Two more building companies collapse in NSW and Queensland

Two more building companies have collapsed just days apart as the industry-wide crisis deepens across the country.

Two more building companies have collapsed less than a week after the construction sector was shaken by the collapse of a multimillion dollar firm with a foothold across three states.

Queensland-based National Construction Management Pty Ltd went into liquidation on Friday while Allworks Building Pty Ltd, a NSW company, collapsed on Monday.

National Construction Management, with head quarters in the Sunshine Coast, reportedly owes at least $3 million to creditors.

Dane Hammond and Paul Nogueira of insolvency firm Worrells were appointed as joint and several liquidators.

They had not returned news.com.au’s calls or emails by time of publication.

The Queensland builder mostly engaged in commercial projects, including aged care facilities and a luxury apartment block.

The Australian reported that National Construction Management took on $12.7 million worth of building projects in the financial year ending June 2021.

However, the following year proved dire for the building firm, with its workload going down considerably to just $6.3 million worth of projects – less than half of the previous 12 months.

Meanwhile, Sydney builder Allworks Building also went into voluntary liquidation, two days after the Queensland construction organisation.

Two building companies have collapsed since Friday.

Liam Bailey of insolvency firm O’Brien Palmer was appointed as the liquidator of Allworks Building, with head quarters in the Sydney suburb of Mona Vale in the Northern Beaches region.

Although he was only appointed to the role 24 hours earlier, Mr Bailey estimates the building company owes about $300,000 to unsecured creditors.

“There are zero impacted homes. No projects on foot. It’s been wound down for quite some time,” he told news.com.au.

The company did a combination of domestic building and renovations.

He said there are currently two staff members at the company, who are also the company’s two joint directors. They are owed about $200,000 in unpaid superannuation.

A combination of a licence dispute, which prohibited Allworks from carrying out construction, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic, led to the builder’s demise.

The two companies join a growing list of construction firms that have gone bust.

It comes as the entire building industry is in crisis because of supply chain disruptions, skilled labour shortages, skyrocketing costs of materials and logistics, locked-in price contracts and extreme weather events.

So far this year, around a dozen builders have collapsed.

Last week, PBS Building, a multimillion-dollar firm which does a mix of commercial and residential projects across Queensland, NSW and the ACT, officially collapsed.

The collapse has left 180 staff across all three states without a job, while 80 residential and commercial projects are also up in the air.

From the preliminary investigation, there are more than 1000 secured and unsecured creditors who are owed more than $25 million.

Then last month, three prominent building companies collapsed a day apart from each other, with NSW apartment developer EQ Constructions going bust owing up to $50 million, then Perth building company called Hamlen Homes going into administration with $1.4 million reportedly owed to creditors and the next day Melbourne-based residential builder Hallbury Homes going into voluntary administration.

Hallbury owed between $8 million and $12 million to hundreds of creditors, including 62 homeowners with projects at various stages of completion.

Earlier in February, award-winning residential construction company Delco Building Group in Victoria went under owing $780,000 to 50 creditors.

It also emerged in January that two more construction companies in Western Australia went under due to labour shortages and increasing construction costs.

Originally published as Two more building companies collapse in NSW and Queensland