❓ A WA parliamentary question investigates payments to Earthmac for school sporting court construction in Williams, Donnybrook, and Manjimup, focusing on work quality, testing, and procedural fairness in contract delivery and payment. The government's response details payment discrepancies due to substandard work at Williams Primary School and efforts to resolve the dispute.
AnsweredQoN 303Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the construction of hard surfaces for sporting courts for schools by the company Earthmac in schools in Williams, Donnybrook and Manjimup, and I ask: (a) was the company Earthmac paid for the work at all three sites; (b) if no to (a), which sites were not paid for and why; (c) what testing was done on any of the contract sites including those not paid for, and please provide the results of all of that testing; (d) what attempts has the Government made to resolve any outstanding accounts; and (e) is the Minister confident that procedural fairness has been acheived in the delivery and payment of this contract?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
17 November 2021
Responded by
Minister for Mental Health representing the Minister for Finance
Response time
14 days
The Department of Finance advises:
a-b) Earthmac has been paid in accordance with its entitlements. Earthmac was paid in full for the work it completed properly on the Donnybrook and Manjimup High Schools. Earthmac could not properly complete the work at Williams Primary School, and therefore it was not paid, except for some ancillary costs.
c) Following complaints from Williams Primary School regarding the quality of the work, an independent consultant engineer undertook an additional inspection of Earthmac’s resurfacing of the quadrangle court area and tennis court in February 2021. The engineer reported several serious defects in the work, including cracking, spalling, an uneven surface and poor drainage. In March 2021, a resurfacing contractor undertook core sampling, which revealed substandard asphalt thicknesses in several locations across the quadrangle surface.
d) The Department of Finance has met and corresponded with Earthmac on multiple occasions to resolve the disputed claims. The Department has obtained independent assessments of the quality of work and has provided Earthmac with the opportunity to rectify the defects.
e) It is evident based on the information presented to me that the Department has provided procedural fairness to the contractor. The Department obtained independent assessments where it appeared the work did not meet requirements, it afforded the contractor the opportunity to both comment on those assessments and rectify the defects in the work, and it made decisions on the basis of the evidence available.
a-b) Earthmac has been paid in accordance with its entitlements. Earthmac was paid in full for the work it completed properly on the Donnybrook and Manjimup High Schools. Earthmac could not properly complete the work at Williams Primary School, and therefore it was not paid, except for some ancillary costs.
c) Following complaints from Williams Primary School regarding the quality of the work, an independent consultant engineer undertook an additional inspection of Earthmac’s resurfacing of the quadrangle court area and tennis court in February 2021. The engineer reported several serious defects in the work, including cracking, spalling, an uneven surface and poor drainage. In March 2021, a resurfacing contractor undertook core sampling, which revealed substandard asphalt thicknesses in several locations across the quadrangle surface.
d) The Department of Finance has met and corresponded with Earthmac on multiple occasions to resolve the disputed claims. The Department has obtained independent assessments of the quality of work and has provided Earthmac with the opportunity to rectify the defects.
e) It is evident based on the information presented to me that the Department has provided procedural fairness to the contractor. The Department obtained independent assessments where it appeared the work did not meet requirements, it afforded the contractor the opportunity to both comment on those assessments and rectify the defects in the work, and it made decisions on the basis of the evidence available.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.