Four building workers involved in a dramatic construction pit collapse in Mount Waverley last year will face disciplinary action and could be slapped with huge fines or have their registration cancelled.
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Last July, surrounding homes were left teetering over a giant, 15-metre-deep pit when excavation work at 170-174 Highbury Road collapsed.
About a dozen residents, mainly foreign students, were forced to evacuate.
After initial landslips were reported in mid-July, the pit's walls continued to crumble, taking with them a portable toilet, fencing, a wheelie bin and the backyard of an adjoining townhouse.
Four of the building practitioners involved have been subject to a lengthy investigation by the Victorian Building Authority (VBA).
Those involved are building surveyor Anastasios Galanos, civil engineers Aldo Ditonto and Thewarathanthrige Fernando, and builder Dimitrios Nicolaou.
Mr Galanos has also been reprimanded by the building authority for signing off on the Lacrosse tower at Docklands, which was ravaged by a fierce cladding fire in 2014.
His case is to be considered by the Building Practitioners Board.
On Friday, the VBA said the investigation into the Mount Waverly pit collapse "found evidence to support multiple allegations against each of the four practitioners involved in the excavation work at the site".
The building authority said that each of the men committed multiple breaches of the Act and the Building Regulations 2006, and "failed to perform the duties as a registered building practitioner in a competent manner and to a professional standard".
The four will now face an inquiry at the Building Practitioners Board, an independent statutory authority.
The VBA would not detail the nature of the allegations, nor say how many each man faced.
But it did confirm that each allegation was worth up to 100 penalty units and - if proven - could result in a fine of up to $15,967.
If the allegations are substantiated, the workers could also face a range of penalties which include having their registration cancelled or suspended.
According to the VBA website, if the board cancels a practitioner's registration, the practitioner cannot apply to be re-registered for at least five years.
