Qld portable home builder to pay over $2m for failing to supply
A Toowoomba-based portable building provider has been ordered to pay over $2 million following a Fair Trading investigation that revealed 19 customers were left in the lurch after investing significant funds.
The Toowoomba Magistrates Court has ordered Christopher Terrance Edards and his company Chace Roofing Sheds and Patios Pty Ltd to pay more than $2 million after they were found guilty of 38 counts of wrongly accepting payment under Australian Consumer Law.
Prior to this prosecution, Edards and his company had already been in the Office of Fair Trading’s crosshairs, with the Queensland regulator issuing a public warning about the portable building provider in January of 2024.
The court’s decision comes after an Office of Fair Trading (OFT) investigation revealed that the Toowoomba-based portable building provider took more than $1.3 million from Queenslanders for tiny homes, cabins and granny flats that were never provided.
Queensland’s consumer affairs body received complaints from 19 consumers who each paid between $20,000 and $217,000 to Edards and his company for portable buildings they didn’t receive.
The offences were found to have occurred between August 2021 and October 2023 and affected consumers across the state, with impacted parties located in areas such as Beenleigh and Mackay, and spread out as far west as Longreach.
The court heard that one customer paid more than $45,000 to Edards’ company for a portable two-bedroom home to live out her dying husband’s wish to live closer to her family and grandchildren.
While the customer intended for her portable home to be placed on her daughter’s property after her husband passed away, she has not been supplied with a property to date (28 May 2025) or issued a refund.
As a result of these difficulties, the customer reportedly described the experience as “two-and-a-half years of devastation and heartache”.
The court also heard that another customer and her brother paid a $50,000 deposit to Edards’ company four days after their mother had passed away from cancer.
While the customers would seize a partially completed cabin from Edards’ company seven months later, the cabin can still not be lived in, and Edards or his company has yet to issue a refund.
For wrongly accepting $1.3 million worth of funds for properties that were not adequately provided, the Toowoomba Magistrates Court ordered Edards and his company to pay more than $2 million in fines, compensation, and other costs.
Commissioner for Fair Trading, Victoria Thomson, said that Edards’ actions were completely unacceptable, and had distressing impacts on affected customers who suffered significant financial losses.
“Several consumers across our state invested significant funds with Mr Edards and were left with nothing to show for it,” Thomson said.
“This trader’s conduct shows a clear disregard for our laws and has significantly impacted customers who have been left in the lurch,” she added.
Thomson said that Fair Trading would continue to crack down on traders who take money from consumers, and fail to supply.
“We work hard to enforce Queenslanders’ rights and will take action against any traders who act inappropriately,” she concluded.