Police called to Albany’s Hilton Garden Inn as Pindan sub-contractors descend on construction site

Police were called to Albany’s Hilton Garden Inn today as sub-contractors descended on the construction site after the collapse of WA builder Pindan Group. However, one sub-contractor left the site happy after telling the Advertiser hotel landowner Paul Lionetti had assured him he would still get paid. The WA construction industry was rocked on Tuesday by news Pindan had been put into administration owing up to $100 million in total, including an estimated $30m to subcontractors and $10m to staff. Insolvency experts from accounting and consulting firm EY were appointed to the Perth-based company by its directors on Tuesday afternoon, ending days of speculation about its future. The appointment affects 280 employees, 500 subcontractors and 400 trade suppliers. In Albany, Know Plumbing WA director Reza Manesh decided to head to the site of the $24m Hilton Garden Inn at the Albany Waterfront Marina today morning to take back his equipment. Mr Manesh said he held five active contracts with Pindan Group and was owed close to $1.2m. He said he arrived at the site with a crane to salvage his equipment, including pumps, a softener system and a filtration system. “When we came to the site Pindan representatives were still here,” he said. “They did try to stop us. I said, ‘No, we have a contract in place, we have not been formally told we cannot go to site, it’s our gear, it’s a contracting place, we can take them off-site’. “Police came and within 10 minutes that matter was sorted. “They said we had the right to take it off-site, we had our lawyers on the phone, and we had the right to take it away.” However, Mr Manesh ended up leaving his equipment at the site after discussions with Mr Lionetti. “Through Hilton management, the landowner Mr Lionetti got involved and basically we’ve been guaranteed that we are going to get paid,” Mr Manesh said. “So we are putting everything as it was... and we will be back when they want us to finish the job.” Mr Manesh said he was not aware of conversations between management and other subcontractors, but he did not believe anyone would “get burnt”. “I am pretty impressed by the action taken from developers and owners,” he said. “I can’t describe how happy I am.” Mr Lionetti declined to comment. The 108-room Hilton Garden Inn was scheduled to open in July, with hospitality jobs already being advertised. Mr Manesh said he expected the hotel to stay on track. “I think there won’t be any delay — we are talking three to four weeks,” he said. Mr Manesh said he had heard other developers and clients across WA were going to keep their workers on-site and make sure they got paid. While he praised such action by individuals and companies as “outstanding”, he said it did not change the way Pindan had dealt with sub-contractors. Mr Manesh said the writing had been on the wall for a long time about Pindan’s problems, and there were many questions. “Where is the State Government’s due diligence against Pindan? Why would you go and throw millions ... to these people without checking financials?” he said. Pindan’s collapse came amid calls for the Government to pay out subcontractors owed money by Pindan for maintenance work on government housing in WA’s North West. Pindan was receiving $35m a year under a government maintenance contract but has not paid its subcontractors since March, despite an obligation to settle invoices on government work within 20 days. While EY has only just launched its assessment of the Pindan Group, it is believed there are few or no funds in Pindan to pay its creditors or complete its 68 projects in WA, NSW and Queensland. In a joint email sent to Pindan’s 280 staff, managing director Scott Davison and executive director Tony Gerber described the decision to call in insolvency experts as “the toughest we have ever made”. “Unfortunately, our efforts to secure new investment and strengthen our balance sheets have not been successful,” they said. CFMEU State Secretary Mick Buchan said the failure of Pindan “wasn’t just foreseeable, it was completely foreseen”. “Pindan was one of the construction companies leading a race to the bottom,” Mr Buchan said.