“But I cannot conceive of a prefabricated pod which would be entirely permit-free.”<\/p>\n

A major issue with the DIY kits is that they are often made from overseas parts that do not meet Australian building standards.<\/p>\n

Owners also need to get proper council building approvals, which can sometimes take months.<\/p>\n

“If they are advertising them as permit-free, we will be looking at that very closely and looking at whether they are breaching consumer law for engaging in misleading and deceptive conduct,” Ms Blake said.<\/p>\n

“Electrical work and all the plumbing work can only be done by licensed electricians and plumbers; these are not the DIY elements of these buildings.”<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Mr Harris’s tiny home was purchased in April but is yet to be unpacked. (ABC South West: Madigan Landry)<\/p>\n

Standards not up to scratch<\/p>\n

Bunbury builder Deon Attard said he was seeing increasing issues with tiny homes purchased overseas.<\/p>\n

“We just did a commercial project where they brought 12 from China, and the quality just was not up to scratch,” he said.<\/p>\n

“By the time it’s all said and done, they didn’t actually save much money at all, and the quality of the finish was not actually delivered.”<\/p>\n

\"Deon<\/p>\n

Bunbury-based builder Deon Attard advises working with professionals. (supplied)<\/p>\n

He said “reworks” often needed to be done on houses built overseas, including drilling new holes and places to put electrical outlets and plugs.<\/p>\n

“Australian building standards exist for a reason,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Attard is not against tiny homes but says interested buyers should look closer to home.<\/p>\n

“Find a local modular or tiny home builder and work with them on the design of the product that suits your budget,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steve Harris purchased a prefabricated tiny home for $26,000 in April, believing it was the cheap way to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":826005,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99,8036,345740,51702,67454,399016],"class_list":["post-826004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-consumer-protection","tag-flat-pack-homes","tag-regulations","tag-tiny-home","tag-tiny-home-building"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/826004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=826004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/826004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/826005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=826004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=826004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=826004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}