VETERAN Newcastle electrician Peter Diamante has been stripped of his qualified supervisor certificate due to the multimillion-dollar collapse of his former Warabrook firm, Mailec Electrical.
NSW Fair Trading refused Mr Diamante's application to have his electrical supervisor certificate renewed, which is needed to supervise residential building work.
He appealed the decision in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) and a hearing was held in October last year.
The tribunal heard that Mr Diamante blamed the pandemic, his former office manager and lack of information provided by his accountant for the collapse of Mailec Electrical, which was put in the hands of a liquidator in June 2022 with debts of more than $2.3 million.
Mailec Electrical began in 1981 and Mr Diamante was the sole director of the company from 2001.
Liquidator Chad Rapsey, of Newcastle firm Rapsey Griffiths, estimated the business might have traded while insolvent since June 2020, and owed $2.3 million to unsecured creditors.
Mr Diamante's application was refused by NSW Fair Trading because the watchdog found he did not take all reasonable steps to avoid the company collapse and deemed he was not a fit and proper person to hold the authority.
An electrician for more than 30 years, Mr Diamante provided references from several Hunter building-industry heavyweights detailing his skill and professionalism.
He told the tribunal he put the company in liquidation on the advice of his accountant and blamed the collapse on the pandemic, "mismanagement of the company's office manager" and failure of the accountant to bring the "office manager's financial mismanagement to his attention".
"He alleges that because of the pandemic, the price of materials increased and that the cost of projects increased by 25 to 50 per cent," NCAT senior member Stephen Montgomery said in his judgement handed down on Tuesday.
"He said that his attempts to renegotiate contracts were unsuccessful. He also said that the company had to increase its staffing level to complete projects."
Mr Diamante said he inquired on a "regular basis" with the office manager and accountant about the company's finances and alleged the information he "received on every occasion was that the company was doing well, and everything was taken care of".
"Information was withheld from me by my office manager, and I was unaware of the severity of the company's financial position ... I discovered at a later stage that [the office manager] was injecting money into the company, while I wasn't informed, to prevent the company going into liquidation," he said.
"[The office manager] had utilised her own money to keep the company afloat. This has contributed to the company incurring further debts and deepened the company's financial crises."
The firm's former accountant, Melanie Hamilton, gave evidence that no information was withheld from Mr Diamante and she was not in charge of the office manager.
Mr Diamante said he no longer wanted to run his own business, but wanted the qualified supervisor certificate because it would enable him to earn more income.
In response, NSW Fair Trading argued that Mr Diamante failed to provide sufficient evidence that he was a fit and proper person to hold the authority.
The watchdog argued it was uncertain when Mr Diamante became aware of the financial trouble, but that the company's tax returns had not been completed for the two financial years before its collapse.
It was alleged Mr Diamante either knew about the company debts, or should have known about them, but continued to trade.
"Evidence is lacking regarding the steps that the applicant took to address the assertion that the company's office manager and accountant were not acting in good faith - noting that, ultimately, the applicant was responsible for the company," the watchdog submitted.
"Evidence is lacking regarding the applicant's assertion that the company's office manager was also putting money into the company without the applicant's knowledge, and there is no adequate explanation as to why she would do that."
Mr Montgomery denied the appeal, finding Mr Diamante was responsible for overseeing the company's finances and should not be granted a qualified supervisor certificate.
