‘Tsunami’ of headwinds faces builders as collapses surge by a third

The director of collapsed Canberra-based fitout and refurbishment business Rork Projects says a “tsunami of impossible economic conditions” is hitting the construction industry as the latest official figures point to a 32 per cent surge in insolvencies across the sector this financial year.

As of March 10, 1913 construction companies had entered administration or appointed a controller this financial year, nearly a third higher than the 1447 reported at the same time last financial year (which ended up at a decade high of 2213 for 2022-23) according to the latest ASIC update.