A disgruntled homeowner who accused his Melbourne builder of shoddy work in viral Facebook and TikTok posts has been ordered to pay the company $673,000 in damages - and the courtroom battle is still not over.

Gurvinderpal Singh and his wife hired Singh Homes to build a house in the fast-growing west Melbourne suburb of Truganina in 2022, but the relationship soured amid a dispute over delays, payments and the quality of the building work.

After Singh Homes terminated the contract in February 2024, Mr Singh took to social media, posting a scathing review on the Facebook page Dodgy Builders Melbourne and uploading a Punjabi-language TikTok video that attracted about 220,000 views.

In the Facebook post, Mr Singh falsely alleged the company had 'ruined' his family's life with their 'selfish' behaviour. 

'I have put my hard earned money which I borrowed from my family and friends to build this dream house which seems to be shattered now,' he wrote.

'My life is ruined because of this Melbourne Worst custom builder.

'Stay away and stay tuned.' 

Meanwhile the TikTok video contained a series of false allegations about the company and its directors, including claims of poor workmanship, inadequate supervision and mistreatment of clients.

In the video, Mr Singh claimed he had been left so distressed by his experience with the builder that 'a person thinks that he should commit suicide by throwing himself under the train'. 

The social media posts were published two days after Singh Homes terminated its contract with Mr Singh, who is not related to the company's directors.

The builder and its directors, Parvinder Sarwara and Daman Anand, launched legal action after alleging Mr Singh's online campaign drove customers away and inflicted more than $1 million in losses.

After a four-week jury trial, County Court Judge Julie Clayton found in their favour, ruling the social media posts amounted to misleading and deceptive conduct and injurious falsehood.

Although Singh Homes sought more than $1.08million, Judge Clayton ultimately awarded the company $673,000 after concluding some of its projections were 'overly optimistic'.

But the courtroom battle did not end there, with the builder's directors launching their own fight over the damage they said the viral posts had inflicted on their reputations.  

The directors' defamation claim was initially dismissed because the trial judge found they had not established the required threshold of 'serious harm' to their reputations.

However, in a judgment delivered on Tuesday, the Victorian Court of Appeal rejected Mr Singh's challenge and upheld the builder's victory.

The appeal court also sided with Mr Sarwara and Mr Anand, finding the evidence 'comfortably established' they had suffered serious harm to their reputations.

Judges noted the Punjabi-language TikTok video, which attracted about 220,000 views, was 'widespread' and 'likely to have been believed by at least a portion of the viewers'.

'It was likely to do reputational damage to Mr Anand and Mr Sarwara within their community,' the court said.

The matter will now return to the County Court for an assessment of defamation damages.