Lazaway Pools and Spas collapses, leaving customers in the lurch
Year in Review: In February 2017, well-known Melbourne volume swimming pool builder Lazaway Pools and Spas collapsed, leaving many Victorian customers in the lurch.
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There are estimates of more than 100 customers and contractors affected by the collapse.
Complaints about Lazaway have been inundating consumers review websites such as Word of Mouth and Product Review.
Media in Melbourne has also been running stories on the collapse, including this story from Network Seven.
According to the Seven report, director Craig White had been previously fined three times for unprofessional work by the Building Practitioners Board (now the VBA). He released a statement to staff in January saying the closure was due to ongoing health issues, falling sales and the ever increasing difficulty in getting each phase of work completed.
SPASA Victoria offered its services to the insurer, the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority (VMIA), as well as to the insurance broker, AB Phillips, to ensure a prompt resolution to the issue.
At present the legal status of this builder has not been determined and there is no conclusion to the matter. SPASA Victoria has been liaising with an unspecified number of Lazaway’s customers.
SPASA issued an advisory to members to say that constructions that are incomplete are likely to be under legally binding contracts, and will have Domestic Building Insurance (DBI) and be complicated by existing eligibility/warranty issues. Commencing work on such projects puts members at risk. Registered SPASA Pool Builder and Restricted Members however are free to inspect and issue quotations for the completion of these unfinished jobs. SPASA was also providing a list of concrete builders to the VMIA to be circulated to consumers affected by the issue. For more information contact marita@spasavic.com.au.
SPASA's Advice to Consumers
The Domestic Building Insurance (DBI) which was taken out by the builder when you signed your contract is designed for precisely this situation. All DBI policies are underwritten by the State government via the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority or VMIA. More information about DBI can be found on the VMIA website here. A link to Making a Claim on your DBI policy can be found here
The telephone number for the VMIA is 1300 363 424.
As we understand their current insurance broker is AB Phillips.
If the VMIA is not the insurer of your construction contact the Building Advice and Conciliation Victoria (BACV) – a service jointly delivered by Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) and the Victorian Building Authority (VBA) which can assist you with free information and advice.
The telephone number for the BACV is 1300 55 75 59.
Their telephone number is 9607 9550.
