Angry customers of a disgraced builder are suing NSW Fair Trading after it failed to warn them about any red flags relating to David Baynie.
Fair Trading cancelled Mr Baynie’s tradespersons licence last year and fined him $3000.
But the NSW government department is now facing a multi-million dollar compensation claim from up to 20 families for failing in its duty to protect them prior to taking action against Mr Baynie.
Among those who feel let down by Fair Trading are Martin Haglund, who was left with a torrent of headaches after he contracted Mr Baynie to build his new house.
“Beams are sagging down, bulging out the ceiling. The floors are sagging. There’s holes in the wall out the back that you can see haven’t been fixed yet,” Mr Haglund told A Current Affair. “It’s just unbelievable.”
Mr Haglund terminated the building contract with Mr Baynie after paying $460,000, but struggled to find another builder to fix the mistake.
As a result, he enrolled in a building course to finish his own home.
“I’m an owner-builder now,” Mr Haglund said. “I’ve had to get my own licence to fix it. It’s just outrageous.”
Robert Jordan said all he wanted to do was build a new house for his wife, Sonya.
He, too, regrets hiring Mr Baynie after paying around $500,000 for an unfinished house and a flooding basement.
“I had to get all the frameworks up again, the floor had to be redone, it had to be re-concreted again to get it level, all the windows had to be put back in. It just went on and on, all the things that he just left,” Mr Jordan said.
“It affected Bob greatly,” Mrs Jordan added. “He was such a kind, loving man. But now, he’s quite bitter about building and any tradesmen or anybody that does anything, which isn’t the man I married 60 odd years ago.”
In a familiar pattern, Mr Baynie’s building contract was terminated.
Mr and Mrs Jordan accepted a $50,000 pay-out from home builders insurance, but it cost them more than $200,000 to repair all the defects.
Mr Haglund is also hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket, despite home builders insurance covering Mr Baynie.
“We claimed about $600,000 and we got paid the maximum, which is $340,000. So we’re out $200,000-plus,” Mr Haglund said.
“We are led to believe that we should trust Fair Trading, that they manage the builders, manage the tradesmen, they take action when it’s necessary. But as far as I can see, it’s not happening.”
Both Mr Haglund and Mr Jordan claim they contacted NSW Fair Trading before hiring Mr Baynie.
The NSW Ombudsman’s Office is launching a full-scale investigation into NSW Fair Trading’s handling of Mr Baynie, including his licence applications and it’s handling of complaints made against him and his companies.
Mr Baynie was the director and shareholder of 21 companies that have now been deregistered.
He has been bankrupt twice and three of his companies have been plunged into administration, including Lloyd Parker Constructions and the Australian Construction & Building Group – which are responsible for more than $3 million in insurance claims.
When A Current Affair approached Mr Baynie for comment, his response was: “I’ve got nothing to say.”
NSW Police are also investigating Mr Baynie for driving on a suspended licence.
