Renovare Toowoomba: Sutton Projects Pty Ltd enters liquidation

The QBCC has cancelled the company’s building licence and its directors face further regulatory action as liquidators start the process to sell off assets to cover debt owed to creditors.

IF YOU walk up Jim Garvey’s driveway something seems off with his house.

The rendering is cracked, his timber deck wobbles, and there are no downpipes attached to the gutters.

Inside, the windows do not open properly, his built-in wardrobe is not attached to the wall, the ceiling is bent and there is a rut in the kitchen bench.

Jim Garvey shows the substandard building work done in the renovation of his South Toowoomba home. Picture: Kevin Farmer

And his $200,000 renovation will remain incomplete for the foreseeable future after the business he employed to do the work – Sutton Projects – went into liquidation last month.

Mr Garvey contracted the business, which traded as Renovare Toowoomba, to renovate his home in March 2021 and claimed the renovation had numerous delays.

“They didn’t start for two weeks, then they came in and demolished the interior but then I didn’t hear from them for a month.” Mr Garvey said.

Mr Garvey has since filed an insurance claim with the Queensland Building and Construction Commission after the business went into liquidation on March 25, and is waiting on an assessment.

He is one of several people who have come forward after Sutton Projects went into liquidation.

Sutton Projects handed back Jim Garvey’s home without install downpipes in the gutters. Picture: Kevin Farmer

The Chronicle is aware of up to 16 homeowners who claim to have work that will need to be fixed by a third-party builder.

They include Christine Burke, who had her contract with Sutton Projects terminated in July 2021.

Mrs Burke said she engaged an independent certifier to assess the partially complete build and claimed they found 10 major defects.

“They (Sutton Projects) said they didn’t see a problem with the work,” she said.

It has taken almost nine months of negotiation with QBCC to arrange an insurance payout.

“I haven’t slept for a year because I am stuck,” she said.

Sutton Projects was contacted numerous times for comment.

Builder falls

Toowoomba builders Sutton Projects PTY LTD has gone into liquidation, leaving homeowners with large repair bills and creditors out of pocket more than $500,000.

The company, which was trading as the Toowoomba Renovare franchise, had its licence cancelled by the Queensland Building and Construction Commission on March 28, 2022 for failure to satisfy its financial requirements.

Benjamin John Sutton and Jacob Patrick Sutton. Their company, Sutton Projects Pty Ltd has been placed in liquidation. It was trading under the Renovare Toowoomba franchise.

The QBCC had earlier suspended the licence on February 25, 2022 for the same reason.

“Liquidators were appointed to the entity on 25 March, 2022 and the QBCC has begun appropriate exclusion action against relevant individuals associated with the company,” a QBCC spokesman said.

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

Currently, Benjamin John Sutton has an active licence for a range of building classes from low-rising building to structural landscaping while Jacob Patrick Sutton is licenced for carpentry up to $200,000.

Christine Burke said water flooded into her home on several occasion because the roof was not sealed.

The company’s collapse comes at a tough time for the building industry with the QBCC estimating material costs have risen about nine per cent in the past 12 months.

The liquidator, Worrells, received a Report on Company Activities and Property totalling $556,148 in debts.

To date it has received proof of debt forms totalling $244,174.

The liquidation is expected to take about a year to complete.

“The QBCC is currently assessing a number of Home Warranty Scheme claims from homeowners who had contracts with Sutton Projects Pty Ltd,” the QBCC spokesman said.

“The QBCC-administered Queensland Home Warranty Scheme can help eligible claimants to complete their project and to have defective work rectified.

Photos of Sutton Projects/Renovare Toowoomba incomplete work at Christine Burke's home, including misplaced roofing nails.

“Any homeowners affected by the liquidation of Sutton Projects Pty Ltd who have yet to lodge a claim under the Scheme should contact the QBCC.”

Renovare is listed as a creditor and is hoping to recoup its losses through the liquidation

A spokesman for the company said it terminated its franchise agreement with Sutton Projects.

“It’s a shame all around for everyone involved, there are no winners,” he said.

“You need to have a building licence to operate the franchise so the franchise agreement has been nullified, because the parties could not abided by the franchise agreement.”

The terms of the franchise agreement protect Renovare from absorbing any debts owed by the business.

Christine Burke is waiting for the cladding to be rectified on her home.

“We have reached out to their customers but there is not a lot we can do for them,” the spokesman said.

QBCC licence documents show the company completed 17 builds in the 2020/2021 financial year, banking about $3.36 million.

This workload dropped to six builds totalling $886,171 in the 2021/2022 financial year.

The Renovare spokesman said the company was looking at ways to improve how it tracked the financial health of its franchisees.

“It’s a horrible situation and we are changing our reporting process so we have early signals,” he said.

Sutton Projects was contacted multiple times for comment.