One of Oceanside's many jobs was this 2020 Ohauiti project. Photo / Supplied
One of Oceanside's many jobs was this 2020 Ohauiti project. Photo / Supplied
The insolvency of Tauranga builder Oceanside Homes has left two unfinished dwellings and businesses and tradespeople owed more than $500,000, according to its liquidator.
A list has been released of who's claiming that money and it names many Bay of Plenty businesses.
Oceanside, whose sole director is Austrian-born quantity surveyorClaudia Fischer, is in the hands of local accountant David Thomas who said investigations were needed on the two unfinished Ohauiti homes.
He wondered who would be able to take on the projects and finish them for the owners.
Oceanside is half-owned by Tui Bird Trustee, 49 per cent owned by Claudia Fischer with HTT No 10 and 1 per cent owned by Fischer. Tui Bird Trustee is owned by Regan Thomas Brown, of Hamilton, and Sarah-Jane Young, of Pirongia, Companies Office records show.
"The director of the company has advised that the reason for the failure of the company was historical debt that was a legacy of the previous ownership," Thomas wrote.
"During the Covid period, revenues from the business and fixed price contracts don't seem to have been enough to cover overheads," Thomas wrote.
Claudia Fischer, of Oceanside Homes. Photo / Tauranga Business Chamber
"The sale of assets of the company will be insufficient to pay a dividend to creditors," Thomas wrote in his first report out on Wednesday.
He estimated the shortfall at $518,537 of which $448,000 is owned to trade creditors, Inland Revenue is owned PAYE tax of $69,000 and GST of $19,000 and wages are owed of $1395.
On the plus side of the balance sheet, the company has fixed assets of $10,000 and accounts receivable of $10,000, amounting to $20,000.
Tauranga ITM Building & Fencing Supplies, Carters Building Supplies, Plumbing World, Tile Warehouse, Central Foundations, Plumbing World, NZ fuel Cards, Plytech International, Carpet court Retailing and Gerrand Floorings are among the list of secured creditors.
Unsecured creditors are, unfortunately, a much longer list.
Suppliers feature heavily and include Heirloom Kitchens, garage door business Dominator Tauranga, Morgan Steel, LouvreTec, high-end luxury specialist Premier Appliances, See Through Glass BOP, Simons Flooring Design, Viridian Glass, Tile Depot, Tilemax BOP, Stoneworks, Rapid Rent A Fence, Iron Clad Roofing, Fisher Windows, FD Kitchens, Prestige Loos and Premier Showers.
Trades businesses on the list include AJ Electrical, Foleys Plumbing, Electricians BOP, Master Plumb & Gas and NZ Wrap and Nets.
Professional services businesses also appear: accountants BDO Tauranga.
Nor does the media escape: Mediaworks is an unsecured creditor.
Chinese-owned Envirowaste appears, along with RFT Engineering, SED Consultants, Stash It Storage.
Inland Revenue would have a preferential claim for PAYE and GST, Thomas said.
Andrew Bayly is worried about pressure on trade suppliers. Photo / Mark Mitchell
National's building and construction spokesman Andrew Bayly expressed concern about the failure and ramifications for the Bay of Plenty.
He is worried about pressures on the multibillion-dollar construction sector and quizzed Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr at the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee on Thursday.
"Everyone knows we're consenting up to 50,000 homes. But people can't complete all those homes," Bayly said citing the national Gib board shortage via Fletcher Building's Winstone Wallboards which has around 93 per cent of the market.
"Builders get to the stage of putting up the plasterboard and when they can't get it, it means they simply can't complete the house. All the houses expected to be made available - they can't put the Gib on the wall or get some vital products.
"We're now accumulating a backlog of unfinished houses. But also people won't go ahead because prices are rising. I think we're overestimating how many houses are being completed," Bayly said.
A Tauranga Business Chamber profile on Fischer said she was born in Austria, became Oceanside's chief executive last June but "has been a much-loved team member since 2018".
She left Austria when she was 18 "to discover the world and have lived in seven different countries. I loved New Zealand the most, so it became my home 24 years ago. Previously, I owned a construction company with my ex-husband and was mostly looking after the project administration.
"Later on, I went into my studies, where I covered three different areas: accounting, business and construction management. I then became a qualified quantity surveyor," Fischer told the chamber.
Oceanside built new architecturally designed homes and remodelled existing ones, she said. It did eight to 10 homes annually, "focused on building quality rather than quantity".
She also cited problems in the profile: "The current supply issues are extremely challenging, so is the lack of qualified tradespeople. It is not easy, but we have been working closely with our trade partners and clients to set realistic expectations. Additionally, we attempt to use New Zealand made products as much as we can and order items well before we need them," Fisher said.
