ACAT orders J Hunter Constructions to pay customer compensation

The ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal ordered the payout on Wednesday, when it found J Hunter Constructions Pty Ltd breached a contract with former customer Owen Pierce.

Mr Pierce filed a claim with the tribunal in February after the carpentry business, which also trades as JHC Projects, first began work on constructing his outdoor deck in December.

According to his evidence, the 39-year-old consultant raised concerns with the company after returning from a Christmas holiday later in the month due to what he observed as "poor workmanship".

By this stage, the tribunal heard Mr Pierce had already paid $18,401 for the deck, said to be three-quarters of the quoted price.

Despite the project being unfinished, the contract between the parties was terminated in late January with the business "possibly being insolvent".

Insolvency occurs when a company is unable to pay its debts.

No findings were made relating to the business' insolvency, which senior member Daniel Stewart said was outside the tribunal's scope.

Mr Pierce engaged a secondary building company to fix and complete the deck, costing him about $23,000.

In his decision, Mr Stewart noted "considerable evidence there were substantive defects" in the quality of the initial deck construction.

This included various brackets not properly nailed, board spacing issues, timber of the wrong standard used, parts of the deck being out of square with the house, decking timber stains and stirrups not sufficiently encased in concrete foundations.

In evidence previously given to the tribunal, builder Josh Hunter acknowledged elements of the build were not up to acceptable quality but said he intended to rectify mistakes "if he had that opportunity".

Mr Stewart did not accept all evidence from the carpenter, who "lay dormant for some time", about his intentions to fix the deck's defects.

For example, the senior member said due to the project's low height, replacing support-bearing posts and adding additional bracing "would have been very difficult without removing the decking boards".

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Mr Stewart found only two-thirds of the deck was completed and, based on the original quote, said Mr Pierce overpaid $2500 for the work done.

Factoring in additional defects "not apparent at the time the respondent abandoned the work", Mr Stewart ordered the business to pay a total of $16,259.10 in compensation.

This included $612 Mr Pierce paid in tribunal filing fees and the $1647.10 deposit the customer put down for internal renovations that were never started.

After handing down his decision, Mr Stewart said he was aware of concerns relating to the business' possible insolvency.

"That's a matter for you," he said to the two parties.

"I haven't made any orders and I don't propose to make any comments in relation to the evidence ... of whether there was any continued trading in other legal entities."

Mr Pierce said he was relieved to get a decision after an anxious few months but that he wasn't satisfied there was value in materials left by the deck's first builder.

The man said the company walking away from his project, allegedly due to claims of insolvency, was "absolutely appalling".

"This has been a pretty devastating thing for my family," he said.

"We don't just have tens of thousands of dollars lying around in our bank account."

JHC Projects business development and office manager Linda Bell said she disagreed with the tribunal's decision but she would respect it.

She said Mr Pierce's claim against the business was an attempt to "try and destroy our reputation".

"I'm a little bit sick of companies always being made out to be the bad guys," Ms Bell said.

J Hunter Constructions was given 14 days to pay the designated compensation.

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