Sydney Builder Novati Calls in Administrators

A 50-year-old construction company that built one of eastern Sydney’s most expensive apartments has called in administrators, blaming rising costs and market volatility.

Crows Nest-based Novati Constructions, founded by Peter Novati in 1971, ceased trading after Worrells principals Graeme Beattie and Aaron Lucan were appointed as administrators on February 6. 

In a statement, Novati directors Luisa, Alberto and Marco Novati said “ongoing market pressures have made Novati’s continued operations unsustainable, due to market uncertainty, increase in cost of materials and labour and interest rate rises”.

“Over the past several months, we have canvassed solutions for the current financial position of Novati, however, have made the difficult decision to appoint Graeme Beattie and Aaron Lucan as administrators,” they said.

“We will work closely with the administrators over the coming weeks to ensure the best outcome is achieved for stakeholders.”

Novati Constructions Projects

The builder had worked on dozens of projects in the multilevel residential, aged-care, commercial and industrial spaces. 

Previous projects included Couvaras Architect-designed Cronulla luxury apartments at Elizabeth Place (pictured top); Loftex Property’s South Cronulla Ivori luxury development; Maynard Gardens, a 43-unit luxury development for a private client; and the Manly Civic Club’s six-storey residential development.

It also built Loftex’s Marsden Park 24,780sq m warehouse and education projects, including at Our Lady of Mercy College, St Augustine and St Dominic’s College. 

Notably, Novati constructed luxury residential project for North East Corp at 29 Billyard Avenue, Elizabeth Bay, which broke records for the eastern suburb in 2023 after a single apartment in the development sold for almost $30 million. 

According to North East Corp, Billyard was completed in September 2025 to the developer’s satisfaction.

▲ A rendering of the luxury Elizabeth Bay project at 29 Billyard Avenue that Novati Constructions was building.

According to its LinkedIn profile, the firm began the construction of a Potts Hill Industrial development in Sydney’s West for Loftex in December 2025.

Loftex declined to comment. 

Novati also lists Avid Property’s The Rathbone project at Surry Hills, CSR Martini Pty Ltd’s Villawood manufacturing building, and two smaller luxury residential developments, at Wahroonga and Queenscliff, as current projects. 

Avid confirmed that Novati was the external contractor for its Surry Hills development The Rathbone. 

“We have been in close communication with our customers for this project to let them know about this news,” an Avid spokesperson told The Urban Developer.

“We continue to work closely with our advisors to assess the situation with a view to minimising disruption or delays to the project. The sale contracts we have with our customers are not impacted by this news.

“We will communicate with our customers regularly and transparently as new, reliable information becomes available.”

Next steps for Novati

Worrells principal Graeme Beattie said that the administration had only just commenced and that the insolvency and advisory group was working to establish the company’s financial position. 

“This includes identifying assets available for realisation and quantifying creditor claims, with assistance from the directors and senior management,” Beattie said. 

Beattie said the directors had indicated they wanted to propose a deed of company arrangement that could allow it to complete any ongoing works.

This would be considered if it was in the interests of creditors, he said. 

▲ Novati Constructions worked on the Manly Civic Club apartment redevelopment.

“Creditors will be informed of any material updates at the forthcoming meeting of creditors and in our next report to creditors,” Beattie said. 

The creditors meeting for Novati Constructions is due on Wednesday, February 18. 

The news comes after the latest cash rate rise earlier this month—the first since November 2023.

Insolvency statistics from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission released this month showed that construction company administrations had declined slightly in the financial year to date. 

The industry had 1894 administrations up to February 2026, compared with 1944 in the same period in 2025, and they were generally skewed towards subcontractors rather than major builders.