Building industry expert’s skill made him an ideal arbiter in disputes

Obituary prepared by George Golvan QC

John Ronald Coghlan, AM

John Coghlan, who made a significant contribution over many years to the construction industry and dispute resolution involving domestic buildings, has died at Monash Medical Centre following a stroke. He was 83.

In the 1960s Coghlan became managing director of Viscount Homes Pty Ltd, which designed and build a range of small to medium-sized homes, and under his management the company became one of Victoria’s largest volume home builders in the 1970s and 1980s.

At an early stage he was also involved with the Master Builders Association, and was elected a council member in 1975. He went on to serve as the treasurer of the MBA in Victoria, where his leadership skills and work ethic led to his election as the president of the MBA of Victoria and later as president of the Master Builders Federation of Australia.

He was also closely involved in assisting the MBA of New South Wales after it ran into financial difficulties.

Coghlan was a strong supporter of alternative dispute resolution and in 1970 joined the Institute of Arbitrators, Australia, as it was then known. By 1977 he was a grade 1 arbitrator and committee member of the Institute of Arbitrators & Mediators Australia from 1987-95.

Coghlan was born in Warrnambool to John and Dorothy, and received a scholarship to Melbourne University, where he obtained a degree in mechanical engineering and a diploma in electrical engineering. He also trained as a psychologist and was registered as one in 1967. He served in the Australian Army’s psychology corps and attained the rank of major.

Later, he was the inaugural treasurer of the Building Dispute Practitioners Society, and was elected president in mid-1993. When domestic building disputes were referred to arbitration before the formation of VCAT, Coghlan was a prominent and sought-after domestic building arbitrator, given his common sense and considerable technical expertise and experience in both construction and engineering.

In 1996 he was made a member of the Order of Australia for his services to the building industry and arbitration.

A prodigious worker, he was still working full time at the time of his death. However, his deep commitment to Christian beliefs meant that the only time he never worked was on Sundays, which were devoted to attending church and his large extended family. He was the vicar’s warden at St Luke’s Anglican Church in Vermont.

Coghlan established one of the largest domestic building consulting practices in Victoria and was in great demand for his expert consulting advice. He was also an expert witness in litigation before courts, the VCAT and in arbitration cases.

In 1990, he began a long and successful partnership with Bob Lorich, which eventually became Buildspect & Co Pty Ltd, one of Victoria’s leading building consultancy practices.

Coghlan married first, Robyn Powell, from whom he was divorced, and then Beverly Rowe, who predeceased him in 1961.

He is survived by his wife Marion (nee Kent), eight children, 17 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.