Help with Dodgy Tradie/contractor - Sydney

Last month I did home renovation (kitchen, bathroom and minor roof works), all in all total $18k I paid for the work in cash to the tradie.

I managed to keep track on cash payment and only paid after the work is completed as I have heard lot of horrible stories. Multiple time over the month I was asked to pay for material or labour before work start and I decline and then somehow he managed to complete the work and after that I paid final cash installment.

I was ok with workmanship but again not much I could do after he did demolition. so i let him complete all work and he left the site in mess and told me that he will clean up everything after he leave and skip bin will be removed next day. as the work was completed, I paid all in full.

it has been a month and skip bin full of rubbish still sitting on my front of my house in council 3m strip. I called and tried message without any luck to hear from him. I then called skip company who told me that they can't remove skip until they get paid from contractor.

what do i do now?

can i call council to put a fine against the skip company so they can take the bin to avoid fine and then collect money from the contractor if they can. it seems that skip company knows the contractor as they are working on many other projects.

can i just pay the skip company and remove the bin but this is unfair as i already paid all promised $18k in cash so why would i pay?

if there a council rule that can fine me for not removing? even though i am not the person who booked the skip bin so basically i have no contract with the skip company?

Note: - i have not written contract with builder but i didn't order the bin. i have evidence of full payment as builder received money on cctv camera so images and video i have to prove that i paid.

any help and past experience would help me.

thanks in advance.

 

the skip bin size is about 10m3 to 12m3 so roughly $900 to $1200.

 

can the skip bin company dump all the rubbish back on my property and take the bin? is it legal?

 

can i call cops to resolve or where i can go to get help from government as i am not bikie so can't use my own muscles... to such unethical people..?

 

i regret cash deal ... not much i can do now .... !

 

look debt collector can't get behind me as i have no legal contract or order with the skip company. so legally debt collector has to resolve it with the builder who might have account with skip company.

 

look it will be around $1500 i guess as it is quite big 12m3 size. i was told by skip company and when talking to skip company they didn't ask me anything as they waiting for contractor to clear the payment.

 

You could contact Fair Trading...Oh hang on no you cant. You paid cash and have no contract which is REQUIRED by state law. Dont use the word "ëthics" when you helped defraud the Commonwealth through supporting tax evasion.

Your sole avenue could be to ask the tradie to sort the mess or you will need to report the cash to the ATO. Fight fire with fire.

Making a tip-off

 

Paul, I paid cash but I didn't support tax evasion as I have not told builder not to pay tax. cash payment under $25k is legal in NSW for building work. Legally any work above $25k requires legal document plus receipt of work completed if i am not wrong. i will be at fault if i had paid cash above 25k and not done the paper work by law.

reporting to ATO is an option and i will do it but it won't resolve my immediate problem. i thought council might fine the skip company for blocking council land and that will force skip company to take out the bin and sort out with contractor. the only fear i have is that council would charge me instead the skip company even though i didn't ask builder to put the bin there or asked skip company to deliver the skip at that location.

i don't think skip company let the bin sitting on one project for eternity without payment?

 

If the bin is on council strip, call the council and ask them to remove it. It's not your bin, nor you want it there so before one of your neighbours report the bin as yours, you should do it yourself.

I once had a tradie leave pile of old carpet on front and didn't remove for weeks. I called the council and handed over his details. Not sure what council did but old carpet was gone within 24 hours.

On a related note, don't pay cash on jobs of this size. It's against the law, it supports tax evasion, you don't have any legal recourse and worst of all if your new bathroom leaked and damaged the house, your insurance company will NOT cover anything because work was not done by a registered builder and a no contract existed.

 

i agree and learnt my lesson with this one. thanks.

 

no,i haven't called yet as i fear they just fine me but legally i am not sure if they could when i haven't booked the bin and bin company has no evidence of me booking the bin. in my opinion council should send notice to bin company to remove it as it belongs to them and it is up to bin company to sort out who pays for it.

 

I think that if I was the bin company I would pick up the bin and threaten to dump the contents in the builder's driveway if payment wasn't immediately forthcoming.

 

if this is Sydney, it will be dealt with fairly swiftly. It’s at the discretion of council staff whether they provide bin company an opportunity to remove the bin or treat it as illegal dumping and issue fine with removal costs.

I haven’t seen many bin companies who are generally willing to leave the bin in the nature strip in Sydney let alone keep it there for weeks. It’s a health and safety hazard unless a permit was issued.