Topic: News

Massive fire in apartment building in Valencia, Spain. (flamable Cladding)

Sadly they are expecting 18 deaths from this fire which is detailed in the link below. (It’s now confirmed 10 persons have died)




Firefighters rescue trapped people from fire in Valencia building
Crews have been unable to enter the building in Valencia since the devastating blaze broke out just before 5.30pm yesterday and tore through cladding.
www.dailymail.co.uk

Alpha Building Group collapses. One of 2349 builders to fail in 2023

 Another building company has collapsed, leaving homeowners, tradies and staff in limbo with debts of $3.5 million.

News.com.au can reveal that last Thursday, Alpha Building Group Pty Ltd went into liquidation.

All staff have been sacked and 10 homeowners across the Greater Melbourne area have been left with unfinished projects following the company’s demise.

Brent Morgan of insolvency firm Rogers Reidy, the appointed liquidator, told news.com.au that more than 100 creditors are owed $3.5 million.

About $2.5 million of that is from material costs while sub-contractors are owed just under a million and consultants are owed “a small amount” of between $15,000 to $20,000.

Three days before Alpha went bust, on January 15, news.com.au understands that a staff member tried to attend their workplace but were turned away as the company had ceased trading.

Blake*, a dad-of-three, has been left devastated by the news, with fears his plans for a $1.8 million dream home have gone up in smoke.

“Me and my wife have been saving for six years, we’ve just started a new business, it’s really come at a terrible time,” the 39-year-old homeowner told news.com.au.

To date, the family have paid $350,000 to Alpha by way of progress payments, causing him to lament “all we have to show for it is a slab of concrete”.

All that has been built on Blake’s site. Picture: supplied to news.com.au

All that has been built on Blake’s site. Picture: supplied to news.com.au

The email that spelled the beginning of the end for the builder. Picture: supplied to news.com.au

Looking back, Blake can see some signs that all was not right with the builder.

Around Christmas time, Alpha Building Group informed customers they would be returning from the end of year break on January 8.

But when Blake sent them an email once this period was up, he received a bounce back saying they would be returning on January 22.

“There was sort of doubt in my mind (after that),” he said.

Blake said he had been emailing the construction firm for months after paying them a progress claim in late November.

He said after the payment, no more work happened on his site.

The young dad, with three kids under the age of nine, also said in the days leading up to the liquidation appointment, the company’s phone number became disconnected.

The liquidator, Mr Morgan, said the reasons behind Alpha’s collapse “tells the story we’ve been hearing for some time”.

That includes rising costs of labour, increasing prices of materials, onerous government taxes and a general lack of profitability.

He said in June last year, Alpha had seven staff but this had dwindled down to just one, aside from relatives of the directors, by the time it went under.

The Victorian-based construction firm, headquartered in the Melbourne suburb of Camberwell, has been a registered business for nearly two decades, since 2005.

It was directed by Dean Amendola and Bruno Merlino. News.com.au attempted to contact the directors for comment.

Do you know more or have a similar story? Get in touch | alex.turner-cohen@news.com.au

An Alpha Building Group home. Picture: supplied to news.com.au

An Alpha Building Group home. Picture: supplied to news.com.au

Alpha Building Group has gone bust. Picture: supplied to news.com.au

Alpha Building Group has gone bust. Picture: supplied to news.com.au

Alpha Building Group is one of the first large building companies to go bust in 2024, after a hellish two years for the construction industry.

Last week, news.com.au reported on another Melbourne builder, Montego Homes Pty Ltd, plummeting into voluntary administration.

A staggering 2349 construction firms have collapsed in the past year — with fears more may fall soon.

In times of economic hardship and inflation, building companies are usually the first to feel the pinch as they run on such small margins.

Indeed, of the 8471 business collapses for 2023, almost 28 per cent were in the building and construction industry, according to data put out by the corporate regulator.

The alarming trend has been blamed on a “perfect storm” of factors, including fixed price contracts, escalating costs, supply chain disruptions and tradie shortages.

The previous Morrison government’s HomeBuilder grant, which was introduced in June 2020 and handed out $2.52 billion to owner-occupiers who wanted to build or substantially renovate a home, turbocharged the sector.

More than 130,000 customers signed on for the program, with many tradies agreeing to the work under fixed-price contracts that soon became unsustainable as prices began to soar.

Shamefully, in 96 per cent of cases where small and medium sized businesses go under, only between zero and 11 cents is recovered for every dollar owed to out-of-pocket creditors.

Last name withheld over privacy concerns*

alex.turner-cohen@news.com.au

Read related topics:Melbourne

HOME BUILDER PORTER DAVIS COLLAPSES FOLLOWED BY THE LLOYD GROUP

Home builder Porter Davis collapses affecting 1,700 homes, LLoyd Group enters voluntary administration
By Zalika Rizmal.

