Two major multi-million-dollar construction projects by Not For Profit Anglicare Sydney and three multi-million-dollar contracts by For Profit Retirement Living by Lendlease are in limbo after construction giant PBS Building went into voluntary administration on Tuesday.
The following PBS projects have been hit:
- Anglicare Sydney: $30 million The Ponds Retirement Village in Sydney’s southwest;
- Anglicare Sydney: Social Housing Project, Dapto, in NSW South Coast;
- Retirement Living by Lendlease: Kingfisher Grove Retirement Village, Jordan Springs, in Sydney’s west;
- Retirement Living by Lendlease: Baytree by Ardency at Greenwich, Sydney’s North Shore, and
- Retirement Living by Lendlease: The Aerie at Narrabundah, Canberra.
“We’ve been advised that PBS Building has entered voluntary administration. We’re working with the relevant parties to determine next steps for the completion of works at three of our villages,” Nathan Cockerill, Managing Director Retirement Living by Lendlease, said.
An Anglicare Sydney spokesperson said it was in discussions with the voluntary administrators RSM Australia Partners Jonathon Colbran, Richard Stone and Mitchell Herrett.
In a statement, PBS founder Ian Carter blamed the failure on an “unprecedented” combination of record material costs, fixed price contracts, labour and material shortages, extreme rain events, floods and bushfires, as well as wars.
“In relation to our current projects, we secured, not abandoned, these sites with the express purpose of not incurring any further expenses. We took this step to ensure that we could negotiate better outcomes with clients for the ultimate benefit of creditors,” Ian said.
Figures published by corporate regulator ASIC on Tuesday showed that the number of building industry insolvencies has jumped, with a preliminary total of 208 insolvency actions taken over companies so far in the March quarter, compared with 271 in the same quarter last year.
The figures also showed there had been 1,284 building industry insolvencies so far this financial year – equal to the 1,284 total for all of financial year 2022 – with more than three months still to go for the year.
“We are the latest, but we won’t be the last construction group to buckle under the weight of a broken industry and way of doing business that needs urgent reform,” Ian said.
