subbies beware

[opimax]

giday all
campany that i have done a lot of work for in the last 6 years went belly up 2 weeks ago, got the dreaded call to say they are in the hands of the receivies. bottom line was they owed my company 6 figures & i was in trouble. but due to a lot of meetings & legel action it has been sorted out.
i know its not fishing related but there must be some subbies on this site , so beware & hassle up them payers that are late, you never know the campany was a national one & the trouble came from down south so did not see it coming. to much stress need to go fishing. lee

[dfox]

Been there done that lee, makes ya sick mate.
>:(

[jimbob]

Yeah our company could buy 2 Kevla Cats with outstanding invoices we are owed & yeah it does make you very sick. It seems the worst payers are the Government I wonder if I didnt pay rego, rates & crap like that. Should I expect them to be so patient like they want me to be. I dont think so.
Cheers Blokes
Jamie

[Dug]

It Sucks Severely, How many times do we have to hear this before someone in government does something. There was a builder in a rocky little town up north who made a fortune doing just that, Build a building, sell it cheap to a "Friend", declare bankruptcy, not pay the subbies, who actually did the work, then start up and do it all over again.

I would love to be able to go round to their homes and take "Goods to the value owed" #

Imagine the face on their wife and kids :-(

[Remo]

I believe legislation has just changed, that all subbies are to be payed within 10 days of the end of month claimed.

I'll find more out and post it here tomorrow night.

I wish it was around, when I got touched up 10 years ago and nearly lost the lot. NOT FUN !!

[PinHead]

I believe legislation has just changed, that all subbies are to be payed within 10 days of the end of month claimed.

I'll find more out and post it here tomorrow night.

I wish it was around, when I got touched up 10 years ago and #nearly lost the lot. NOT FUN !! #

Unfortunately legislation does not mean a thing. If the builder or developer does not have the money then they cannot pay. Another marvellous piece of legislation was that which created the BSA..a complete and utter waste of time...you pay an annual fee for a license and builders still go bust...they are a toothless tiger. Do what I do...get paid for the equipment prior to commencing the project..it works for me.

[adamleah]

Remo is correct here ,
However I see it protecting the main contractor and not the subbies....

Legislation says that a contractor must be paid or variations/descrepencies agreed on within 10 working days. If no advice or no payment . Then the contractor has the right to the $$$ invoiced unless argued in court.
We had some lawyers do a talk on it at work a few weeks back

[reelcrazy]

Been there too, lost a lot of money before I decided to change my contract terms.

I work in software development, but this covers any form of contracting.

The hardest part of these terms is the no exception principle and walking away if they are not acceptable by the other side, and I don't care how large the company is, or how solid it seems, I've worked with some household names, and they are the worst payers of the lot.

50% on agreement + any materials required (on material purchases I add 17.5% to cover my admin expenses etc)

40% divided in milestone completions (net 7 day invoice - no pay stop work).

Final 10% - net 10 days + 2.5% discount, they usually pay 30 and take the discount as well.

Any bounced cheques, cash or bank cheque only - no exceptions and I mean it.

[Black_Rat]

I believe its called the 'Building & Construction Industry Payments Act 2004' which come into effect just these last few months. Which will help us builders as well because it will mean our clients will have to cough up as well. There nothing more frustrating than not being able to pay our subbies because a client has not paid up because it cripples our cash flow & the banks tie our hands payment wise. One client has owed us close to 1 Mil for the last 4 months despite all our subbies being paid#:o.
Damo.

[Dodgy_Back]

Lee can you give us a hint of who went broke, i know you may not be able to , legally
I HAVE JUST CLOSED MY SMALL ROOFING BUSINESS due to a bad back and class my self as very lucky . In 9 years i have only lost about $2000.00 and walked of ajob last year 4 weeks before the builder went broke if i continued i could have lost up to 50,000.
Man am i lucky
MIck