Some Porter Davis customers have been left with little more than a concrete slab, with construction on homes stopped across all of the major builder’s projects.

Victorian-based home builder Porter Davis is going into liquidation, while a second construction firm has entered voluntary administration.

Key points:
Porter Davis’ liquidators are looking for builders to take over customer contracts
Dozens of public building projects are at risk in New South Wales and Victoria
More than 600 employees across both companies have been affected
Construction has been suspended on all Porter Davis’ projects, with 1,700 homes affected across Victoria and Queensland.

The construction company has about 470 employees and was forecasting revenue of $555 million in the 2023 financial year.

Customers and other creditors are being told to contact the liquidator Grant Thornton, as it investigates the reasons for the builder’s collapse.

A spokesperson for the liquidator said the company ran out of options.

“The extremely challenging environment for the residential home building has directly contributed … with rising input costs, supply chain delays, labour shortages, and a drop in demand for new homes in 2023 impacting the Group’s liquidity,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

“Notwithstanding the financial support from shareholders and lenders, the Group has exhausted options to secure the further funding required to allow Porter Davis to continue to operate viably.”

Rising material costs, labour shortages and interest rate increases have led to cost blowouts, putting mounting financial pressure on builders.
Construction on all current Porter Davis builds has been suspended immediately, with 1,500 unfinished homes in Victoria and another 200 in Queensland.

There are also around 780 projects under contract, where construction is yet to begin.

The liquidator said it was “working urgently” to find a solution for customers and employees, including by contacting potential interested parties willing to take over the customer contracts.

Porter Davis’s collapse is the latest in a long string of construction companies, with experts warning companies across the country will continue to go broke as material costs and interest rates keep rising.

John and his family are among thousands of Porter Davis customers who have been left with an unfinished home and an uncertain future.

The family invested their life savings to build a five-bedroom house in Melbourne’s outer-northern suburbs.

Just last week, John received a call from Porter Davis confirming the house frame was going to be delivered within weeks.

“We were hoping to be in before Christmas this year,” he said.

This morning, John found out on social media that would not be happening.

All the family has been left with at the site of their dream home is a concrete foundation.

“I was very disappointed. This is a million-dollar home that we’re building, I actually would have liked a little bit more notice,” he said.

With the family of five currently staying in cramped quarters with his in-laws, John said he was worried about their future.

“First we have to look for somewhere else to live, I guess,” he said.

A concrete slab foundation
This is Porter Davis customer John’s unfinished house in Melbourne’s north. (Supplied)
Lloyd Group enters voluntary administration

The collapse of the Victorian-based builder comes as another Victorian construction firm, Lloyd Group, called in voluntary administrators amid financial woes.

The Port Melbourne-based builder specialises in infrastructure projects for state and local governments, primarily in Victoria and New South Wales.

Construction firm Lloyd Group specialises in public building projects, such as the 2021 redevelopment of the Burrinja Cultural Centre in Melbourne’s south east. (Lloyd Group)

The appointment will affect more than 200 employees and 59 projects under construction, including 29 in Victoria and 30 in New South Wales.

“Despite significant effort, Lloyd Group has been unable to overcome increasingly challenging circumstances over recent months that have eroded project margins, Deloitte voluntary administrator Sam Marsden said.

“We will be undertaking an urgent assessment of the business’s financial position and project-by-project status.”

Mr Marsden said administrators would begin an “accelerated sale process” while speaking with with potential parties interested in taking on individual projects.

Dozens hospitalized after fire engulfs 33-story apartment building in South Korea

Dozens hospitalized after fire engulfs 33-story apartment building in South Korea

The fire broke out at the 33-story building around 11 p.m., and continued burning through Friday morning, authorities told CNN. Photos of the scene show black smoke billowing above the building, and blackened debris scattered along the street.There have been no deaths reported so far.
(more…)

NSW unit owners voice anger at industry

A resident of one of Sydney’s several evacuated apartment buildings has broken down in tears before a parliamentary inquiry when describing the uncertainty he and his young family are now facing.

Vijay Vital, who was evacuated from Sydney’s Mascot Towers on June 14, was overcome with emotion when he addressed the NSW Legislative Council inquiry into the state’s building standards on Monday.

Vijay Vital wipes away tears after delivering his opening statement to the NSW upper house's inquiry into the state's building standards.
Vijay Vital wipes away tears after delivering his opening statement to the NSW upper house’s inquiry into the state’s building standards.CREDIT:AAP

“I stand here as a parent as well; my daughter asked me, ‘When can I go home?’ ” Mr Vital said.

The upper house committee heard from several residents affected by mass evacuations in recent months as well as bureaucrats still working to implement laws passed by the government last year.

(more…)

‘Breathtakingly irresponsible’: Sydney mayors lash building controls

‘Breathtakingly irresponsible’: Sydney mayors lash building controls

Sydney lord mayor Clover Moore says a lack of independent certification has paved the way for buildings “unfit for occupation”.

