Dozens of homebuyers and tradies on the Gold Coast are in limbo this morning, following the collapse of another major Australian builder.
PBS Building finally confirmed overnight that they have gone into voluntary administration, with all 180 staff made redundant.
The company had 80 projects across the country in the works, including several on the Gold Coast.
It was halfway through a 19-level development in Surfers Paradise and a big townhouse project in Helensvale, which have now been locked up.
PBS currently owes more than $25 million to its creditors, however, that number could rise.
“This has been a gut-wrenching decision that we know will impact many lives and livelihoods,” the company’s directors said in a statement.
“However, after months of intense efforts behind the scenes, in the end it was the only responsible course of action available.
“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.”
Directors of PBS said the company has prided itself on being able to deliver for its clients “no matter what the challenge”.
“Yet, despite this tenacity and more than 30 years’ industry experience, the unprecedented combination of record material costs, fixed price contracts, labour and material shortages, extreme rain events, floods, bush fires and wars has proved an insurmountable challenge,” they said.
“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.”
They said all staff were informed of the decision on Monday night.
“Ensuring our employees received their entitlements in full, has been a priority for the Board,” they said.
“As of 6 March 2023, all employee entitlements have been fully paid out.”
RSM Australia Partners Jonathon Colbran, Richard Stone and Mitchell Herrett have been appointed as voluntary administrators for the five entities that make up PBS.
“RSM’s initial investigations of the financial statements and records of the PBS construction companies have identified more than 1000 secured and unsecured creditors. These creditors are owed a total of more than $25 million,” Mr Colbran said.
“These are preliminary figures and may change following more detailed investigations over the coming weeks.”
The future of the projects remains up in the air, with a number of nervous homebuyers across the country.
“Between them, the five companies, have 80 residential and commercial projects in various stages of construction, from the early design phase through to various stages of construction,” Colbran said.
“All work on these sites ceased immediately prior to the appointment of the administrators and it is not clear at this stage whether works will recommence.
“If works do not recommence, the operations of the PBS construction companies will progressively be shut down and sites will be handed over to customers.”
