For months, Sonia showered in cold water in an unfinished home

Victoria's building regulator has warned consumers it is investigating a builder over allegations it has built potentially unsafe homes in Melbourne's outer suburbs. It is the first time in its history the Victorian Building Authority (VBA) has issued a public warning against a builder. The VBA said allegations against Baba Building Group and its associated entities included "not building to the permit, non-compliant and defective work and assisting home owners to occupy incomplete .

.. homes".



Baba Building Group builds homes, sometimes after receiving referrals from other companies. Baba Building Group is being investigated by Victoria's building regulator. The ABC can reveal that one of those companies is Burj Group Australia, where suspected NDIS fraudster Khawaja Haroon was a director up until at least last week.

Mr Haroon is the Home left unfinished, customer alleges Sonia Ballal first signed a contract with Baba Building Group to build her home at Tarneit, in Melbourne's outer west, when she was 24 years old. She is now 29 and said she was living in a home that was unfinished and did not comply with building rules. "I showered in cold water last year, from April to October," she said.

Sonia Ballal says her house does not comply with building rules. "They haven't levelled [the property] so when it rains there's just 3 inches of water in the backyard. It comes in the house as well.

" Her kitchen is not finished, so she has to cook in the garage. "My social life's f***ed ..

. I don't have a proper house to invite anyone to," she said. She said she had paid Baba Building Group $295,000 for the house but the project was beset by delays from the start.

Sonia Ballal has set up a kitchen in her garage. Any time she went to cancel the contract, the company would say they had ordered the materials already and she would have to pay for them, she said. She alleges the company also demanded an extra $20,000 on top of the agreed amount.

Building company disputes account Ms Ballal said Baba Building Group then asked her to move in without an occupancy certificate — which is illegal in Victoria — even though she estimated only 60 per cent of the home was finished. Desperate to move into her home, she took up the offer in April last year. But she said she was still living in a non-compliant home that she was trying to pay off and bring up to building standards.

Sonia Ballal cooks in her garage as her kitchen has not been completed. She said she had been so devastated by what had happened, her brother was now living with her to make sure she was OK. She said she had dealt with Baba's project manager, Habeeb Habeeb, throughout the project.

Asked about Ms Ballal's allegations, Mr Habeeb said: "It's all lies and wrong information." Baba is owned and run by registered builder Dheeraj Sandala. Mr Sandala said Ms Ballal's allegations were false and he "never authorised her to move into the construction site".

Sonia Ballal says her home remains unfinished, including the roof. He said the extra $20,000 was for "numerous agreed variations" and the build was delayed by COVID-19. "Sonia's house was scheduled to be completed last year but she breached the contract and took possession without Baba Building Group permission," he said.

He said the VBA had ordered Baba to go back on site and fix Ms Ballal's home last week. The popular social media personality Zeher Khalil, from "Site Inspections", revealed concerns about Baba in a video posted in February. Baba Building Group has used multiple business names including "Burj Projects", which is registered to a Truganina address where Burj Group Australia has its office.

Burj Group Australia advertises heavily in Melbourne's Indian community through flashy social media videos and sponsorship of events including pop concerts. Burj Group Australia is a project management company. Other than Mr Haroon, its directors are Paramtegh Singh Sehgal and his brother Karajraas Singh Sehgal.

Paramtegh Singh Sehgal told the ABC that Burj Group Australia was not itself a builder but previously did project management work for Baba. "I think there was just one project that Baba was doing and we were just doing their project management," he said. "They reached out to us to do the project management for them.

" Mr Sehgal said he was unsure why Baba had used the Burj name and had asked them to stop. Paramtegh Singh Sehgal and Karajraas Singh Sehgal are directors of Burj Group Australia. He also said he was close friends with Mr Habeeb, who features in one of Burj's social media videos, sitting at a table in the company's offices with the Sehgal brothers and Mr Haroon.

"I have known him [Mr Habeeb] for a long time, and again ...

he was assisting us with project management," Paramtegh Singh Sehgal said. Mr Sehgal said that he had asked Mr Haroon to resign from the Burj Group Australia board after the ABC last week revealed that Mr Haroon was under investigation by authorities for millions of dollars in suspected NDIS fraud. In a statement, Mr Haroon said he denied all the allegations against him and would cooperate with any official investigation into his NDIS activities.

Mr Sehgal also told the ABC that Burj Group Australia had in the past done project management work for Ozcan Oztas, a builder who has been charged with corruption offences following an IBAC investigation. Paramtegh Singh Sehgal, Khawaja Haroon and Karajraas Singh Sehgal have been filmed partying together. But he said that Burj Group Australia no longer worked with Mr Oztas.

Mr Oztas is charged with misconduct in public office and is accused in court documents of acting as a middle man who helped people who wanted building licenses bribe allegedly corrupt VBA officials. More than 30 people, including three VBA officials, have been charged as a result of the IBAC investigation. The accused, including Mr Oztas, are set to return to the Melbourne Magistrates' Court later this month for a committal mention.

Regulator's investigation continues Meanwhile, the VBA's investigation into Baba and an associated entity, Windsor Homes, continues. On the western outskirts of Melbourne, where the paddocks meet new homes, lies the centre of an alleged NDIS fraudster's network. The regulator is keen to show a that found its response to complaints from home owners was inadequate and it had failed to take action against dodgy builders.

In a statement, the VBA said it was "gathering evidence into a range of serious allegations against" Baba. "The VBA has ordered the builder and several plumbers back to rectify non-compliant work at sites in Clayton, Officer, Tarneit and Truganina and has addressed any immediate safety concerns," a spokesperson for the authority said. "If these claims are substantiated the VBA won't hesitate to use its full suite of powers to hold those responsible to account.

" Baba Building Group has denied breaching permit conditions or safety requirements..