Just a warning to everybody, Podular are likely on the way out and we would...

Hi Mike, sorry to hear that. How do subbies & suppliers protect themselves against this sort of thing? I ask as a client who pays my bills and expects the builder to do the same.

Hi Mike are you able to contact me re Podular? Have family member just signed up with Chch branch and I am concerned about the company’s position given they have now vacated their Hornby “factory” site – jill.gordon.nz@gmail.com

Hi Ann, Speaking from personal experience I think the answer to this is they can’t entirely. A lot of the time (especially for subbies) it seems to work on a system of trust. Meaning that if they have experience with a builder, and trust him, then they usually expect to do the work (which may also include supplying their materials), and not get paid until later. Sometimes quite a lot later. So if a section of work designated in the Contract as justifying payment has been completed, then the Client may get an invoice and pay for it, before the subbies have been paid. It pays to listen for any hint from the subbies they are not being paid by the time they expect, and are chasing the builder for payment, as this is usually the first sign a builder may go under. Our first hints were from a specialist type directional drilling guy that we put the builder in touch with, who therefore contacted me to say his payment from the builder was overdue. Later the kitchen maker, who I often contacted directly about design details, also complained he wasn’t being paid on other jobs. In both cases lots of excuses from the builder about ‘computer banking problems’ and ‘misunderstandings’. But of course basically they were running out of liquidity to pay. Classic small builder. They can build houses OK (so you hope anyway) but can’t manage cash flow. Of course you could start phoning all the subbies and asking questions. But as I said above, it often works on trust. So by undermining that you may cause them to doubt, and stop working, or ask for money up front. Most builders don’t have the cash for that, so if you’d kept quiet they might have muddled through, but you bring about the very thing you fear. Ours collapsed about 6 months later, but when the job was 95% finished. Leaving several subbies owed money, some quite large amounts, but mainly for work on other jobs not ours. And we still had money in hand from work not yet carried out. So didn’t lose too much, and most subbies were quite helpful in finishing off. Stuff to learn from this: Keep your ear to the ground regarding any none/late payment of subbies, but be cautious about spreading it around. Make sure you’ve only paid for work that’s been done. Keep in touch, and on good terms, with subbies. You may need their help later. With current interest rate rises, and fall in property values, I think we’re soon going to see a lot more of this kind of problem. So anyone planning to build should be very careful.

I would avoid Podular at all costs. They leave a trail of unpaid invoices, screw around clients and staff are leaving in droves. Management are clowns, fairly sure its on its way to going under

Avoid at all costs jill, deffinately going under. Do ctrl f and search podular for other comments/info