The owner of a fencing company has vented his frustration after he was left $100,000 out of pocket when a builder suddenly collapsed.
AH Fencing director Adam Hall said he noticed the builder had previously been late with payments, but he kept taking on work because he needed the money.
He said the company then fell into liquidation in 2021 and its $300,000 in assets were sent to the Australian Taxation Office because it was owed about $3million.
Mr Hall’s money simply ‘vanished’ with the business owner admitting it isn’t the first time a builder hasn’t paid him for his work.
‘While I’d love to sit here and blame the system and the builder, and I am p***ed off at them, we didn’t lose that $100,000 all in one hit,’ he said in a TikTok video in June.
‘We lost that $100,000 one red flag at a time.’
Mr Hall said the builder had been late with payments since the beginning of their contract, but he kept taking on work.
‘They missed a payment and they promised us that we were going to get paid, so we continued to work, and then they missed that payment,’ he said.
Adam Hall (above) says his fencing business lost $100,000 when a builder went bust in 2021
‘We were a little bit low on work, and so we just kept doing it. Looking back, it’s obviously so stupid.’
He said the missed payday was ‘a kick in the teeth’, as his own business was struggling.
‘Since then, a bunch of builders we’ve worked for have gone under. Fortunately, they haven’t owed us a lot of money,’ Mr Hall said.
‘These builders hold no assets and they have s***loads of ATO debt. So the chance the liquidators are ever going to give you any money is so close to nil.’
He urged other trades and subcontractors to implement strong protections.
Mr Hall warned they should stop work as soon as payments are missed and look into options like trade credit insurance.
‘As much as I’d love to sit here and be the victim and blame this builder for going under, ultimately, there’s a lot of things that we could have done about it to avoid it, and that’s what we do now, and that’s why we have no late payers anymore,’ he said.
Other builders who saw the video said they had also learned to be tougher after similar experiences.
The fencing boss urged other subcontractors to be careful with whom they do business with (stock image)
‘Been here too mate. Got done for $75,000 last year by a builder that went under,’ one said.
‘I asked my insurer about some sort of insurance to protect us, but he hadn’t heard of it. Now I know it’s called “Trade credit insurance” I’ll definitely look at getting it.’
‘The system needs to change. The person who’s building the house pays every sector,’ another suggested.
‘Soon as they are late you stop work,’ another advised.
‘No work is better than lost materials and labour costs. Also needs better contracts – if they shy away from signing, walk away.’
