Construction company Daascon Pty Ltd collapses owing $1.6 million

Daascon Pty Ltd, owned by Kiama-based developer Samy Saad, filed for voluntary administration in July.

The company had recently completed works on the Elevation 77 on College Avenue Shellharbour.

The apartments are described in marketing materials as "delivering luxury and exquisite style". However, subcontractors engaged on the project said the building had major issues.

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"Some of the workmanship in there is really poor," the contractor said.

A similar story was shared by others working on the project. Jared, the owner of a subcontracting business that worked throughout the project said the process was consistently mismanaged.

"There was no understanding of how the processes of construction go," he said.

These contractors are some of the many out of pocket after Daascon called in administrators.

According to documents filed by administrators O'Brien and Palmer with the corporate regulator ASIC, one contractor is owed around $30,000 but believes the actual debts are closer to $100,000.

The other is marked down as owing a similar amount but estimates real debts are near a quarter of a million dollars.

The report from O'Brien Palmer identifies about 70 creditors, with individual debts of up to $167,000 to companies and a debt of over $300,000 to the tax office.

The total debts owed amount to $1,656,297.39. However with contractors not having yet filed proof of debt claims, the actual amount is likely to be much higher.

One contractor who spoke to the Mercury said the paperwork on Daascon's part was lacking, with progress payments landing in the company's bank account with no attached documentation.

"Payments are always slow, we never got remittance advice," he said. "There was no explanation."

This was echoed by Jared.

"Nothing lined up," he said. "You didn't know what you're expecting."

Company documents show Daascon owes employees thousands in annual leave and superannuation entitlements, as well as $663,717 to sole director Mr Saad.

The company also owes $126,400 to former Illawarra builder Peter Camarda. The pair were jointly involved in Illawarra construction firm Camarda & Cantrill until that firm went belly up in 2015, owing more than $4 million and leaving the Harbour Apartments on the corner of Harbour and Burelli streets incomplete.

It appears that Mr Saad was able to recover from this setback, having purchased the Shellharbour site for $6,655,000 in 2018 through another company he owns named Shiloh Properties.

In the meantime, Daascon was involved in a number of iconic Illawarra projects, including the Southern Gateway Centre at Bulli Tops, the Bradman Museum and the International Cricket Hall of Fame in the Southern Highlands and the Bluewater Apartments in Kiama.

Company records also show that Daascon is owed a significant sum of funds, more than what it owes to creditors, however much of the debts to Daascon are marked as effectively worthless.

The loans are from four trusts all registered to the same address at Bong Bong Street, Kiama which company records list as the principal place of business and the address of Mr Saad.

One of the loans, worth $2,275,137 is from Jefferson Unit Trust. In October, property press in Queensland reported that Mr Saad and Daascon were preparing planning applications to develop two blocks on the Gold Coast Highway, which back onto Jefferson Lane.

Administrators O'Brien Palmer estimate that the amount realisable from this loan is $0.

Mr Saad lodged plans with the Gold Coast City Council to build a 14-storey apartment tower on an amalgamated site in October last year. The proposed tower would include 38 two to four bedroom units and was to be designed by BDA Architects.

A spokesperson for BDA Architects said the company was no longer involved in the project as of late last year.

It is unclear what the status of the project is.

Attempts to contact Mr Saad were unsuccessful.

Another meeting of the creditors is scheduled for August 8 where a decision would be made on how the company will be dissolved.

The contractor stung by the Shellharbour project said it was the worst project he had ever worked on and now would go back to working on single-storey homes, as high rises were too risky.

"In this market at the moment, with everything so expensive, and people run into trouble, I'm not going to do any more."

Jared said the saga was "heartbreaking" and after investing in the business was wondering if he would have to remortgage his house.

"I've got [two dozen] employees that come first before everything," he said. "We've got to look after them."

As the list of construction companies going under grows, not only in the Illawarra, those left with the debts, in this case the subcontractors, are calling for change before more companies go out of business.

"Something's got to change, because it's pushing so many people away."

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