The lord mayor of the City of Sydney, Clover Moore, has lashed the state government’s regulation of the building industry as “breathtakingly irresponsible”, saying a lack of independent certification has paved the way for buildings that were “unfit for occupation”. (more…)

‘It hasn’t worked’: Premier admits Sydney’s building industry is failing

Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the system of regulation in the building industry is not working, after the Herald revealed the evacuation of a third apartment building in Sydney.

As the state opposition called for an immediate response to the growing number of building defects emerging in the city, Ms Berejiklian said she wanted to “assure the community that we know there’s a problem.

Major safety issues at apartment block in Zetland

 

Major safety issues at apartment block in Zetland

1:45

Major safety issues at apartment block in Zetland

Major safety issues at apartment block in Zetland

 

A third Sydney apartment block is now under scrutiny over severe defects and safety issues.

“We know there’s a gap in legislation,” she said. “We allowed the industry to self-regulate and it hasn’t worked. There are too many challenges, too many problems, and that’s why the government’s willing to legislate.”

After the existence of the third multi-storey residential building recently evacuated on safety grounds emerged on Wednesday, the Herald asked each council in Sydney if it was aware of any similar evacuations in the past year.

(more…)

Third Sydney unit block abandoned due to building defects

Public confidence in apartment buildings has taken another hit, after it was revealed a block of units in Sydney’s south west was evacuated late last year.

Residents of the 30 loft-style apartments at Zetland’s Garland Lofts were forced to abandon the building after “water damage caused the failure of the internal fire-rated construction throughout several apartments,” a City of Sydney spokesperson said in a statement.

After learning of the evacuation, a City of Sydney officer inspected the building in February 2019 and found that it was vacant and suffering from “extensive and severe water damage”.

A staff member from the City of Sydney then spoke to the building owner “who had engaged consultants to address the issues and make the building habitable again”, the spokesperson said.

But the Sydney Morning Herald revealed on Wednesday that residents have still not been able to move back into the property, roughly five months after the City of Sydney first inspected it.

Garland 204 Pty Ltd was the developer behind the project, according to the SMH.

The company’s directors, Janet Pennington and Phillip Bartlett, notified ASIC on May 19, 2014, that it had appointed external administrators, and the company was officially deregistered on February 19, 2019, an ASIC spokesperson told The New Daily.

Mr Bartlett told The New Daily that an insurance claim related to the water damage had been settled, and that he had a legal obligation to comply with the insurers’ requirements.

“There were a number of parties involved, and I am unable to make any further comment,” he said.

Building defects

The latest revelations come at a time of heightened scrutiny into standards in the construction industry, after the high-profile evacuations of Sydney Olympic Park’s Opal Tower and the Mascot Towers on Bourke Street led to a public outcry over shoddy workmanship.

Builders Collective of Australia president Phil Dwyer believes the recent evacuations and ongoing flammable cladding crisis showed standards had slipped so much that a royal commission was needed to fix the industry.

“Developers will always try to get the most amount for the least amount of money, but cutting corners doesn’t save money – it costs money,” he told The New Daily after the Mascot Towers evacuation.

“We want reform for the building industry, and a short and sharp royal commission.”

Residents of the 132 units in Mascot Towers were evacuated on June 14 after cracks were discovered in the facade masonry and primary support structure.

After being told “there was no money for them” at a meeting on June 20, unit owners agreed to pay an initial $1.1 million to cover emergency repairs.

David Bannerman, principal of Sydney-based strata law firm Bannermans Lawyers, told The New Daily the day after that meeting that, until a thorough investigation had taken place, the owners were the only party that could legally be asked to foot the bill, as the building was too old to fall under warranty.

“Whatever way they go, whenever you’re trying to recover that sort of money, you’ll be in court for a while, because people don’t flash that sort of cash around very quickly,” he said.

High-rise tower defects

Engineers are still investigating the cause of the cracks, and residents have not yet been able to move back into the property.

But the NSW government has since set up an emergency $3 million fund to cover the temporary accommodation costs of tenants and owner-occupiers for up to three months.

Meanwhile, Opal Tower builder Icon revealed in a statement last week that structural remedial works would likely be completed in mid-August, with 63 of the apartments expected to be re-occupied some time in July.

The recent evacuations have put pressure on the NSW government to live up to its promise of implementing reforms recommended by the Shergold-Weir Report in February 2018.

Among other things, that report recommended introducing mandatory registration of all building practitioners and highlighted the privatisation of the certification industry as a worrisome conflict of interest.

In response to that report and growing public distrust in the construction industry, the NSW government announced in February that it would introduce legislation requiring building designers and builders to be registered and appoint a building commissioner to act as the state’s consolidated building regulator.

That legislation has yet to pass, but NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in June that she would hold “everybody to account”.