A woman who wanted to renovate her home to make it safe for her father with dementia to move in now has to pay $132,573 out of pocket after the builder went bankrupt.
Kerry Beake was awarded the sum after a two-year battle for compensation in the Western Australia Administrative Tribunal (SAT), because the work was either incomplete or of such poor quality that her father was never able to move in before he died.
However, the builder has since been declared bankrupt and will therefore not get any of that money back.
“I would have more protection as a consumer if I bought a toaster from Aldi,” Ms Beake told Daily Mail Australia.
She hired Byford-based construction company Buildwise Solutions, run by Peter John Edmonds, saying there was no way in Western Australia to be notified of serious complaints against builders.
“We are not stupid people, we were scammed because we trusted someone to do the job they were paid to do and were qualified to do,” she said.
‘In other professions people are pushed aside when a complaint is made, but in Western Australia people are at risk of being taken on by cowboy builders. The system is not going to protect you.’
Mr Edmonds, 71, was this month fined $2,000 by the District Court in Mandurah after he admitted carrying out work on Ms Beake’s Mandurah home without taking out mandatory home insurance that would have covered the amount set by the SAT.
Mrs. Beake had hired him in 2020 to convert a shed into an assisted living facility, improve the safety of the bathroom and convert a carport into an office.
Kerry Beake hired Peter Edmonds of Buildwise Solutions to carry out renovations (pictured) to her home so her father, who suffered from dementia, could move in and avoid having to go into a care home
Her father was never able to move in before he died because the proper building permits and insurance had not been obtained and the work was of substandard quality.
But when she later discovered the work had not been done properly, she was given a quote of $185,000 to have it repaired.
Mr Edmonds charged Mrs Beake for home insurance but never took out insurance, so she has no claim for repayment of her money, as is normally the case when a builder goes bust.
‘He didn’t get proper building permits or insurance. There were holes in the wall and windows that had been removed, causing water to pour onto the floors.
‘He said it would take 35 days, which seemed excessive at first, but it wasn’t finished and he stopped communicating. We didn’t hear from him for months.
“I found out that later parts were not built to code.”
Mrs Beake, 54, says she doesn’t think she will see a cent of the money she is owed – the total construction cost was $152,250 – and she fears others will find themselves in similar situations.
“I find it hard to accept that there is no other way to approach this.”
“I may look and sound okay, but I have a lot of trauma that I haven’t been able to process because of all of this… I haven’t been able to grieve the loss of my father.”
Eventually, her father ended up in a nursing home, a situation Mrs. Beake tried to avoid by renovating her home. He died late last year.
Ms Beake has written to government ministers about the traumatic events, urging changes to the law to better protect consumers.
“A $2,000 fine is insulting,” she said.
Mrs Beake (left) said water would flow into the grandmother’s home through holes left in the walls
The construction work was not carried out according to regulations and had to be demolished and rebuilt, which she cannot afford.
Other customers, employees and subcontractors claimed that Buildwise Solutions also owed them money.
The company’s website, now offline, described it this way: “A team dedicated to listening to you and understanding your needs. You are our highest priority throughout your journey with us.”
According to The West Australian, Mr Edmonds declared himself bankrupt on March 18 and bankruptcy trustee Giovanni Carrello said creditors were entitled to $433,425.
“The bankrupt has notified that the company ceased operations on or about November 9, 2023 as a result of a serious accident at the site,” the bankrupt said in a report to creditors.
Mr Edwards said an injury prevented him from continuing his activities.
‘The bankrupt is the co-debtor of a mortgage… secured by real estate registered in the name of the bankrupt’s spouse.
‘In 2022, he transferred a 2003 Harley Davidson with an estimated value of $15,000 and a 2013 Mercedes-Benz hatchback with an estimated value of $19,000 to his wife.’
He has also run companies under the names Enviro Housing Group and Alternate Living Homes.
Daily Mail Australia attempted to contact Mr Edmonds.