Tradies have stopped work on sites run by one of Australia's biggest building firms Probuild, amid expectations the company will enter administration.
Probuild is managing at least a dozen major builds across Victoria, NSW, Queensland and Western Australia.
The company builds offices, residential projects, and shopping centres, and was responsible for the expansion of Melbourne's Chadstone shopping centre.
At a number of its sites, workers have been told to collect their tools ahead of the builds being locked up indefinitely.
Earlier this month, Probuild issued an update on its 18 storey Elizabeth North Stage 2 development for biotech company CSL, saying the facade and roof installation was almost complete.
Lobby group Australian Apartment Advocacy said state governments should provide greater protections for off-the-plan buyers who will likely be caught short by any holdups.
"It may be apartment owners who have to foot the bill and we need to know where off the plan buyers are going to be left when all of this pans out," the group's Samantha Reece said in a statement.
The construction industry has faced shortages of key materials and increased costs during the pandemic, compounded by a lack of skilled trades.
In 2020 another major builder Grocon went into administration, blaming government agency Infrastructure NSW for its handling of the Central Barangaroo project in Sydney.
Probuild has been contacted for comment.
