Bricklayer goes under owing $2m

A Brisbane bricklaying company that had worked on major apartment buildings across the city has gone under owing creditors more than $2m.

The QBCC last month said almost 100 builders has had their licences suspended.

A Brisbane bricklaying company that had worked on major apartment buildings across the city has gone under owing creditors more than $2m.

Slacks Creek-based Total Blox, whose director is Tony Alexander, provided block laying and concrete pumping services to builders and developers of commercial and residential projects.

Travis Pullen, of BT Advisory, has been appointed liquidator of the company that was previously known as Tony Alex Bricklaying.

Mr Pullen has told creditors that the company owed creditors an estimated $2.4m including more than $1m to the Australian Taxation Office.

The company, established in 2007, had worked on several high-profile projects around Brisbane including the Aveo Springfield retirement village, the Chermside Library and Quest Springfield Central.

The QBCC last month said almost 100 builders has had their licences suspended.

In March, the Queensland Building and Construction Commission banned the company from entering into any new contracts until it had provided details of its financial records.

In April 2016, the QBCC suspended its licence for failing to meet financial requirements. That suspension was lifted in June 2016.

Mr Alexander declined to comment on the failure of the business when contacted by The Courier-Mail but noted the building industry had hit hard times with the Covid-19 pandemic.

The QBCC last month said almost 100 builders has had their licences suspended for failing to submit financial information. They included pool installers, painters, bricklayers and roofers.

LIQUIDATOR FOR VERUS

A Brisbane construction company that helped roll out the famous Taco Bell chain in Australia has collapsed after a series of disputes with subbies over the past three years. The Victorian Supreme Court appointed liquidators to Teneriffe-based Verus Construction after a winding up application from one of the company’s creditors.

Verus, launched by sole director Greg Johnson in 2017, has been enmeshed in a number of ongoing legal battles related to the redevelopment of Inala’s main shopping centre.

The Inala Civic Centre suffered severe damage in mid-2017 when fire gutted about 15 stores and caused around $10 million in damage.

A building adjudicator in February ordered that Verus pay $352,000 to one of its subbies working on cladding and interior work at Inala Central.

Verus had worked on the roll out of Taco Bell. Photo: Facebook

The company has been involved in two other disputes with subbies over the past three years, according to publicly available records on the QBCC website.

In 2019, another building adjudicator ordered Verus to pay more than $17,000 to MPN Consulting, a subcontractor also working on Inala Central.

A year earlier, the company was ordered to pay $4000 to a cleaner working on W Hotel in Brisbane. Established in 2017, Verus had worked on the high-profile roll-out of the Taco Bell chain as well as refurbishments of KFC outlets.

Mr Johnson did not respond to a request for comment. A QBCC spokesperson said it was aware that both Verus Construction and Blox were now in liquidation.

He said the watchdog would take any appropriate exclusion action against relevant individuals associated with the companies.

If an individual is excluded, they are unable to hold a QBCC contractor, nominee supervisor or site supervisor’s licence or be a director, secretary or influential person for a QBCC-licensed company for three years.

MINISTER PUMPED UP

What do you get when you get two alpha males in the same room? Well when it happens to be Public Works Minister Mick De Brenni and Master Builders Queensland chief executive Grant Galvin it’s a lot of flexing about how many push ups they can do.

Luckily it wasn’t all about male ego but part of a worthy cause - the Push Up Challenge to raise money for mental health service Headspace.

Public Works Minister Mick De Brenni. Photographer: Liam Kidston.

City Beat spies tell us that both men challenged themselves to do 50 straight push ups at a Master Builders lunch in front of a crowd of 100 people.

De Brenni (illustrated), who we hear fancies himself as a bit of an understudy for Chris Hemsworth, managed 52 but Galvin, a former executive at News Corp, topped that with 53.

Galvin told City Beat that while the building sector and De Brenni may not agree on everything they all agree “that mental health is something we need to manage much better in our industry and with our children.”.