Pool Builder Collapsed - How to recover costs and/or complete work

Hi PC community, sharing a crappy experience we are having at the moment and seeking any advice you may have.

We commenced a Fibreglass pool installation midway through this year, contract signed, work started end of September. From day one it has been one stuff up after the other, delays, damage, no project managers, no handover to subbies, no plans drawn-up, terrible communication etc etc. To top it all off I have now found out the builder has sacked his team and disappeared. To add to the fun, we made the last progress payment ($12K) Thursday last week. The pool shell is in the ground and full of water, however it still needs concrete surrounds poured, paving, and pumps/heaters etc hooked up. I estimate there is at least $15-20K worth of work remaining.

Steps I have taken so far:
* Raised with parent company, they are a national manufacturer but the building contract/install is done by regional building companies. They are obviously having internal discussions about it, I imagine they are not liable to rectify but they need to consider how to manage the reputational damage likely as I understand there are multiple other customers affected.
* I have lodged an application to my bank to attempt to recall the last payment (good luck!)
* I have contacted QBCC to review insurance process.

QBCC tell me that I need to have the contract lawfully terminated (how?) before I can lodge a non-completion claim with them. Until this is done and they appoint contractors to complete the work the pool is going to sit there getting more and more stagnant. I may need to look at some sort of temporary filtration/sanitation setup to get it useable.

I will be seeking legal advice, but if anyone has any tips please let me know?

I have one tip to share - I am never making progress payments to a builder before work is complete again.

 

Why did you make the progress payments before the work was completed?

 

Because that was how they were laid out in the contract. Originally they were even worse, with almost 80% payable before any work commenced. I negotiated them back to several smaller chunks, but the final progress payment was due prior to pouring of the concrete. I even waited until they were boxing up the form work, with pour scheduled the following morning. They never showed up the next day.

 

Yes, contracts these day definantly favour the builder/contractor

Long gone are the days of the deposit and progress payments being to cover the builder/contractors materials & costs prior to completion, with the final "completion payment" due when the job is done (and both parties happy)

Too many buiders/contractors have had trouble getting final payments from people (who often expected more, or something different) or just didn't pay and couldn't recover the funds or property !

Then some builders/contractors seem to have a habbit of Phoenixing

I feel that a 10-20% balance payable at completion should be the normal

Good on you for trying to ensure you didn't get done over by negotiating better terms, still there's a lot of cost in the pumps and pipework installation

 

Progress claims are a risk management strategy for the builder, minimising financial risk/exposure to the man on the street. The client's job is to ensure that the staged payments are reasonable & compliant with Fair Trading (before signing) and checking that the works being paid at the stage completion/progress claim match the works.

 

Speak to a solictor to initiate a claim and the contract issues. Only when the claim is determined will the insurance then progress. If its like any other construction insurance the % of progress may limit the cover. So if you paid 80% and 30% of work is done (incl materials) then you could fall short. You may need to seek preliminary approval to engage someone to complete and then hope a future claim can offset some of that cost. The coping / paving etc may be able to be completed later. Focus on killing the contract and making a claim. The solicitor may need to issue a "show cause" in writing for ending the contract. Or the contract could include default terms that allow that.

A pool cant be filled or used until completed and council approval given so forget temp filter etc. I wonder who he rented the temp fencing from ? You do have temp fencing dont you ? Just make sure yard is secure so no tradie tries to recover their property or damage whats been done.

Shame you didnt pay the last bit by card !!

 

Thanks @Paul@PFI. I have spoken with a solicitor who said the same thing. He said it can be a real pain because a lot of the time these guys just disappear into the long grass and it takes a while to get the contract terminated or the company wound up. In the meantime the partially complete work deteriorates.

I asked QBCC if there was an approved contractor I could use now to finish the work and then hope for recovering some of the cost in an insurance claim, they said that I had to wait until the claim process started which is really annoying.

Yes the pool has a rented temporary fence around it, I wonder how long until that company comes to take that back. I secured anything else valuable left on site yesterday, I had the same thought about tradies seeking reimbursement.

Sigh. Guess I will just follow the process and see how we go.

 

Reimbursement or their retribution ! Were you dealing with an individual or a company ? The solicitor have any view on the master dealer being liable ?
Frustrating. Wrong time of the year for a half done pool.

 

Go to A Current Affair
Similar thing on channel 9 Tomorrow (Thurs) night

 

It's the same builder, looks like some folks have gone the public name and shame approach

 

Solicitor has now issued a letter of demand, he has two weeks to respond before we can terminate the contract and lodge insurance claim to QBCC.

 

It just gets better, turns out he's a convicted criminal, and already had a failed construction business in Canberra...

https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-...-builder/d7dd3960-a265-4f33-b883-8d6292e749e9

 

I saw ACA and thought of this thread and assumed it was same.

Dodgy Brothers pools. It may be worth seeking legal advice on the agency arrangement with the pool company. They have to know he is shonky and why they ceased to supply shells. But allowed him to pass-off.