Phil
TWYFORD
Building and Construction Spokesperson
Labour Logo - red
24 February 2016

Sub-contractors pay price for home builder collapse

Sub-contractors may be the biggest victims of the collapse of one of the biggest home construction companies, says Labour’s Building and Construction spokesperson Phil Twyford.

“While home owners should be protected by the Master Builders’ home warranty that ensures jobs are finished, subbies will probably not be so lucky.

“It is the subbies that could lose their shirts here. Millions of dollars’ worth of work is likely to go unpaid, and this could well push some of these operators to the wall.

“The tragedy here is that Parliament passed a law last year that would have protected the sub-contractors, requiring payment for their work to be put aside in a fund in case the company goes belly up.

“But the way the Government drafted the law, it won’t come into effect until 2017.

“Labour MP Clayton Cosgrove pressed for these protections after hundreds of subbies took a hit in the Mainzeal collapse.

“The tragedy for the Stonewood’s sub-contractors is that while the law is on the books, its provisions don’t come into force in time to help them,” Phil Twyford says.

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