A BUILDER is taking on Turkey in a $1 million tussle over the construction of a $4 million-plus Toorak home for the Turkish consul.
Ralph Mackie, the sole director of the Mackie Group of Companies, launched County Court action last month to stop Turkey cashing bank guarantees to pay another contractor to fix 124 disputed defects.
In an affidavit, Mr Mackie says the defect dispute is part of a larger one over the two-year build.
He claims Turkey has withheld payments for back charges and liquidated damages totalling about $450,000. He has also disputed claims for a $200,000 variation and delay damages of about $300,000.
Major alleged defects include a draughty roof access skylight, incorrectly installed windows, a defective hydronic heating system, parquetry flooring that is cracking and separating, and planter boxes and a reflection pool that lay empty due to defective or missing waterproofing.
Turkish Consul General Seyit Mehmet Apak, who lives in the house with his wife and young children, says his nine-year-old son was distressed and frightened after becoming stranded in his bedroom owing to a defective lock. The lock and handle were eventually removed after several more lock-ins.
Mr Apak says he has been locked in his ensuite and study for the same reason, and many other doors are misaligned and cannot be closed.
He claims Mr Mackie was advised of the defects many times but failed, or refused, to fix them.
"After months of frustration and vexation, I have lost confidence in the plaintiff,'' his affidavit says.
Mr Apak said quotes to do the work ranged from $98,560 to $201,767.
He denies the defects are part of a wider dispute, saying he does not understand the basis of Mr Mackie's claims to the other amounts.
Mackie Pty Ltd was contracted to build the palatial Toorak Rd house in December 2009. Construction began in January 2010 and ended in February 2012.
Mr Mackie says the defect list issued in January this year, just days before the 12-month defect liability period ended, included many trivial items, such as door handles that needed adjusting, or minor carpentry and painting defects, or work already completed or that were not defects at all.
"Given the very minor nature of the remaining defects, the assertion that the amount of $126,060.00 is payable with respect to defects is both inexplicable and totally unjustified,'' his statement says.
Mr Mackie said a tile feature under a bridge across the reflection pool requested as a contract variation could not be undertaken due to "accessibility issues''; defective work was not the cause of problems with the parquetery or planter boxes; the windows were not defective; and the heating had been fixed.
He said his company was still awaiting approval to order a replacement skylight and had been in the process of completing the minor works when the Consul General gave notice last month of his intention to take over the work and use the bank guarantee to fund it.
Mr Mackie disputes the validity of that notice.
Judge Tim Ginnane last week ordered Mr Mackie to provide a fresh bank guarantee of $108,750 until May 1, as his previous guarantee had expired, and forbade Turkey from using the fund before Mr Mackie's case resumes next week.
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