The building east of Thomaston on Highway 36 is nearly complete and about ready for it’s new owner The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) to move in. The church members will enjoy the spacious sanctuary, the new offices and rooms, the basketball goal behind the sliding wall and plenty of parking.
It’s doubtful that anyone will complain about shoddy workmanship or question the appearance of the structure. It’s unknown how many will even be aware of the heartaches and financial hardships the construction of the church has caused.
Seventeen contractors and vendors that worked on the project have not been paid by the general contractor, sixteen liens to date have been filed against the property and more may be forthcoming. The total amount owed is more than $340,000.
Three homes have been foreclosed on, vehicles have been sold and upwards of 50 jobs have been lost because the general contractor, Frailey and Associates, doing business as Patmac Contracting, from Grayson, Georgia claims the work was substandard and refuses to pay.
The unsettling aspect of this is that it appears that Frailey and Associates has a track record of questionable business practices and has had to pay off liens on another LDS project in Monroe, Georgia over the past several months.
According to the companies website Patmac focuses on new construction and remodels.
They specialize in athletic fields, churches, commercial offices and build-outs, medical offices and build-outs, parks, prime electrical and prime roofing work. The company holds licenses in 6 states, and has more than 100 years of combined experience.
Locally, Tim McKissick owns and operates Electrical Advantage/Design Construction Technologies. The company was contracted by Patmac and begin working on the church project in April of 2010. On June 21st the work was stopped due to nonpayment. Patmac paid $12,000 and asked the company to resume working on the site. On January 25, 2011 work was again interrupted due to a lack of payment. On February 2nd the company pulled off the job permanently with Patmac owing them $57,504.07.
Tim has been forced to lay off 16 employees, lost two company trucks and his home due to the failure of Patmac to pay for work that was inspected and approved by local building and zoning officials. Upson Today was told in the building and zoning office that all of the work inspected met required building codes and no substandard workmanship was observed.
Bob Swetnam is the liaison between the church headquarters in Utah and the general contractor. According to McKissick, Swetnam assured all the contractors bidding on the project that the Church of Latter Day Saints had no problem paying for any aspect of construction. LDS officials have stated that any issues are between Patmac and the subcontractors since the church has already paid Patmac a major portion of the $1.7 million dollar project.
The question is, who signed the notarized lien releases that are normally required for funds to be paid to the general contractor and was there a deliberate effort by Patmac to defraud the subcontractors?
The Upson County Sheriff’s Department has initiated an investigation into the matter and have asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to assist due to the large number of interviews throughout the state that will be conducted.
There will be more to this story as the investigation continues.
Good!!
ReplyDeleteThis is the kind of article that keeps me coming back to this site. Well written, detailed, current information that I don't see on any of the other local news sites. Please keep up the good work. Also, it's nice that there aren't so many ads that I can't find any content, too. Thanks again.
ReplyDelete“This is the kind of article that keeps me coming back to this site” I couldn’t disagree more. There’s one huge piece missing from this article, Danny only quotes the Church that will move in and the electrician for the job but no mention of speaking to the general contractor? A good writer researches and reports from all sides. Also, is this the same Tim McKissick that was charged with armed robbery & burglary and is still serving probation for it? Not sure I’d consider him the most credible source.
ReplyDeleteI don't know of the general contractor but I know Electrical advantage and they are shady, I'm still waiting for work to be completed that I paid for.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, I certainly didn't mean to imply that this site is as credible as say... CNN or Fox News or any of the other news services (including local news) that ALWAYS research and report ALL sides. Yeah, that's not what I meant at all. The best part to me is that you came to this site, read the article, read the comments, then posted your own and you'll probably read this, too. If you don't think these articles are fair, why are you here? Best part is that both of the posts above are quick to throw stones at another named person/company but choose to remain anonymous. So, I'll say it again. Thanks to the person that keeps this site updated, moderates the comments, etc. for putting more on the line than any of us anonymous comment makers do. It's real easy to pick apart someone else's work. Please feel free to post your name, occupation, and a sample of your work for the rest of us to judge and report on.
ReplyDeleteYou can't claim shoddy work on everyone and get the services for free. The worked passed all inspections!
ReplyDeleteWhere's the money going??
I myself have done work with Frailey and Associates dba as Patmac Contracting Company. In fact I have done the same electrical work on the same exact kind of buildings for The Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
ReplyDeleteHere are a couple of things that are not mentioned:
1: Bob Swetnam is a direct employee of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. His responsibilities are to ensure that the project is completed according to the EXACT specifications that the Church requires as stated in the Drawings and Specifications that were issued at the original bidding. His job also directly controls the release of funds from the Church. The Contractor submits a pay request based on the requests received by the subcontractors and modified based on the amount and quality of work performed to the churches SPECIFICATIONS. If Bob Swetnam determines that the work does not meet the Churches specifications, that were issued, to all contractors. Then he will not release the funds until it is corrected.
