Undertaking date

Undertaking type

s.87B undertaking

Section

Section 45(1)(c) and 45AJ of the CCA

Industry

Roofing Industry

Company or individual details

  • Name

    ANZ Roofing Pty Ltd

    ACN

    603 361 235

Undertaking

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has accepted a court enforceable undertaking from ANZ Roofing Pty Ltd (ANZ Roofing) and one of its directors, Mark Lee Burtenshaw (Burtenshaw). The undertaking is in relation to the use of industry social media groups to discuss pricing in a manner that was likely to contravene section 45AJ of the CCA (attempted price fixing).  This type of conduct could also in some circumstances raise concerns under section 45(1)(c) of the CCA which prohibits anticompetitive concerted practices.

ANZ Roofing is a commercial roofing business that services the greater Sydney region.

On 20 December 2018, Burtenshaw posted on two industry Facebook groups a photograph of two large hailstones together with a caption:

I think this latest storm is the perfect opportunity for the roofers of Sydney to increase pricing across the board as a standard that doesn’t decrease!”

The posts sparked discussions among other roofers (including Burtenshaw) about prices that roofers should charge for different roofing services.

Both ANZ Roofing and Burtenshaw admitted that Burtenshaw’s conduct was undertaken in his capacity as a director of ANZ Roofing. Burtenshaw has since removed his posts.

The ACCC was concerned that competing roofers in the Sydney region used the Facebook groups to share and seek to agree upon pricing and minimum rates for different roofing services.

To address the ACCC’s concerns, ANZ Roofing and Burtenshaw provided the ACCC with a section 87B undertaking that includes:

  • admissions and acknowledgements of the ACCC’s concerns;
  • commitments to ensure that the conduct is not repeated;
  • Burtenshaw undertaking competition law training provided by a suitably qualified legal professional; and
  • Burtenshaw making a post on one of the Facebook group pages regarding prohibited anti-competitive conduct.