EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
Contractors meet to brainstorm
non-payment woes
By Ilana Koegelenberg
T
here is a huge problem – not only in
our industry but for all sub-contractors
– whereby large construction
companies are not paying them. As many
well-known companies are forced to go
into liquidation or business rescue, the
sub-contractors are ever more hard-hit
by issues of non-payment. Some of our
own have even been forced to close their
doors. It’s not a pretty picture.
Something has to be done.
That’s why the South African
Refrigeration and Air Conditioning
Contractors Association (SARACCA)
hosted a meeting on 11 July at the
Woodmead Country Club, for members
and non-members alike to try and work
towards a solution.
20
www.coldlinkafrica.co.za
The meeting was well-attended by
contractors from across the industry,
all telling the same story of the millions
they’ve lost when large construction
companies fold.
John Parry, SARACCA president,
kicked things off by outlining SARACCA’s
position on the matter and saying that the
association wants to help where it can.
“The South African construction industry is
in crisis,” he said. “There is a big problem
and they’re taking us down with them. We
need to stick together and find some way
out of this; we need a plan of action.”
Parry also shared his own personal story
of how his company, Fifty-Two Engineering,
battled with non-payment (read more in the
RACA Journal August edition). He then went
In a meeting prompted by industry and organised by SARACCA, local HVAC&R contractors
met on 11 July to put their heads together to try and find some solutions to the issue of building
contractors liquidating and not being paid.
John Parry getting things started and leading the discussion.
COLD LINK AFRICA •
OCTOBER 2019