2: I have a State of Georgia Class II Unrestricted Electrical Contractors License. I also happen to be a Member of the Thomaston ward of the church as well. I made numerous inspections of the building during its construction. I noticed the work that Tim McKissick and his company did as well. There were numerous violations that were made not only of National and Local electrical codes but also Church SPECIFICATIOS as referred to section 16 of the specification manual. One thing in particular was the use of NM Cable (Romex) used in the electrical wiring of the chapel and the cultural hall. These areas are classified as areas of assembly by the NEC according to NEC Article 518:
The code does not distinguish the number of sq feet but how many persons are going to be there. 100 is the magic number to be considered an assembly hall and then the following article is to be used:
ARTICLE 518 Places of Assembly
518.1 Scope.
This article covers all buildings or portions of buildings or structures designed or intended for the assembly of 100 or more persons.
518.4 Wiring Methods.
(A) General. The fixed wiring methods shall be metal raceways, flexible metal raceways, nonmetallic raceways encased in not less than 50 mm (2 in.) of concrete, Type MI, MC, or AC cable containing an insulated equipment grounding conductor sized in accordance with Table 250.122.
Exception: Fixed wiring methods shall be as provided in
(a) Audio signal processing, amplification, and reproduction equipment — Article 640
(b) Communications circuits — Article 800
(c) Class 2 and Class 3 remote-control and signaling circuits — Article 725
(d) Fire alarm circuits — Article 760
(B) Nonrated Construction. Nonmetallic-sheathed cable, Type AC cable, electrical nonmetallic tubing, and rigid nonmetallic conduit shall be permitted to be installed in those buildings or portions thereof that are not required to be of fire-rated construction by the applicable building code. (this is areas like the entry way, small class rooms, office, etc.)
Church also specified that conduit and cabling is to be run neatly and in straight lines, parallel and with ninety degree turns to building lines.
The wiring in this building at the time was no where close to being neat. Patmac Contracting had to bring their own, in house, electricians to remove all of the incorrect wiring and install it correctly with conduit as necessary.
I think that you need to talk a little more to other parties involved and update this blog.
Todd, Owner
AFAB Contracting Company
Commercial Electrical Contractors
Greenville, GA
Todd ? As in Todd Frailey , P.C. Frailey (President of Pat Mac ) half brother. Not credible
DeleteTodd, the owner of AFAB Contracting Company has no idea what he is talking about. I am an electrical engineer and have done several inspections of the project. The general contract and specifications clearly listed "Romex" as an acceptable wiring method. It is therefor the churches own fault if they did not specify alternative wiring methods. Tim McKissick followed all of the churches guidelines and even issued several letters requesting change orders to provide MC Cable of a complete conduit system. The church responded by saying that Romex was approved and acceptable. The local building officials inspected the project, as well as EDC, the engineering firem. All electrical work was approved and passed.
ReplyDeleteTodd, the owner has a biased opinion of the events and should investigate the facts of this case before issuing a statement.
At this time, P.C. Frailey and Patmac Contracting are under investigation for 32 counts of fraud by the GBI. This contractor has stollen nearly 3 million dollars fron small businesses and subcontractors all across the state of georgia. Tim McKissick and the employees of Electrical Advantage have done the public a service by picketing the church property and exposing the dealings of Patmac Contracting. If Todd, the owner was so influencial and reviewed the installation of electrical systems by Electrical Advantage, why are we only hearing from him now? If the work was substandard at the time of Todd's so called inspections, then Todd the owner has violated the trust of the church and the requirements of his state contractors license by not notifying the proper authorities.
Lastly, speaking of Patmacs "In House" electricians, they (6 men) are also being investigated by the GBI for Theft of Services.
Todd, the owner----- Perhaps you should investigate the facts before you make groundless accusations.
I wonder if this is the same Todd whose last name is Frailey
ReplyDeleteI installed the irrigation system on this project as a labor only status . i did a walk with the architect and owners and received a sign off on work . When i went to turn in final bill the company had closed . I have video of system working perfectly and the church using the system to establish landscape . The church knows i was not paid and has no problem using there free sprinkler system . The money hit me at the worst of times i was counting on it to pull through last winter .
ReplyDeletethanks LDS you are a clsss act
Was this case ever resolved?
ReplyDelete