Toowoomba’s Chace Roofing Sheds and Patios charged for alleged $1.3m rorting scheme

A discredited Queensland builder allegedly took $1.3m from trusting customers, leaving them with nothing but a few stumps in the ground.

Toowoomba builder Christopher Terrence Edards of Chace Roofing Sheds and Patios Pty Ltd alleged to have fleeced $1.3m from unsuspecting customers faced Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Monday November 25, 2024. Picture: The Chronicle.

A disgraced builder has faced court after he allegedly fleeced more than a million dollars from unsuspecting customers across Queensland.

Toowoomba builder Christopher Terrence Edards’s portable building company Chace Roofing Sheds & Patios Pty Ltd has been charged with 19 counts of accepting payment and failing to supply goods or services within a specified period after he allegedly pocketed $1.3m from dissatisfied customers.

Mr Edards was also personally charged with 19 counts of the same offence.

In January, The Office of Fair Trading issued an official public warning against the company and Mr Edards after receiving complaints he took between $20,000 and $217,000 from 19 customers wishing to build granny flats, tiny homes and sheds and left them with near to nothing.

At least six of the complaints, made between August 2021 and October 2023, originated in Toowoomba while others came from Charleville, Beenleigh, Mackay and Longreach.

The Office of Fair Trading alleged Mr Edards would initially present professionally but, once payment was received, would abandon the project and cut contact with his customers completely.

“The allegations against Christopher Terrance Edards and his company Chace Roofing Sheds and Patios Pty Ltd are very serious,” Commissioner for Fair Trading Victoria Thomson said in a statement earlier this year.

“This trader’s alleged conduct shows a clear disregard for our laws and has significantly impacted customers who have been left in the lurch.”

ABC News Toowoomba spoke to alleged victim Donna Corbin who claimed to have paid Christopher Edards $42,000 for the dream home that never came. Picture: ABC Toowoomba/ David Chen.

In July, ABC Toowoomba spoke to alleged victim Donna Corbin who said she paid Mr Edards $42,000 to build her dream tiny home, only to be left living with friends and family a year later.

“It would have given me freedom, freedom to do my own thing, freedom to be in my own space,” Ms Corbin told the publication.

“And now I feel trapped again.”

Mr Edards was also disqualified from holding a contractor licence for three years from September 2021 as a result of Queensland Building and Construction Commission disciplinary action.

He previously had his licence suspended for a month in 2020 in response to unpaid debts.

The unlicensed builder appeared in Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Monday represented by solicitor Malik Hannan from Aden Lawyers, seeking further time to finalise instructions.

“We have only recently been retained,” Mr Hannan said.

“There are multiple charges against my client as well and we are considering some sort of conferencing between the parties.”

Magistrate Kyna Morice adjourned the matters to January 13, 2025 for mention.

Consumers who claim they have paid Mr Edards or Chace Roofing Sheds and Patios and have not received what was promised are urged to lodge a complaint with the Office of Fair Trading.