Australia’s electrical contractors have declared they are fed up with carrying the can for major building company failures, and demanded the Federal and State Governments move to protect industry small players.

Master Electricians Australia spokesman Jason O’Dwyer also blasted the “massively lopsided insolvency laws, which give every possible protection to the owners and directors of failed companies while their victims are left to foot the bill.

The comments followed the appointment of administrators to Melbourne-based ProBuild.

“I’d love to be able to quote some statistics on how many building collapses there have been in recent years, but frankly we have lost count,” Mr O’Dwyer said.

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“The thing that every one of those has in common is that small business owners such as electrical contractors finish up out of pocket – often to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“What we don’t see are the flow-on effects of small business failures, family break-ups and even suicide that result from the pressure and anxiety caused by major building industry collapses.

“These aren’t statistics – these are everyday Australians who are simply trying to feed their families and put a roof over their heads.  The current laws are all about protecting those associated with the failed business, and sub-contractors are thoroughly fed up with being left in the lurch.”

Mr O’Dwyer called on the Federal and State Governments to work together to institute a national building trust account scheme, to ensure progress payments made on building projects are only used to pay costs on that specific project.

“The usual story with building company collapses is that money is being shuffled from the current job to cover debts or costs from a previous job.  Eventually the money runs out and the whole house of cards falls over.

“It would be a simple process for governments to agree on a national trust account scheme to ensure that money paid in good faith by builders’ customers is actually used to provide the services they have paid for.

“This would protect sub-contractors, employees and customers from the fallout of bad management.  Small business owners deserve this basic level of protection from government.  How many more families need to be destroyed by building company failures before we see some action?”

Jason O’Dwyer is available for interview. Please phone The SAS Group on 07 3221 9222 or 0467 792 013.