1 Aug 2019

Painter says under-fire building firm failed to pay $10,000

7:41 pm on 1 August 2019

A painter says he is owed money from a Canterbury building firm, where former staff have alleged they weren't paid wages.

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DC Painting owner David Christensen says his business is owed $10,000. Photo: Photo / 123RF

Welhaus Limited and its sister company Welstruct, are owned by Christchurch businessman Dan Tremewan.

DC Painting owner David Christensen, says his business is owed $10,000 for work it did late last year.

Mr Christensen said he painted a house in the suburb of Halswell for three months, but stopped in December after not receiving progress payments.

He said he only received $3800 for a $13,800 invoice.

In response to David Christensen's claim, Mr Tremewan says he isn't close enough with individual cases.

But he says he believes delayed payments relate to clients owing Welhaus hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Mr Christensen said a $10,000 is significant for a small business like DC Painting.

"It's not that small an amount, and it was right over Christmas so we had no money over Christmas. The money that we did receive, the $3800 was actually money we had actually paid out for paint," he said.

Earlier this week, Welhaus came under fire by former employees who said the company was behind in wage payments.

The staff members said not receiving wages had a significant impact on their lives.