Centre subcontractor ‘offsite’
They should be easy questions to answer: which company is the main builder at the troubleplagued Greenmeadows community centre in Stoke, and why aren’t they on site?
But as more information comes to light about the problematic project, neither the Nelson City Council or main contractor Watts and Hughes can confirm these simple facts.
Stuff believes Christchurchbased construction company TCT Ltd was brought in to do the main building work towards the end of last year. TCT is linked to the Czech community in Christchurch.
Investigations by Stuff also showed the original subcontractor on the project, Canstruct Interiors, now in receivership, also had Czech links.
Site visits by Stuff over the past few days found no obvious signs of TCT workers, and little activity seemed to be taking place. A tradesman on Tuesday said builders had been there earlier that day but had not returned after morning tea.
Council manager communications Paul Shattock said yesterday ‘‘one of the subcontractors’’ had ‘‘moved offsite’’, due to ‘‘issues unrelated to’’ the Greenmeadows project.
‘‘Our contractor Watts and Hughes has assured us that work will continue, and that the required resources will be provided to ensure the people of Stoke are delivered a high-quality building.
‘‘We can’t comment on the business relationship between Watts and Hughes and its subcontractors, but at this stage we don’t expect the change in subcontractors to affect the cost of the project to council.’’
TCT was set up in June 2017 and its director is listed on the Companies Office website as Dalimil Krmela.
No-one will say when TCT started on Greenmeadows, but payment records show Watts and Hughes subcontracted the job first to another company, called Canstruct Interiors.
Canstruct Interiors went into receivership in September last year.
Photos supplied to Stuff show workers recently wearing Canstruct Interiors vests and helmets on the Greenmeadows site. Why they were wearing equipment from a previous contractor, now in receivership, remains a mystery.
Subcontractors say the main workforce at Greenmeadows comprised mostly unqualified, unskilled labourers from the Czech Republic, and there had been incidents when labourers had asked for help from local subcontractors.
Canstruct Interiors’ director is 37-year-old Petr Zmeskal, whose other businesses Canstruct and Canterbury Joinery were also placed in receivership at the same time.
Both Zmeskal and 27-year-old Krmela are part of the Czech community in Christchurch.
Waterstone Insolvency was appointed as the receivers of Canstruct Ltd, Canstruct Interiors Ltd and Canterbury Joinery in September last year.
Insolvency officer Michael Turner said they received a payment schedule from Watts and Hughes which listed Canstruct Interiors as the contractors on the Stoke Community Centre, which was the name of the building before it was dubbed Greenmeadows.
He said they thought there had been ‘‘some form of business asset transfer’’ from Canstruct Interiors to another business, but they didn’t know which one.
‘‘The directors and management of Canstruct Interiors and Canterbury Joinery have been uncooperative at every
possibility and have provided no information or helped us with the receivership,’’ he said.
Turner said they had not given any of Zmeskal’s companies currently in their receivership the consent to trade or operate.
He said they didn’t know why workers on site at Greenmeadows had been wearing Canstruct Interiors vests.
‘‘We have not instructed them to undertake any works.’’
Auckland-based construction company Watts and Hughes won the tender in December 2016 for the construction of the $6.14m Greenmeadows building, beating local firms. The project is currently about $1m over budget.
Watts and Hughes has subcontracted the bulk of the construction work to another construction firm. It has admitted sourcing labour from the Nelson market had been ‘‘extremely difficult’’.
After publishing the article about shoddy workmanship on the Greenmeadows site, Stuff was contacted by the owners of a Nelson motel, who wanted to stay anonymous.
The owners said they took several bookings between August 8 and September 16 last year, for Czech workers who they were told were working on a council project. The owners said one of the bookings was made by a man named Lukas, under the name TCT Ltd.
The motel’s bank statement of one of the payments shows the funds were paid by Canstruct Interiors. The motel owners were left out of pocket.
In an email to Stuff, Krmela said Lukas Lasek was an employee of his company.
Krmela said the Greenmeadows site ‘‘has certainly been very challenging’’.
‘‘It has had many variations to plans and changes to details extending out the construction programme.’’
He said his company was working with Watts and Hughes ‘‘to ensure this fantastic project is delivered to the excited Stoke community’’.
Watts and Hughes would not answer questions on who they subcontracted the job to and why those workers hadn’t been on site in the last few days.
In an earlier statement, Watts and Hughes construction director Rob Murphy said he acknowledged that they had some quality issues on site.
He said this included the installation of the exterior cladding, which was being replaced.
Murphy said the building had been constructed ‘‘in accordance with the requirements of the contract’’, and reiterated that any quality issues would be addressed ‘‘to ensure this project is completed to a high standard’’.
‘‘Watts and Hughes are committed to completing this project. We will ensure the required resources and supervision are provided to meet the required standard.’’