ACCC takes cartel action against Scott Barton of First Class and Mr Shingles’ Damian Hand

Two men are facing action from the ACCC, who allege they rigged a big building contract at the University of Sydney.

A Sydney businessman is ­accused of texting a rival an ­inflated price list to submit in a $1-million-plus tender for a new slate roof at Sydney University’s Wesley College, having allegedly earlier agreed to pay a kickback to his competitor for running dead on the bid.

The unproven claims of cartel conduct are made by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in documents obtained by The Telegraph from the Federal Court.

The documents set out the ACCC’s civil case against two Sydney roof tiling businesses, First Class Slate Roofing and RAD Roofing Specialists – known as Mr Shingles – as well as their sole directors, Scott Barton of First Class and Damian Hand of Mr Shingles.

First Class Slate Roofing director Scott Barton, who the ACCC accuses of bid rigging. Picture: Facebook

One of the documents the ACCC has filed with the court alleges that in September 2019, Mr “Barton texted a photograph to Mr Hand of a tender price breakdown for (Mr) Hand to submit in Mr Shingles’ tender for the Wesley College Project in the total amount of $1,070,330.”

Mr Barton’s company, First Class, then submitted a bid of $1,026,309 and won the tender.

Mr Barton is also accused of agreeing to pay $10,000 to Mr Hand for using the prices he had sent.

Mr Barton is alleged to have made a similar arrangement with another roofing company, which was the only other bidder for the Wesley College work. The ACCC is not taking action against that company.

But it does have Mr Hand and his company, Mr Shingles, in its sights.

The ACCC alleges that in September 2019 he provided a “substantially higher” price list to Mr Barton on a $100,000 residential roofing job at Bellevue Hill.

It is alleged that there was an understanding that if Mr Shingles won the Bellevue Hill job, “Mr Barton would deduct the $2000 from the $10,000 that First Class or (Mr) Barton owed Mr Shingles or (Mr) Hand”. Ultimately, Mr Barton paid Mr Hand $8000, the ACCC alleges.

Its chairman Rod Sims said: “This case demonstrates how cartel conduct, such as bid rigging, corrupts the competitive process and has the potential to artificially inflate prices for customers. Enforcing cartel laws is an enduring priority for the ACCC.” It is seeking pen­alties, injunctions, and disqualification orders against Mr Barton and Mr Hand, who did not respond to requests for comment.