A major subcontractor, its workers and the construction union protest, demand payment at Sommariva’s East Tce CBD apartment construction site
An angry subcontractor has confronted the builder of a luxury apartment building in the Adelaide CBD, demanding payment for work completed on the delayed multimillion-dollar project.
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An angry subcontractor has confronted the builder of a luxury apartment building in the CBD, demanding payment of more than $180,000 they say they’re owed for unpaid work.
Around 40 workers and union officials protested in front of the East Tce construction site on Wednesday, where builder Sommariva Property & Building is completing work on 14 million-dollar apartments.
Company director Joe Sommariva, who has previously served a five-year ban from undertaking building work, remained in the site office as protesters demanded payment.
Core-Form director Andrew Sneath claimed his company walked away from the job last year after completing around $183,000 in unpaid work.
“We’ve done all the formwork in the basement to level two — it was always a really slow project, we did a lot of work and he (builder) never paid, right from the start,” he said.
“He offered to pay us $16,000 which is a kick in the guts — because he put that financial stress on us we haven’t got the money to chase him in court.”
Mr Sneath said his company, which employs around 30 people, had been forced to make cuts as a result of the unpaid work.
“We’ve had to take out loans, we’ve just been struggling through — he’s put us under a massive amount of pressure,” he said.
“We’re working through but this has put us probably 24 months behind where we should be — we’ve nearly had to close our doors a couple of times and we’ve just had to battle through.”
Consumer and Business Services confirmed it was investigating the alleged non-payment of subcontractors working on the East Tce project.
In 2005, Mr Sommariva was banned by the District Court from undertaking building work for five years after his previous company operated without a licence and insurance, and oversaw a series of “negligent work”, “poor workmanship” and “bad building practices”.
Work on the East Tce project, spruiked as “SA’s most prestigious apartment development”, has endured a series of delays since construction began in 2016.
Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU) SA branch secretary Andrew Sutherland, who led today’s protest, claimed other subcontractors were also owed money, and estimated a total of $250,000 in unpaid work on the project.
The Advertiser understands another subcontractor initiated legal proceedings against Sommariva and has since settled the payment out of court.
Mr Sutherland also holds fears over safety practices at the site.
“The main issue here is you’ve got the Murray report handed to the Federal Government 18 months ago, which had 86 recommendations in it, sweeping reforms across security of payments legislation nationally — not one of them has been implemented, not even the most basic reforms have been implemented.
In a statement Mr Sommariva said the dispute with Core-Form surrounded non-payment of $170,000 and related to the subcontractor’s standard of work and “incomplete works”.
“As a result the builder, at further cost and significant delay, had to engage a third party to complete and or rectify the work Core-From Construction was engaged to complete,” he said.
“Invariably there will always be variations with respect to work completed and payments made under agreement in the construction and building industry.
He also defended the site’s safety record.
“The site has never been closed, nor have I as builder ever been in breach of not conforming to any notices issued by the CFMMEU in a timely manner,” he said.
SafeWork SA confirmed statutory notices had been issued at the East Tce site, and that it would “continue to work with the company involved to ensure adequate safety measures are in place”.
Mr Sommariva is not a member of the Master Builders Association.
Master Builders Association SA chief executive Ian Markos said strong compliance and enforcement systems were crucial to maintaining confidence in the state’s building industry.
“Everyone in our industry deserves to be paid on time and in full for the work they were hired to do,” he said.
“When subcontractors and suppliers don’t get paid it flows right through the entire industry – everybody has bills to pay.”