QBCC won’t end Empire
IT doesn’t have an office, its sole director is a cosmetic injecting nurse and now Empire Constructions doesn’t even have a qualified builder on the books — yet the Queensland building regulator will not strip the company of its licence.
The situation involving the Gold Coast builder descended into farce when the company’s nominee builder Robert Woodbridge left last Tuesday.
The Ormeau-based builder, which put its vacant office up for lease last month, is being investigated for allegations of illegal phoenix activities and has the most onerous licence conditions in the State.
Empire Constructions is directed by Amber Callender, 37, wife of Paul Callender, 35, whose company Queensland One Homes collapsed in July with debts of $6 million.
The QBCC will have to wait more than three weeks to take any action on Empire’s lack of a qualified builder.
“The QBCC immediately notified the company that the QBCC Act requires them to provide the QBCC with proof that it has appointed a licensed nominee within 28 days,” the regulator said in a statement.
“As per Section 48(e) of the QBCC Act, if a company fails to appoint an appropriately licensed nominee within 28 days, the QBCC will initiate suspension proceedings against the company licence.”
As a bankrupt, Mr Callender is excluded from holding a QBCC licence and is expressly prohibited from being a person of influence in Empire Constructions.
However, it hasn’t stopped him from attending Empire building sites and launching a new business, also registered in his wife’s name, brazenly called Phoenix Rural Fencing and Landscaping. That company holds no class of licence.
The Queensland Building and Construction Commission suspended Empire’s licence in October, but the company made a successful appeal in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
The tribunal’s finding has been deemed confidential and appears to have hamstrung the QBCC, which is unable to explain why the licence remained.
“Pursuant to orders issued by a tribunal, the QBCC is unable to provide any comment on certain additional compliance measures which may already be in place,” the regulator said.
On Friday the commission put unprecedented conditions on Empire, including stating the company must not novate any existing building contracts without first providing 28 days notice to the regulator.