Paver at war with council
A BREAKWATER business is dragging Geelong council to court, claiming it was wrongly excluded from tendering opportunities following a disagreement over netball court surfacing works.
A statement of claim obtained by the Geelong Advertiser shows Crackmasters Pty Ltd is claiming damages, interest and costs from the City of Greater Geelong.
It claims it has lost almost $850,000 worth of work.
The company — which specialises in laying and repairing hard paving surfaces and installing sports court surfaces — made the series of claims against council following a disagreement over who was responsible for defects in a netball court it installed in 2014.
The company claims it installed Rebound Ace surface at Winter Reserve in Belmont, which then “lifted in some areas” after completion due to “a problem with the concrete slab to which it was required to be applied”.
The company claims a council officer then “demanded that the plaintiff remove and replace the court surface”.
The council told Crackmasters director Jason Cobb (pictured) the company would be excluded from tendering or quoting for further works unless it paid an unspecified amount of money or carried out works, the claim alleges.
“Opportunities for quoting will arise once agreement is reached on resolution of the current issue,” an email from a council officer to Mr Cobb stated, according to the claim.
The statement of claim also accuses council officers of striking Crackmasters from the list of accepted providers under its procurement policy, causing it to lose about $850,000 in potential work value from projects.
The statement claims the council knew the actions of its officers would “cause harm and damage” to Crackmasters.
Mr Cobb is claiming the council was in breach of its own procurement policy through its exclusion of Crackmasters from project tendering.
In a formal response to the statement of claim, filed in the County Court and seen by the Geelong Advertiser, City of Greater Geelong admits it directed the plaintiff to remove and replace the surface of the netball courts.
“The concrete slab met or exceeded the requirements for application of a Rebound Ace acrylic surface,” the defence said.
“It was mandatory for the plaintiff to inspect the Winter Reserve netball courts site prior to conducting site works to satisfy itself the concrete slab was suitable for application.”
Council also admits it informed the plaintiff it would “have difficulty seeking quotations from the plaintiff for future works while the issue of its resurfacing works at the Winter Reserve netball courts remained unresolved”.
It said Crackmasters was “at various times” deactivated from council’s Registered Supplier System because it had failed to maintain its public liability or motor vehicle insurance.
“The plaintiff was invited by Council to submit quotations for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 Annual Resurfacing Programs but did not do so,” it said.