Oracle collapse leaves Queensland father with ‘shell of a house’ and piles of rubbish out the front
Skip bin contractors have added to the woes of a father-of-three who discovered his dream home will remain ‘a shell’ after the collapse of a major home builder.
Queensland man Dale Liston had been told ‘everything was fine’ by the company building his home at Logan Reserve in Brisbane‘s south, Oracle Building Corporation Pty Ltd – right up until the company collapsed on Thursday.
Mr Liston discovered the news of Oracle’s demise while scrolling Facebook in hospital as he recovered from an operation for Crohn’s Disease.
After leaving hospital Mr Listen returned to the site of his half-built house to discover piles of rubbish in the driveway.
Mr Liston, 33, said his heart sank when he saw the rubbish.
He told Daily Mail Australia it appeared the on-site bin contractors had just dumped the content of their skips on his property and taken their bins away in the wake of Oracle’s collapse.
‘I just felt defeated to be honest,’ he said.
‘It was disgusting. No, actually, pathetic.
‘I just got out of hospital and the first thing I did was go and check on my house, just to see piles of rubbish.’
Dale Liston, here pictured with wife Pieta, only learnt that the firm building his house, Oracle Homes, had collapsed when he was idly scrolling though Facebook while in hospital
Mr Liston shared these pictures with Daily Mail Australia of the contents of on-site skip bins dumped on his unfinished property, he claims, by the bin contractors
Mr Liston said he understood the contractors were probably frustrated as well, but would have preferred they dumped the contents of the bins at Oracle’s door
Mr Liston said at first he wanted to find the skip bin contractors and contact them himself.
‘(After I saw it) I was going through old photos and I couldn’t see the name of the company… The bins seemed to all have been sprayed black in older photos.
‘I probably would’ve wanted to have torn them a new one.’
He said he could understand the frustration of the contractors who have also suffered as a result of recent collapses of home building companies.
‘I understand (the bin contractors) are probably a bit dirty and maybe haven’t been paid – but they’ve dumped it out the front of my property. If they’d dumped them out the front of Oracle’s door, I wouldn’t have cared less.’
The piles of rubbish now present a further financial problem for the father-of-three.
‘It’s work that I’m going to have to do. And it’s just more money, I’ll have to hire another skip bin and I just got out of hospital after surgery so I probably shouldn’t be lifting anything. I’ll probably have to pay someone else to come and do it.
‘Even the temporary fencing company stripped their fencing but left the damaged panels on the property.’
Queensland legislation also means Mr Liston will have to find a way to secure his property as soon as possible, after the state’s industry watchdog the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) had informed him that he’s liable if anyone is hurt on the property.
Oracle went into liquidation on Thursday after asking customers for more money to finish their homes and missing deadlines, leaving around 300 home unfinished and owing at least $14million to creditors.
The predicament led to a confrontation between Mr Liston and the company’s managing director, Tom Orel.
Despite having spent $350,000 so far for the land and to build his house, Mr Liston has been left with ‘a shell’ that still needs a lot of work to complete
Interior shots taken of Mr Liston’s house in August reveal how little has been done. The house was originally scheduled to be ready in May
‘I went to his (Mr Orel’s) office on the public holiday demanding to speak with him,’ Mr Liston said.
‘He tried to kick me out.’
The crisis in the construction industry has left would-be homeowners in the lurch with thousands of homes across the country stranded as building companies topple.
Mr Liston allowed himself a single tear as he learnt his family’s ‘first and last home’ would be abandoned by the building company to which he had already paid $350,000.
Mr Liston, with wife Pieta, said he had intended the house to be his first and last home for his family, which includes three children
‘When I found out, I am not going to lie, I had a little tear because of being here (in hospital) and finding all this out about my health and then this just to top off the cake,’ he said.
Mr Liston, who works as a warehouse manager, said his house at Logan Reserve on the Brisbane’s southern edges, was a ‘shell’ and revealed the construction, due to be complete in May, had been delayed extensively even before Oracle’s collapse.
The collapse of Oracle left around 300 homes unfinished with the failed company owing at least $14 million to creditors
Mr Liston said his house, which he signed a contract for in June 2021, was originally meant to be finished in May.
Oracle was put in the hands of liquidators the Robson Cotter Insolvency Group on Thursday.
Mr Orel has been contacted by Daily Mail Australia for comment.
A statement from the liquidators said Mr Orel was cooperating fully with them.
Mr Liston said he had a confrontation with Oracle managing director Tom Orel in July where Mr Orel (pictured) tried to ‘kick him out of the office’
‘Mr Orel has highlighted the well known difficult circumstances prevailing in the construction industry, including the recent and rapid rise in construction costs,’ the statement said.
‘These factors resulted in cost overruns and delays in project completions, which severely impacted the company’s cash flows and its capacity to continue to operate despite the owners and staff’s best endeavours.’
Mr Liston accused Mr Orel of operating as if nothing was wrong up until very recently.
‘He was still trying to sell houses last week and he was still asking people for price increases last week,’ Mr Liston said.
‘He would have known this was coming.’
