PBS Building in Shock Withdrawal from Sites

Following a wave of construction business collapses across the country, national firm PBS Building is the latest to have stopped work onsite.

In a shock move, PBS Building sites were closed over the weekend and did not reopen this morning.

There are no current insolvency notices for PBS Building but it is understood that the builder had been struggling for some time.

Keylin Developments confirmed that work being undertaken by PBS had ceased on its townhouse development, Serenity Reserve, on the Gold Coast at the weekend. 

“As yet, Keylin has not received any formal advice from PBS, however we are aware of media reports indicating that other sites have also ceased operations,” Keylin managing director Louis Cheung told The Urban Developer.

“This is of course incredibly disappointing news.

“PBS is an established and respected operator and it’s a tough day for our industry when a leading builder with such a long and celebrated history finds itself in this situation.” 

The 86 houses of Serenity Reserve are being delivered in partnership with Kinstone Group, with two stages already completed in late 2022. 

It is not the only development impacted by the sudden cessation of work by PBS. It is also supposed to be working on the 19-storey Shoreline development by Marquee Developments.

But according to Keylin, PBS had been experiencing similar problems which have been faced by construction firms in recent months.

These issues have led to a wave of administrations this year alone, including those of Sydney builder EQ Projects, Queensland housebuilder LDC, and Delco Building Group in Victoria, among others.

“We became aware that PBS was experiencing challenges in January as a result of the sustained impact of cost, supply, and labour pressures resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic and extreme weather events,” Cheung said.

“Since then, we’ve been working in close collaboration with their Gold Coast team to safeguard the project, including revised delivery strategies.

“Our focus now is on our project and our purchasers.

“We have sought legal advice and will assess all our options to navigate a way forward.”

▲ Keylin’s Serenity Reserve is a sold-out development in Helensvale on the Gold Coast.

National builder PBS was founded as Prestige Building Services in 1989 by brothers Peter and Ian Carter in Canberra.

It went on to deliver a large section of the Sydney Olympic Village and open offices in Sydney and Brisbane.

“Today, we are one of Australia’s most insightful, reputable and collaborative construction companies and our team culture and client loyalty are the greatest measures of our success,” it said on its now-defunct website.

PBS has worked on projects as diverse as Latitude25 in Queensland, a retirement living building, St George Community Housing in Liverpool and the $115m Goodwin Farrer Aged Care facility, amongst many others.

In addition to awards for Goodwin Village, last year it also won the 2022 Master Builders ACT and Asset Construction hire excellence awards.

Calls to PBS Building’s offices went unanswered.

Concerns about insolvencies in the construction sector, which are impacting developments and costing people their jobs, has led to calls for flexible rather than fixed-price contracts.