You may have noticed on Sydney’s Darling Harbour there is under construction a massive, glass
building now home to the new IMAX theatre. The construction of what was to be the W Sydney with
big dreams to become Sydney’s cultural hub. But the $730M hotel will remain an empty vessel, after
news of the collapse of ProBuild. The sentiment surrounding Australia’s construction industry has
turned to high-risk. Since mid-2021 whispers about supply-chain delays impacting the construction
industry have been circulating, with the costs expected to rise for not only builders but the
consumers, many were concerned about breaking their contractual agreements with their clients.
Probuild reportedly lost the financial backing of a major South African investor. The fall
of Probuild had a domino effect taking down 18 Australian construction businesses in it’s demise.
It’s estimated that close to 750 employees and a contractor count in the thousands
have been impacted, being locked out of the site, losing their jobs. But ProBuild is not alone,
with Gold Coast firm Condev who have $1 billion worth of projects in the works, tried
unsuccessfully to organise a $25 million rescue plan. Condev collapsed a month before ProBuild.
The serious impact of the rising steel prices over the last 18 months,
with surges reaching 80% have heavily dinted the financial of construction company’s.
With the added tensions raised from South East QLD’s rainfall beating records last year,
the progress on many building projects had stagnated. With the combined catastrophes of
floods and the pandemic insolvencies aren’t much of a surprise in these conditions.
Privium group, also collapsed in December leaving hundreds of homes half-finished.
The conglomerate had a large portfolio of residential building projects. An investigation
into their financials shows that the company was more than likely trading whilst insolvent.
This group was heavily effected by the pandemic delays, particularly in Victoria. The company did
try to salvage their business dealings with a last minute effort to invest into a Gold
Coast cryptocurrency protocol and a Christian charity before it finally deregistered.
Next is next victim falling in April 2022, this Sydney-based company
shares similar woes to the previously mentioned. Specialising in aged care and student housing
that’s affordable now owes $5 million to creditors which includes $400,000 left in unpaid wages.
The firm are facing a similar fate after reports emerged skyrocketing prices of
materials saw the company warn staff it's 'crunch time'.
WIth more than 2,500 employees and an estimated 4,000 projects in the works, a Metricon collapse
would have huge rammifications for a lot of homeowners.
Acting CEO Peter Langfelder denied
they are facing any issues of insolvency and maintained Metricon remains a viable business.
'There is simply no basis to these rumours. Metricon is a strong
viable business without any solvency problem,' he said.