Collapse of Qld building firms costs industry $50m

Construction company collapses so far this year have cost the industry $50 million, with a Brisbane cabinet maker and Gladstone concreter the latest to hit the wall.

The collapse of building firms across Queensland so far this year has cost the industry $50m.

The collapse of building firms across Queensland so far this year has cost the industry $50m with a Brisbane cabinet maker and a Gladstone concreter the latest to hit the wall.

Brendan Nixon, a partner at SM Solvency Accountants, was last week appointed to liquidator Yeerongpilly-based Mod Cabinets adding to the industry’s woes.

Mr Nixon said he understood the business operations were sold by the company approximately six months ago and creditors are owed about $300,000.

James Hambleton, of Rodger Reidy, has been appointed liquidator of Brocon Contracting, based in New Auckland near Gladstone.

Brocon, which undertook residential concreting, had its license suspended in July by the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) for non-payment of debts. Brocon director Brodie Maw declined to comment.

Business leaders have warned Queensland’s building sector is buckling under the strain of material shortages and cost blowouts in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic which could see a wave of future business collapses.

The building sector faces cost increases.

While Queensland did not follow NSW’s lead and mandate a construction site shutdown, a combination of population growth, government incentives sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic and record low interest rates have conspired to create a severely stretched sector.

Consolidated Properties Group executive chairman Don O’Rorke said over the past six months it has been increasingly difficult to lock down prices.

Veteran Brisbane developer Kevin Seymour said material shortages were stretching supply chains causing delays and cost blowouts which will cause future problems.

Other major firms to have appointed administrators or liquidators this year include:

PLAN BUILD
Liquidators were appointed to award-winning Brisbane builder PlanBuild in April leaving 40 homes unfinished across the city and scores of “devastated” clients and owing creditors more than $2m.

Richard Albarran, Kathleen Vouris and Marcus Watters of Hall Chadwick took control of the Kedron-based company that had been the subject of complaints to the QBCC about unfinished projects.
HIGHGATE HILL FUTURE PROPERTY
The Brisbane high-rise developer collapsed owing $37m with investigators investigating loans made by a financier linked to a former director of the firm.

Bill Karageozis, of McLeod & Partners, said loans totalling $15m, attracting interest rates of up to 19 per cent, were made to Highgate Hill Future Property by firms linked to Brisbane financier David Mardell.

Highgate Hill Future Property, which built the luxury Sierra Nuvo apartments in the blue-ribbon suburb, collapsed last month potentially ensnaring hundreds of investors. The company made a loss of $4.8m last financial year.
VERUS CONSTRUCTION
Verus Construction helped roll out the Taco Bell chain in Australia but collapsed owing creditors about $3.4m after a series of disputes with subbies over the past three years.
The Victorian Supreme Court appointed liquidators to Teneriffe-based Verus Construction after a winding up application from one of the company’s creditors.

Verus, launched by sole director Greg Johnson in 2017, has been enmeshed in a number of ongoing legal battles related to the redevelopment of the Inala Civic Centre after being damaged by fire in 2017.

A building adjudicator in February ordered that Verus pay $352,000 to one of its subbies working on cladding and interior work at Inala Central.

Building sector under pressure.

TOTAL BLOX
The Slacks Creek-based firm provided block laying and concrete pumping services to builders and developers of commercial and residential projects went under owning more than $2m.

Travis Pullen, of BT Advisory, has been appointed liquidator of the company that was previously known as Tony Alex Bricklaying. Mr Pullen has told creditors that the company owed creditors an estimated $2.4m including more than $1m to the Australian Taxation Office.
AMPHIBIA ENGINEERING
The Gold Coast building company specialising in tiny homes, which traded as Technopods, collapsed in March leaving a string of angry customers behind and estimated debts of $1m. Amphibia specialised in custom built “tiny homes for use on land, water and wheels.”
SAFA SCAFFOLDING

Safa Scaffolding, which was based in Currumbin, put itself into voluntary administration in early June after one of Australia’s largest scaffolding companies Acrow Formwork and Construction Services applied to the Supreme Court in May to wind it up.

According to ASIC documents, the company owes $497,958 with the Australian Taxation Office owed $263,388.13 and related parties and unsecured creditors owed most of the balance.

Construction work in Brisbane. Photo: Jodie Richter

LEAF BUILDING GROUP
The Brisbane construction company, whose projects included shifting a World War I German tank into a new display at the Queensland Museum, owes creditors more than $1.3 million.

Nick Combis, of Vincents, was appointed voluntary administrator of Leaf Building Group in February after its building licence was cancelled by the construction watchdog.

The six-year-old company had specialised in shop fitouts for major retail brands including Woolworths and Aldi as well as sporting and cultural facilities.

It’s most high-profile project was moving the last remaining World War I German tank, better known as ‘Mephisto’, into a new display space at the Queensland Museum in 2018.
GW CIVIL CONTRACTING
The $3.1m collapse of the Brisbane construction firm was blamed on a drought of infrastructure projects in the state over the past five years.

The Geebung-based company went under in March owing more than 100 creditors including subcontractors and suppliers million of dollars.

The Queensland Major Contractors Association said the plight of companies such a GW Civil was due to a lack of promised government projects that had actual money allocated to them.

The 22-year-old company blamed the downturn in construction during Covid, increasing competition and the loss of JobKeeper subsidies for its predicament.