Page 4 - MPA

Editorial
NOT PAID – Plumbers have had enough!
This article in the magazine is written as part of an education process for all plumbers. There is a distinct lack of understanding of some of the unscrupulous behaviours in this industry. It is nothing short of appalling. MPA SA is getting phone calls from members on a weekly basis of builders that have gone broke and our members are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars. This must stop!
Bruce Harris is a prominent businessman who sharesAhpriisl 2s0t1o9ry:
Security of Payment Information Sessions
MPA SA with the support from the Small Business Commissioner of South Australia has held two information sessions on The Security of Payment legislation. Although there are moves to change parts of the legislation it is a fantastic opportunity to listen to a lawyer explain the workings of the legislation. These information sessions are free and we have received some fantastic feedback on these sessions.
“A very informative night on Security of Payments and procedures. It was professionally presented with added information on debt collection in general. Highly recommended.”
“It was a nice touch having drinks and nibbles at the end with an opportunity to socialise a little.”
Robert Duncan, Bathroom Concepts.
“We have recently attended the Security of Payment Seminar with Master Plumbers SA and Lynch Meyer, and found the seminar to be very interesting and educational. Sam from Lynch Meyer was able to explain the legislation in a clear and concise ‘non-legal’ manner. Sam was very approachable with his willingness to answer questions during and after the seminar. This has allowed us to understand and form a clear best practice process to enable us to correctly apply the legislation to our payment requests. We highly recommend that all members attend this valuable event.”
Kelly Dawson-Fitzpatrick Hydrojet Solutions Australia.
“It was definitely worthwhile attending, was extremely informative and I learnt a lot from it that I previously didn’t know” J.E Baldino Plumbing.
Our last session will be held on the 25th June 2019 at the Woodcroft Hotel.
For more information on this or to register call our office on 8292 4000.
CITB supports training videos for safe use of tools
MPA SA would like to thank CITB for its financial support to assist the association to produce a series of Safe Tool training videos for apprentices throughout the Construction sector. The production of the videos will be widely available to all apprentices in the construction sector and we hope this makes a difference in reducing incidents and creates better understanding and awareness. I would like to thank the hard work from Caroline Neil from PEER, Graeme Webster from TAPS and the ever productive producer Jon Burke.
I must also make mention of the generosity of PEER to not only supply willing and able apprentices as actors but also the fantastic facilities of PEER to host the filming component. Thank you to Peter Nolan and the team at PEER.
Once complete we will be marketing these videos as a must see for all apprentice inductions. We are determined to try and reduce all injuries in the workforce and with support from all key stakeholders we hope to achieve some positive results.
Integrity and honesty were my father's gifts to me. But he short changed me because he never taught me to be suspicious. You see, because I was never anything other than totally honest in all my dealings with people, it never occurred to me I would meet people who would deceive me. Several, in fact, and as a result my lovely wife Judy and I lost the home we were planning to live in the rest of our lives, a home we built with our own hands and found ourselves a homeless family of five. We moved from our beautiful Birdwood residence into a 36ft caravan located at the back of a hardware store in Hahndorf.
But fate didn't reckon with our family's determination and the fellowship of people like you, who we've grown to trust and love.
My 60 years in the building construction and consulting business has taught me that the problem with it is systematic, which is to say, the systems employed by the industry is where the seeds of its destruction are sown.
Judy and I put absolutely everything we had into the company including our superannuation and we lost it all including our home because subcontractors and suppliers are the designated "fall guys" of a flawed system, whereby developers and builders can pull the plug on a project effectively stealing all the work and equipment of the subcontractor or supplier.
On just one project I had just delivered $283,000 worth of mechanical services and plumbing equipment to a site for installation the next day when the builder rolled up and said he was shutting down the project as he was going bankrupt at 5pm that evening. If you can believe it, the law dictated I leave my unpaid for equipment at the site for the builder to do withashepleased!AbadsysteminvariablyproducesbadresultsandwhatI described happened to us many times and sucked more than $2 million out of the company Judy and I operated. But as unwelcome and as corrupt as those incidents were, we would have pulled through to better days had it not been for one indescribably bad call by a politician. A politician stood up in Parliament and said a major mechanical services operator of the North Adelaide Swimming Centre was about to go bankrupt. This was due to a major builder who had design delays resulting in a time delay and in our industry time is of the essence and time delays can spell doom for many projects.
Our company was the nominated specialist contractor and I assure you everything was under control, but the following day we were swamped with multiple summons demanding immediate payment. More than 30 summonses later when the demands exceeded our paid-up capital and assets we realised we could no longer legally operate and after pouring everything we had into the company in a desperate attempt to keep it going, we were forced to concede and I declared that the company was placed into administration .
The largest, single bad debt we had was for $501,900 for our work on an Adelaide landmark.
It is a bad system that I am desperate to change because of its inherent unfairness and unlimited opportunity for shoddy practices and corruption. The current state of disarray in the building industry is due in no small part to the faults in the systems intended to govern the building industry. All we ask is to be guaranteed payment in full and on time for our contracted and approved work.
Bruce & Judy Harris
Bruce Harris Project Management
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