Builder linked to failed pool company Dreamtime Pools under VBA investigation

Dreamtime Pools’ nominated builder is under investigation, while employees claim they never met him.

A builder linked to failed pool company Dreamtime Pools is under investigation by the Victorian Building Authority. Pictred; embattled Dreamtime Pools and Spas director Doug Constable speaking on A Current Affair Picture: A Current Affair

A Point Cook builder linked to the sudden collapse of a Bannockburn pool company is under investigation by the Victorian Building Authority, as employees, customers and contractors question his actual involvement with the business.

Pools and Spas Pty Ltd, which traded as Dreamtime Pools and Spas, went into liquidation on June 9.

The company’s collapse left more than 130 creditors out of pocket for at least $820,000, with that figure expected to increase.

Doug Constable, the company’s director, blamed the sudden liquidation on the looming possibility a builder – which the pool company used – would be suspended.

The builder has not been suspended and has continued trading, but the Geelong Advertiser understands that the VBA is investigating him.

It is not known why he is being investigated and a VBA spokesperson said the authority could not comment on the status of the investigation.

Mr Constable said it was concerns around the builder on June 7 that prompted liquidation. However, a spokeswoman for the liquidator, Jirsch-Sutherland, confirmed that Mr Constable contacted the firm on at least June 5.

It is understood at least one customer has had an insurance claim regarding an unfinished pool rejected by the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority (VMIA) because the builder was still trading and registered with ASIC, irrespective of Dreamtime Pools’ collapse.

However, the builder’s involvement with Dreamtime Pools has come under scrutiny.

According to several employees and customers who the Geelong Advertiser has spoken to, the builder listed on Dreamtime Pools contracts did not physically take part in the installations, with multiple employees claiming they had “never met” him.

“(Dreamtime) had the installers who would mark out the pools, an excavator would dig them and the pool installers would install the pool,” one employee said.

“(The builder) had nothing to do with it; he didn’t sign off on the pools, he didn’t site the pools. He didn’t do a damn thing.”

An excavation contractor, one of several owed money by Dreamtime Pools, told the Geelong Advertiser that he never met the builder on any of the jobs he’d done for the company, while a customer who had a finished pool from Dreamtime Pools said that the builder did not appear to be involved in the installation.

The builder was also not listed among the 131 creditors owed money by the company idenfitied in the liquidators initial report, released June 20, either as a contractor or an employee of the company.

The builder failed to respond when approached for comment, while Mr Constable declined to comment.

Originally published as Builder linked to failed pool company Dreamtime Pools under VBA investigation