Fighting for subbies rights
The rats, in this case, M3 Site Projects Pty Ltd, are deserting the good ship MBA in droves. No doubt, more subbies money flushed down the toilet.
Another day, another liquidation or two but like the MBA said last Tuesday when they addressed the Metal Roofers Association, "there is no evidence to suggest there are more builder liquidations than usual".
So are you telling us it's always been this bad? Hell, if I had known that, I would never have done that apprenticeship all those years ago.
Any subcontractor caught in this one should contact us at support@subbiesunited.com.au.
In these liquidations, the chances are you will receive a nasty letter from the liquidator for so called preferential payments, that's if you were lucky enough to actually get paid from this company.
While we can't stop that, we can offer you advice to take to your legal team on how to defend it. That will save the few bucks you have left after this loss.
This is how it works;
- You contract to the builder
- You are extending him say, $500,000 of unsecured credit (could be a million)
- He gives you a 178 page contract to baffle you
- Contract has 14k per day liquidated damages in it and dozens of other unreasonable clauses
- He adds a further 10 pages of an indemnity and directors guarantees form to the contract
- Hahaha, jokes on you, it's not him indemnifying or guaranteeing you for the 500k of credit you are extending him. Don't be ridiculous, your just a shitty subbie working for the great one
- No, not at all, it's you indemnifying him against any monies owed or losses, LD's you might cause to the great one
- Then if your lucky, you might get paid a few times
- He then liquidates owing you 300k but because he has paid you 200k in the last 6 months, they say you may have to pay it back to the liquidator as preferential payments.
Sounds fair? No problem here with all that because that's what the industry offers us, it's normal, we are conditioned to it.
Why other bodies cannot see the injustice of that is totally beyond me. The only reason I can come up with is self interest.
I kid you not, last week I had a contract just like that and threw it were it belonged, in file 13.
Now you see why we need numbers and ask you for your support to help save our subbies. We have to change this industry because no one else will.
We have to drag it out of the archaic 19th Century and land it in the 21st Century.
SubbiesUnited is not anti builder, we are anti corruption and anti theft of subbies money.
The industry needs strong builders and Project Bank Accounts for security of subcontractors payments so that huge losses of subbies money cannot happen with a phone call and a stroke of a pen.
